Hello Coop47,
The ornate truss rod cover was part of an optional 'gold parts' package that included Gold Grover RotoMatics and a gold endpin. It was available on all acoustics, but it seems like not a whole lot of people fell for it, since you hardly ever see a guitar with those parts.
The truss rod cover has been used off-and-on on several other high-end models, but again those are also somewhat rare.
It turns out there was also an identical cover with a nickel finish, of which I found some in the parts room that I mentioned in earlier postings.
Sincerely,
Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
