This is a nice original piece! It is an original non-excavated Civil War artillery insignia. This is the pattern that is made of stamped brass in the design of the crossed cannon that was designed to go on the front of the shako style military hats. This non-regulation pattern was supplied to militia units or officers that bought them, it features an old style of cannons. This is the pattern illustrated as figure #275 of the great headgear book by Campbell & O'Donnell on page #127. They measure 2 inches across by 1-1/4th inches in overall size. This one is a fine non-excavated specimen with excellent detail. On the back of the insignia it still has all four brass attachment loops. We just picked this piece up out of a collection in Ohio. What a great piece of Civil War artillery officer's insignia. We got a good buy on this one and thought we would pass it along.