Item Number: A00778
Item Title: Real Nice 3-Inch Absterdams Type-III Shell
Price: $125
Shipping: Not included
Provenance: US
Type: Absterdam Shells
Size: 3 Inch
Sabot: Brass Band
Fuse: Absterdam (Missing)
Book:
Dickey and George (1993 Edition) Page 71
Melton and Pawl (Paperback Editon) Page 85 B-3
Location Recovered: Non-Battlefield
Description:While this Type-III Absterdam shell was wartime in manufacture having been patented in February 1864, there are no confirmed battlefield recoveries. Still, it is a very neat shell and deserving of a place in a Civil War collection as it was intended to be used but didn't seem to make it though the purchasing process and out to the field in time.
The shell body is very similar to the Parrott Type-II shell but the sabot is heftier and goes deeper into the shell. The one with the sabot in the images is shown to show how they looked with the sabot. The sabot also has the patent date: "Absterdams Patent, Feb. 28 1864". There were a number of these used in Gettysburg displays that are now on the market as well as from Bannerman's. But you rarely see one without a sabot showing the construction.
This shell has beautiful iron. It is missing the fuses as is usually the case. The Absterdam fuses are quite rare and worth a good bit of money. You can't beat it for the price.