I think this is a Democratic Donkey Pin
Some sort of Bugle charm
This pipe was 12" deep. I found it in pursuit of another signal that was under this beauty!
I found this right across the street from my house. Got permission from town super to hunt there.
> How rare a find is this? This is the first one I have seen and a great ID.
Coming from a What-Is-It veteran as knowledgeable as you, that is a high compliment. Thank you.
How rare a find? Well, that depends on whether you mean the model-1882 Maynard cartridge found by Xmarks73, or the civil war era version in the Wikipedia photo you posted. (By the way, I hope you noticed that it shows no grooves encircling the exposed part of the lead slug ...unlike the 1882-model.) For the sake of discussion, I'll assume your question refers to the civil war era model.
Civil War era ones are rare, but not quite "extremely" rare. That's because -- as the Wikipedia article mentioned -- not many Maynard Breechloaders were issued to troops, in comparison to the tens-of-thousands (or even hundreds-of-thousands) of other rifles, such as the Springfield, Enfield, Sharps, Spencer, etc.
Enhancing the rarity situation, in a way, is the fact that the cartridge's gunpowder charge causes it to corrode to bits. The majority of unfired-and-INTACT Maynard cartridges we dig are no longer intact by the time we get them out of the ground. Even a "decent" one looks like what Xmarks73 found.
Judging the rarity of Xmarks73's unfired model-1882 Maynard cartridge is difficult. I can only say that it is definitely more rare than a civil war era one, for two reasons:
1- The US Army purchased hundreds-of-thousands of rounds of Maynard ammo during the civil war ...and I doubt that Civilian game-hunters purchased anywhere near that much.
2- Civilian game-hunters are actually more careful about not losing bullets than soldiers are. Unlike game-hunters, soldiers don't have to purchase their ammo with money out of their own pocket ...and thus they are notoriously wasteful.
Found this under the sidewalk here in town. Gonna use electrolysis on it.
