Anyone collect guns on coins ?

^^^ Kevin is correct. They were made from surplus military artillery shell casings following the war

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yes, I do. As a history teacher I collected and brought into my classroom all kinds of historical artifacts from ostraka to Athenian Owls to Imperial denarii, Byzantine bezants, Venetian ducats, pillar dollars, fractional currency, gold certificates, old documents ( a hand stamped letter to Nicholas Biddle, an original dispatch from Sheridan to Grant from the Shenandoah Valley)) and weaponry from repro swords to original swords to antique firearms, Brown Bess to '03 Springfields. For me these artifacts are the living , tangible links to history and my students, at least some of them, were pleased, perhaps even awed by handling a denarius that might have been spent by Julius Caesar or a musket that might have been used at Gettysburg. For me these items are a direct portal to the past, not simply objects of value, but objects of wonder.

 

A touch off topic but...

You might enjoy this then kevin. It's a paper horn from the 19-teens used to celebrate the end of ww1 then the owner apparently had it and used it to also celebrate the end of ww2. You can see the oxidation rust at a 20yr advanced age in the ink from ww1 to ww2. And it still blows! If ww3 breaks out and we all survive I'll be adding to it. Currently I keep it safe in a ww1 German artillery shell...

 

Very nice and a good teaching prop. Imagine passing that around the room and sure enough some kid will ask, "What's an armistice? " . What a great way to segue to the War to end all wars.