Washington token ? Medal ? 51 st reg. co K ?

[kieser sousa/rip]

Hi all. I'm hoping someone can id this token/medalion/thing that I found today.On one side is a bust of Washington with lettering around the edge and on the back it reads "CO K" 51st REG NYSV (New York state volunteers ?) With writing around the edge as well. It was found at a cornfield site that has mostly produced colonial finds...I found an 1800 large cent about 10 foot away from were I found this.

 

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[Don in SJ]

I only see that unit listed as a Civil War military group, most likely a soldier's ID tag, for my guess.

Don

 

[nova treasure]

Excellent find , it is a Civil war soldier ID tag. Here is a link that shows one like yours. http://www.civilwarmuseum.org/article003.htm.

Nova Treasure

 

[kieser sousa/rip]

Thanks y'all.....pretty cool ! Now I need to see if I can find out who it may have belonged to.

 

[DirtyMike]

A friend of mine dug one of these about a year ago in the same condition as yours and was offered $800. for it. They are highly collectible. And very valuable. Awesome find!

 

[Montauk]

Running a search on 51st REG NYSV "CO K" I came across this about Medal of Honor recipient Pvt Orlando Caruana, (1844-1917 born in Malta) a member of CO K. Intriguing to consider that Pvt Caruana & the owner of your ID tag were possibly acquainted.

http://antietam.aotw.org/moh.php?citation_id=77

 

[Mackaydon]

Looks like one similar to yours at the next to last pic on this page:
http://www.civilwarmuseum.org/article003.htm

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Excellent find , it is a Civil war soldier ID tag. Here is a link that shows one like yours. http://www.civilwarmuseum.org/article003.htm.

Nova Treasure

Great ID Nova. The tag in the link is also N.Y.S.V. I think this is a banner find.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Looks like one similar to yours at the next to last pic on this page:
http://www.civilwarmuseum.org/article003.htm

Thats it.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Thanks y'all.....pretty cool ! Now I need to see if I can find out who it may have belonged to.

Its a shame the name is missing on the top. All I see is a C/G/O? and a W.

 

[Mackaydon]

Wearing a dog tag would have been an oddity in the Civil War since the U.S. military didn't officially start issuing dog tags until 1913. But during the Civil War, merchants known as sutlers followed the troops and would offer identification tags for sale just prior to battles. Too many soldiers saw too many grave crosses marked UNKNOWN, so they chose to either write their names on paper and pin it to the uniform or, as here, they bought a tag from a merchant.
Don.......

 

[kyphote]

I, too, vote banner. A refreshing find! They offered disability pension for diarrhea?

 

[kieser sousa/rip]

Thanks everyone. I think I may be able to get a name for this.The site were I found it has a well known history so I think it shouldent be to hard to figger out.

as a side note....I once lived on an old farm site less than a mile from the old Salem church in Fredricksburg VA.The 51'st fought in that area and I used to imagine that some of the relics I dug there were lost by men of the 51st.

 

[Iron Patch]

That's a good one! Too bad about the condition, but I have to go through the same thing every time I pop a Rev War pewter button. In 10 years I've never found a completely round one.