That's a tabbed battery, basically a standard coin cell with nickel tabs spot-welded. They're uncommon but not that rare. I've seen them mostly on laptops from the 486-to-pentium era.
You can even make your own from standard batteries if you want - all you need is a spot welder.

You could also get a battery holder that style or use a standard CR2032 battery holder as well. IT looks like there should be plenty of room to use a standard holder that lays down.

The stand-up holders are kinda wonky and seem very easily breakable to me.

I could be wrong but it looks like something could have been soldered there^ at one point.

In any case, that "mount" seems a bit too fragile/precarious for most manufacturers... I've certainly never seen a board look like that from-factory.

Btw, there is a HOT-419 of similar colour, but with normal-looking battery holder and missing 3.3V regulator, pictured here.

SW-SSG wrote:

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In any case, that "mount" seems a bit too fragile/precarious for most manufacturers... I've certainly never seen a board look like that from-factory.

As the battery is spot-welded to it, it would take quite a bit of force to remove it by accident in a normal environment (recycling centers are not normal environments), especially with the keyboard socket right next to it.

Such holders are more commonplace in professional equipment, AFAIK.

That battery is a rechargeable one, not what came originally with the mobo but it is a direct replacement for the classic barrel shaped ones.

keropi wrote:

That battery is a rechargeable one, not what came originally with the mobo but it is a direct replacement for the classic barrel shaped ones.

By "direct replacement" you mean that the "technology" came right after "acid barrels" and it was probably replaced by a "professional"?
I'm concerned about it being a rechargeable battery. Can I swap it for a non-rechargeable without the risk of it blowing up as the result (will this mobo actually try to recharge it)?

Will it be hard to brake the battery free from the pads, bend it some and try and squeeze a regular cr2032 in between them?

Ideally I would like to replace the holder for a more generic one. Is it possible to neatly solder it in place of this thing with just a soldering iron?

Am I correct to assume that this holder, be it original or replaced, not in the least a reason to pass on this motherboard?

AFAIK it's not a good idea to replace this with a non-rechargeable one.

If you want to replace this battery, cut it off and use J1 (next to keyboard connector) to install an external battery.

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