United States. A Pair Of First War Usa Trench Art Brass German Shell Cases, 1918

A pair of commemorative trench art brass shell cases. First shell with a design incorporating the inscriptions "AEF - 1918 / VERDUN / CHATEAU / THIERRY / ARGONNE / ST-MHL / TOUL" in large capital letters, the "TOUL" with "TO" at one end and "EH" at the other, with a copper disk bearing the United States coat-of-arms, along with a silvered zinc army button bearing the German Imperial crown embedded, on a dimpled background, marked "H.L. / 37 / AUG. 1918 / 2 / 67% Cu (copper) / EL28" on the bottom. Second shell with a design incorporating the inscription "TO MOTHER AEF 1918" over four lines, with a large army star within a ruled box, with dual chevrons and "CHATEAU / THIERRY / TOUL / ST-MEHIEL" hand-engraved on either side of "TO", on a dimpled background, marked "DL / H.L. / 29 / JULI 1918 / 67% Cu (copper) / 2 / EL28" on the bottom. Both shells measure 90 mm in diameter at the base x 230 mm in height, and weigh approximately 1.8 kilograms for the pair. Near extremely fine.