Thought it was a button--but what?

[kimbershot]

I was hunting my favorite site today with my Vaquero. Site has seen colonial, civil war and early 20th century use and has given up buttons, bullets and relics that were relatively easy to date. On my way out to the car--I got a distinct blast with my all metal mode. With the Vaquero turned to full disc mode the tone still sounded good. I decided to dig--figuring I might find my first coin. Turning through the dirt-I saw a rim! I pulled my prize--it was to thick to be a coin--it looked like a big dirt covered button. After dusting it off a bit--check out the pictures. I have the head of a baby on a pair of wings. Looks like a cover to some kind of small case or specialty bottle-material could be copper or brass. Does anyone have any ideas or care to comment?

 

[Grubstake]

Its just a wild guess, but maybe a top off a tobacco pipe? Grubstake
I say that because of the vent holes in the side

 

[kimbershot]

i think you hit a home run in identifying my find. i did a google on tobacco pipes w/lids and although i didn't find any matches--i saw pipe that utilized the metal lids. i can only guess that this is a civil war era item---i found it in an area that was razed during sherman's march. there has been no other activity on that site since 1865.

 

[Grubstake]

I've seen a lot of them, and that's just what I thought right from the start. Good find. Grubstake