Confederate Read Shell base, early Gettysburg collection

A while back I acquired a very early Gettysburg Artillery collection, which had been in storage for many years. There were examples of both Confederate and Union shells – some were “ground-burst” and others just sections. A few had very crudely painted inventory numbers, which had faded over time. Others had pieces of cloth tape which originally had information but also faded.

Some had very old glued-on typed paper labels, but most of them were disintegrated with age – however one did survive with Gettysburg information, but that one was also worn, but I will include a copy of it with each shell, what it does have is “Gettysburg” and a couple other indecipherable words (see pictures).

The one offered here is the base of Confederate Read shell weighing almost 2-pounds, having the dimple on the bottom and in fainted white paint the inventory number “34”. I show an example of a complete Read Shell (see pictures). The surface of this section is exactly how it came out of the ground, only the number added.

In the famous Gettysburg Danner Museum collection, most of the artillery shells had similar painted inventory numbers, but they were usually neatly done. In my books “Battle of Gettysburg – The Relics, Artifacts & Souvenirs” and “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction”, I go into further detail about these Gettysburg shells.

This is a really nice artifact, no chipping or flaking, and I will include a copy of the original paper tag, as well as a signed and embossed Certificate of Authenticity. This is a 100% early Gettysburg relic.