WW1 Miltiary Police Collar Disc

Acuva24

Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
121
Location
Cohoes, NY
This is my first post ever in the War Relic Hunting section, but I assume this is where the experts will be lurking! So a year or two ago, I found this in my back yard in Cohoes, NY. I thought it was neat and assumed it was for Military Police, but thought it was WW2. This was until I saw a post yesterday where someone had a disc that had "US" on it and looked exactly like mine. They said theirs was WW1, so it made me look a little further into it.

The first thing I found was an EBay sale for the exact disc I found for $145 and this quickly got my attention. I have a picture of this below. Then this morning I found a similar disc with a "very scarce" rating. The difference with this one is that it does not have the periods after each letter. Also a photo below.

Mine is complete with the smaller twist off disc attached on the rear. I have not tried to twist this at all in fear that it would break.

I do have a few questions, as WW1 is not my specialty. Firstly, how rare is this item that I have found? What is the difference between the "M.P." and the "MP" collar discs? Lastly, can items such as this be graded like a coin can be graded? The one I found is in really great shape. In the photo, it does look a little dull, but that is because I have never attempted to clean it at all! (and I will not be doing anything of the sort).

I really appreciate any information that you can provide for this piece and any help you could provide for my questions. I am really excited to have a great piece of WW1 history!!!
 

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Your bronze collar disk is certainly WWI era but what makes it "rare" is that it's non-regulation. MP or M.P. disks are rare because military police regulation called for an MP cloth around the sleeve and red cloth MP tabs sewn onto the collars rather than bronze disks. The M.P. disk should be more rare because it the periods were even less regulation than the simple MP disk. However, that is purely a guess and avid collectors would have to verify which style is more rare.

Officers began using the crossed pistols in 1922 and enlisted men used the crossed pistols starting in the early 1930s.

So yes, your disk is both rare and worth more to collectors. It's an awesome find!

Also, as tempting as it might be, DO NOT try to twist off the screw cap on the back. The glue holding the screw post to the back of the bronze disk will pop off with very little effort. Believe me, I know this from experience.

I got my info from William H. Emerson's Encyclopedia of US Army Insignia and Uniforms.
 
That is a VERY cool find! Have you looked into the history of your home and its prior owners?
 
Awesome find!! I am the one that found the " U S"one. Must be World War 1 week!
 
Your bronze collar disk is certainly WWI era but what makes it "rare" is that it's non-regulation. MP or M.P. disks are rare because military police regulation called for an MP cloth around the sleeve and red cloth MP tabs sewn onto the collars rather than bronze disks. The M.P. disk should be more rare because it the periods were even less regulation than the simple MP disk. However, that is purely a guess and avid collectors would have to verify which style is more rare.

Officers began using the crossed pistols in 1922 and enlisted men used the crossed pistols starting in the early 1930s.

So yes, your disk is both rare and worth more to collectors. It's an awesome find!

Also, as tempting as it might be, DO NOT try to twist off the screw cap on the back. The glue holding the screw post to the back of the bronze disk will pop off with very little effort. Believe me, I know this from experience.

I got my info from William H. Emerson's Encyclopedia of US Army Insignia and Uniforms.

Thank you so much HistoryStudent!!! This is some really great information and it makes me really excited for the potential historical relevance of this item! I will surely be looking for a WW1 expert in my area so that hopefully I can find even more information about the disc. Again thanks so much for the time you put in to research!
 
The one with the periods is a scarcer variation. As far as why it has periods is the same reason there is a plain US, a U.S, a U.S., and all of the above variations with tall, short, fat, skinny letters, etc. Just the way the die was made. This is a very nice disk. In dug condition $145 is a pretty far stretch as a good number of collectors do not like dug items. I personally have well over 800 of the little things ranging from unissued to dug. I don't know of anyone grading these like coins. If you ever choose to sell it do let me know as I do not have this variation of MP disk in my collection.

Charlie
 
The one with the periods is a scarcer variation. As far as why it has periods is the same reason there is a plain US, a U.S, a U.S., and all of the above variations with tall, short, fat, skinny letters, etc. Just the way the die was made. This is a very nice disk. In dug condition $145 is a pretty far stretch as a good number of collectors do not like dug items. I personally have well over 800 of the little things ranging from unissued to dug. I don't know of anyone grading these like coins. If you ever choose to sell it do let me know as I do not have this variation of MP disk in my collection.

Charlie

This is all very welcome information Charlie! I shall call you 'Big Tuna'! (that's a reference from The Office). I'm really happy to hear that mine is the more scarce version. It's crazy to me that I found this in my back yard. I also found a trench art ring from WWII in my yard....and this is a very small yard. I've been lucky.

I'd like to contact a WWI expert about this disc before I consider taking any action in moving this item. In the meantime, this will be a centerpiece for my shadowbox display!
 
If you got any questions on these let me know. I got my first one about 20 years ago and have liked them and picked up a few here and there. About 3 years ago I had about 150 or so of them and just started going nuts trying to find every variation of them and every numbered unit possible. A lot of dug disks obviously don't bring the value non dug. A lot of collector won't have them. Me I have probably on a guess without counting about 30 or so that were dug mainly at Camp Cody, Columbus New Mexico, and Fort Huachuca. Several from the 24th Infantry (Buffalo Soldiers), 134th Inf, 135th Inf, a couple Cavalry disks, and even a Wyoming disk (the only one pricier on state militia disks is the D.C.). My favorite dug disk (besides my Wyoming one) is a artillery disk that has the number 109 engraved above and the letters TMB (Trench Mortar Battalion) engraved below. Was dug at Camp Cody. Normal dug disks range from $5-$30 depending on the disk, HOWEVER, this disk would certainly be an exception to that price range as it isn't a normal dug disk. Whatever you do, you can wipe the dirt off but don't clean it with anything other then a little water and your fingers. Any chemicals or abrasives greatly diminish the value. If you choose to part with it do let me know.

Charlie
 
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