This is a regulation US Model 1863 artillery bit showing mottled color from losses to its tin coating revealing the underlying iron, and a few spots of resulting standing rust. The rings and bosses are in place. The latter are the smaller cavalry style with a simple “US” in raised letters on stippled ground within a circle. This is sometimes called the M1863 “type-4,” or the Model 1864. McPheeters and Dorsey, however, think it is an arsenal refurbishing to bring it into line with an 1868 directive that new bits would be tinned and older bits, when brought in for cleaning or repair would also be tinned rather than re-blued or plated. They posit that the older entwined USA bosses on the bit would not stand up to removal for the tinning process and were thus replaced by the cavalry style after the tinning.  [sr] [ph:L]

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