✅ SOLVED i think i found something good looking for confirmation... and information

Older The Better

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Found this in a bean field while looking for evidence of any human activity...looks like a military pin to me but on the whole property i haven't found a single thing that is military so I'm cautiously excited maybe it military, maybe its an emblem that has fallen of a tractor or something similarly disappointing. so... what do you guys think? i don't want to risk breaking it in half or even cleaning it if it is something good
 

Looks to be an officer’s collar insignia. 20th century, but hard to tell how early in it’s current state.
 

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It is a US armed forces collar-insignia pin. Your third photo seems to show the remnant of a cross-pin's hinge-post, which predates the Ballou clutch-pin attachment form adopted in 1942. So your find dates from the very late 1800s up to early 1942.

After-posting edit:
I see my good friend NHBenz and I were typing our replies at the same time. :) Mine took longer because I couldn't remember the exact year the clutch-pin attachment form was adopted, and had to go to another website for that info.
 

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I beat both of you but was a Gentleman and let you 2 fire the first posts, Sweet find now you know theres probably more goodies there. Thanks for the great post!!!!!
 

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Well Damn i knew better but i tried to open it as carefully as i could... had it open and flat but the letters weren't straight tried to bend them back towards each other and pop... oh well i was never going to sell them anyway but it still hurts to do something stupid haha... I'm sure this will help with your id question cannonball guy
 

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I know most of us would have done the same thing nice piece to display
 

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Thanks for the back-view photo. It confirms that what I seemed to see in your previous post is indeed the remnant of a cross-pin attachment... and THAT confirms the date-range I gave you in my previous reply (very late 1800s up to early 1942).
 

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Perfect Cannonballguy and Nhbenz thanks. Last question is it an OFFICERS pin or did everyone have one? i found it on land that has been in our family for over 100 years and as far as i know on that side only my grandpa served and WWII ended while he was in boot camp, so not his... also hard to see why anyone would be wearing a uniform in a field but it got there somehow. I'm going to have to get a family history lesson.
 

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Perfect Cannonballguy and Nhbenz thanks. Last question is it an OFFICERS pin or did everyone have one? i found it on land that has been in our family for over 100 years and as far as i know on that side only my grandpa served and WWII ended while he was in boot camp, so not his... also hard to see why anyone would be wearing a uniform in a field but it got there somehow. I'm going to have to get a family history lesson.
I will never forget being issued a set different than what I was supposed to wear and then getting reamed by "Old Sarge" during an open ranks inspection.
 

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Appears to be missing a letter or two. Maybe an N
 

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Some would say you broke a cardinal rule but no one can deny how much nicer it looks!
 

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