Unusual find, surprise inside. Update. Picture added

Digger54 · Oct 18, 2011

I posted this on another site but as it is a rather unusual find thought I would post this here. Sunday I dug this brass/bronze bell after digging an eagle cuff and a navy cuff button nearby. As I did not want to carry a lot of dirt around in my goodie bag I tried shaking/tapping the dirt out but it seemed caked inside. Then I took a twig and tried digging the dirt out out. It was then that I noticed the edge of a button. I immediately stopped as I wanted to get a picture of it. Below are a series of pictures as I gently cleaned out the bell. An iron glob was holding everything inside. In the last pic you will see that the button still retains thread in the loop. A lingering question is how the button found a home in the bell? Was it accidental or used as a makeshift clapper? The button has a Scovill MFG Co Waterbury bm making it an MC10. This old retired Marine loves digging old Marine Corps buttons!

New: Added a pic of the bell and button face. Sorry I have not started to work on the button but I learned a long time ago to take it slow with cleanings. I really anguished about permanently leaving the button bonded inside the bell, but I just had to know what the b.m. on the button was. If I could have dated the button by the face I would have left it bonded inside. Thanks for all the comments.