Very Cool WWI Mk.II "BUY W.S.S." Grenade

[J.Q.M.D.]

Greetings all,

 

I recently won this very cool grenade at an auction and I thought I would share it here.  I really bought it for the early cutback fuse, but I may just keep it as is.  It's a WWI Mk.II Pineapple that was converted into a coin bank.  It has "BUY W.S.S." (Buy War Savings Stamps) on the side and a slot cut into it for coins.  I haven't been able to find much info on these, so if anyone could offer some insight into it, I would greatly appreciate it!  For now it'll sit proudly next to my other WWI Mk.II. 

[Persian Gulf Command]

Nice find. As you stated the early cut back fuse is what you wanted. It's especially nice with the P&FC marking on the lever.

 

Just wondering which auction you attended. Was there more Inert Ordnance offered? I'm finding less available as time goes by.

[manayunkman]

Very nice piece but where is the coin slot?

[daskrieg]

coin slot is under the word "BUY" in the groove

[J.Q.M.D.]

10 hours ago, Persian Gulf Command said:

Nice find. As you stated the early cut back fuse is what you wanted. It's especially nice with the P&FC marking on the lever.

 

Just wondering which auction you attended. Was there more Inert Ordnance offered? I'm finding less available as time goes by.

 

I got it at an auction held by Centurion Auctions in Florida.  There were several other lots of grenades and other ordnance I bid on, but this was the only one I was able to get.  Also in my lot was a nice earlier Mk.II with the OD overpaint.

[Persian Gulf Command]

1 minute ago, J.Q.M.D. said:

 

I got it at an auction held by Centurion Auctions in Florida.  There were several other lots of grenades and other ordnance I bid on, but this was the only one I was able to get.  Also in my lot was a nice earlier Mk.II with the OD overpaint.

Thank you!

[Usa1918]

I was wondering who outbid me.....

[thorin6]

Article

[thorin6]

This might be easier to read:

 

[J.Q.M.D.]

On 9/8/2022 at 8:44 PM, thorin6 said:

This might be easier to read:

 

 

That's really cool!  Thanks for posting that. Any idea what the date is on the newspaper?

[thorin6]

Newspaper date was 9 July 1919.