Button & Bullet

[goldencoin]

Hello, found these in dredged material and would like to know if the bullet is modern and what era the button would be from- I think it has a rocket ship and a star on it

Thanks

HH
-GC

[DCMatt]

I'm guessing it is a Rocket and satellite on the button... so 1950's?

Are you sure that other thing is a bullet?

DCMatt

[DaChief]

Projectile is referred to as a semi wadcutter. Usually in .38 caliber but could be other. Been around for a while but still in use. Mostly a target round, it is designed to cut a clean hole in a paper target so that the target can be scored easier.

[goldencoin]

how long...would this be an older one?

HH
-GC

[DaChief]

Hard to tell on the bullet. I can find no history of the wadcutter online. I would assume that they were put in use after 1900 and most likely during the 1940's or so. Your button looks like something similar to the Flash Gordon Era. I would put it also in the 1930's through 50's. Anything on the back of it?

Here is a pin from the 50's I found on EBAY with similar space ship, etc.

[goldencoin]

Ok, thats good- the button has had the back ripped off, so it might be a pin. If it is, that would be cool

Thanks

HH
-GC

[Monty]

Semiwadcutter bullet is very common in many calibers. I shoot them in my .38 special, my .357 Mag and my .44 Mag. They are cast in lead and then run through a sizer and lubricator and then are ready for reloading. That particular style bullet is often referred to as the Elmer Keith design. Elmer was an old time hunting and shooting expert and writer for several shooting magazines from the 1930s up until the 1980s when he passed away. Monty

[PBK]

Ok, thats good- the button has had the back ripped off, so it might be a pin. If it is, that would be cool

Nope, it's a clothing button.

Listed in Hughes & Lester's The Big Book of Buttons, "Sports and Transportation" section, pp. 560-61, Plate 243, #16 — "Rocket Ship and Satellite":

"Pressed brass; brass back with self shank. Modern, late 1950's. This has often been called 'Sputnik' for the Russian satellite... More likely a popular conception of a satellite rather than any particular one, the picture on the button more closely resembles the American Vanguard satellite launched in 1958..."

[goldencoin]

another excellent ID thanks to PBK

HH
-GC

[DaChief]

Nice ID P.B.K.!!

Given your lead, I was able to find one that had finished on EBAY a while back with a photo. This one in mint condition sold for 49 bucks. Here are the photos front and back and a link to the auction that has concluded as noted above.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1950-ROCKET-SHIP...QQcmdZViewItem