Civil War era item? Tin with gold eagle and leaf branch - SOLVED!

[Oilfield Diver]

Found near a Civil War era fort. Property [I own] also was used as a homestead during the 1920's, 30's, 40's, etc. First thought was a cigarette lighter holder. Maybe held flints or something during the Civil War era?? Appears to be made of tin, was green with a gold eagle and branch on each side. Bottom has cross-hatching. Probably an easy item for somebody to identify. Thx.

 

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[duggap]

Re: Civil War era item? Tin with gold eagle and leaf branch

What you have is a match safe. And it could very well date back to the war. I would consider that to be a very nice find.

 

[kuger]

Re: Civil War era item? Tin with gold eagle and leaf branch

What you have is a match safe. And it could very well date back to the war. I would consider that to be a very nice find.

Yep,cant say age,but darn nice match safe!!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Re: Civil War era item? Tin with gold eagle and leaf branch

It is just about definitely a mid-1800s to late-1800s match-safe. The crosshatching on the bottom gives you something handy to strike the match on, because sometimes nothing else suitable for match-striking is handy.

 

[ivan salis]

Re: Civil War era item? Tin with gold eagle and leaf branch

the civil war matches were of the strike any where (on a rough surface) type * thus you carried them in the match safe to keep em dry and when you wanted to use them you took one out and struck it on the rough textured bottom of the case. -- dry matches were vital to a soldier to start fires for cooking and warmth in the cold --to keep keep bugs at bay in warmer weather ( a smoky fire using greenish wood was useful to keep bugs at bay somewhat at least) as well as to light ones pipe or cigar with if one smoked.

 

[Oilfield Diver]

Thanks duggap and kuger! I never knew something like this existed back then. Thank you too Mr. Cannonball guy! It appears you nailed the period of the piece - it matches right up with the historical era of the property. From the history of this place, and the eagle design, I believe it to be very likely military issue. The eagle and branch match up to button designs of the era. Thanks for the liner notes Ivan! I have more artifacts coming up for y'all to clarify for me. I will post some other interesting identified finds on the "Today's finds" board.

Are these common items or rare? Is this design rare? Could it be high ranking officer issue or generic soldier issue?

I will mark this one SOLVED!

Thanks all.

 

[kuger]

You bet bud,great piece!I dont know that you can tie it directly to any officer or even military for sure unless of course you found it in a military camp?The Federal Eagle was on a lot of items of the period as patriotism was very strong.I wouldnt necessarily say match safes were all that rare but I dont recall seeing your exact example?

 

[Oilfield Diver]

Yes, a short list of possible officers, and yes it used to be.