Another cool military relic, and more silver

Gridwalker306

Gold Member
Nov 10, 2010
6,015
7,416
Canada
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, ATPro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Today I found this crossed-guns military item right where I found an 1890's IH cent last year. I'm not sure if the two are related. I managed to carefully bend it back into shape, so glad I didn't break it. If anybody has info on it I'd appreciate it! And heck, another silver haha! ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1430437879.214718.jpgImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1430437918.572150.jpgImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1430437950.100684.jpg
 

Upvote 14
Cool find and fine job reworking..
 

That's really cool, I would love to find any military badge of any era, that one looks old considering the type of rifles that are crossed.

edit: On reading the info from the link given above by OLD DUDE (thanks mate for that cheers) it indicates 21's Infantry Regiment company "F" 1896-1905. Again that's damn cool....gotta love history
 

Last edited:
Cool find is an understatement. That is super cool.
I admit to not knowing a thing about it, as far as rarity goes, but I do know this, not many hat badges get posted at all, and I'm sure I never seen this one posted in my years of being a T-net member.

As stated don't know it's dollar value, but is a banner find. (voting momentarily)
I only got one hat badge in my 8-9 years of detecting, so it is one of my favorite finds.

Good job, fantastic find, and oh sooo glad it didn't break when you straightened it out...got to say I would have been afraid to do it, and would have taken it to ...someone else for the job.

This is your best find...IMO, as well as 2 vickie quarters in one hole, your two best finds.
 

that's awesome JC!!, nice work straightening it, I tried that last year with a shoebuckle frame and "snap", its now in a landfill somewhere!!
 

Cool find is an understatement. That is super cool.
I admit to not knowing a thing about it, as far as rarity goes, but I do know this, not many hat badges get posted at all, and I'm sure I never seen this one posted in my years of being a T-net member.

As stated don't know it's dollar value, but is a banner find. (voting momentarily)
I only got one hat badge in my 8-9 years of detecting, so it is one of my favorite finds.

Good job, fantastic find, and oh sooo glad it didn't break when you straightened it out...got to say I would have been afraid to do it, and would have taken it to ...someone else for the job.

This is your best find...IMO, as well as 2 vickie quarters in one hole, your two best finds.

Rick, I have been researching like mad but I can't find this specific infantry and company hat badge. HOWEVER (forgive me if I'm WAY off and am totally wrong) but I read that the 21st infantry was involved with the Indian Wars. I believe the badge to be quite old, hopefully in the range I'm talking about. Man, I sure hope that's the case, but I need more information.

Thanks for the replies guys! Can't believe I was complaining about my finds last night hahaha!
 

Last edited:
You can say your silver roll isn't slowing down just yet, but your military one is just getting revved up!

Badge is a gem!

Thanks Ironhorse. I'm usually a coin guy, but I can see why people are into relic hunting. I certainly don't mind relics like this haha!
 

Rick, I have been researching like mad but I can't find this specific infantry and company hat badge. HOWEVER (forgive me if I'm WAY off and am totally wrong) but I read that the 21st infantry was involved with the Indian Wars, the battle with Chief Sitting Bull to be specific. I believe the badge to be quite old, hopefully in the range I'm talking about. Man, I sure hope that's the case, but I need more information.

Thanks for the replies guys! Can't believe I was complaining about my finds last night hahaha!

Yeah don't complain about your finds, always remember it is "hunting, and not gathering"
Old Dude's link is a starting point.
I'm working on other research right now, for tomorrows dig, but I will give this a try, a bit later maybe tomorrow.
 

http://hglanham.tripod.com/usinfantry/infantry1.html

Hope this can give you some info JC. Great find! My luck, it would have snapped when I tried to straighten it.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Old Dude. I have been trying to learn as much as I can. I'm posting a little snippet of some info I came across. I live on the North Dakota/Sask border, so I could see an ex Indian War soldier making his way up here at some point. Maybe to start his post-war life. Thanks again.ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1430448919.032198.jpg
 

That's a great bit of info. Isn't it wonderful to hold something in your hand that was worn/used by someone from a life and era so different from our own? Some people can't understand why I really like finding the old round balls so much...it is exactly for that reason. I wish you much luck in your research. Keep us informed. I am interested.
 

That's a great bit of info. Isn't it wonderful to hold something in your hand that was worn/used by someone from a life and era so different from our own? Some people can't understand why I really like finding the old round balls so much...it is exactly for that reason. I wish you much luck in your research. Keep us informed. I am interested.

Yes Old Dude, I agree completely! It's the connection to the past that I find so satisfying when I dig something up. Mackaydon found me some additional info, I'll post it.

I'm really happy that this badge was involved in Indian War action, this was the real wild west...and I have a piece of it! I'm over the moon with this find. ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1430453130.183504.jpg
 

Mackaydon is a great contributor to this forum, he's definitely great with the coins, and as well other subjects too.
 

Mackaydon is a great contributor to this forum, he's definitely great with the coins, and as well other subjects too.

I'll say! He's helped me with a number of things over the past few years, knowledgeable dude!
 

Well, it looks like I might have a connection to the campaign of Wounded Knee. It's hard to find exact details of what divisions were involved with specific events, but I know the 21st infantry was heavily involved with events in the area. I believe the design of the badge matches the timeframe. Also, being that I am on the U.S./Canada border, I found that some soldiers were involved with the international border commission 1872-1874. Wounded Knee was in 1890, but if the badge was lost during the border commission...it would be considered extremely old for this area.ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1430543128.554653.jpg
 

Very Cool Badge & Silver Dime Too.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top