What is it?

[Trap]

  Wifes cousin gave me this, do any of you know what it is. Round disk 2'' across 5/8 thick. Made of lead or alloy. seems a little hard for pure lead. has U.S.stamped in one side letters are 5/8 high. Letters look like the letters on horse gear.   jt

[Cactus Rope]

  Wifes cousin gave me this, do any of you know what it is. Round disk 2'' across 5/8 thick. Made of lead or alloy. seems a little hard for pure lead. has U.S.stamped in one side letters are 5/8 high. Letters look like the letters on horse gear.   jt

Trap, is it lead colored or brass and does it have any type of attaching mechanism? From your description, if it does, it could be the insignia from the headstall or bit of a cavalry bridle. You might check the sites that make military cavalry gear if you havn't already done so.

hope this helps.

Bob Little

[Major 2]

Sounds like a draft Mule headstall....

[Texas Lawdog]

Yessir, That sounds about right.

[St. George]

It's from a Mule headstall...

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Forty Rod]

2" x 5/8"?  Pretty heavy.

[Trap]

  No, sorry I must not of explained it well. Is a disk only, lead colored but if it was brass, from the top view would look like the piece from a headstall except the letters are pushed into the disk instead of being raised. 2" dia. and 5/8 thick heavy as lead. again I think it is a lead alloy.

[St. George]

A photo 'would' be nice...

That said - look at the rim - do you see any anomalies like holes or places where something was cut?

It 'could' be a seal for a railroad car...

Usually seals on smaller items were on the thin (1/8") side - but for large things such as a rail car - there'd be some size to them.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Trap]

   No holes ect. solid disk!

[Trap]

  Is everyone giving up?

[Charles B Gatewood]

Trap,

I agree with St George. It may very well be a lead seal. Go to  dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/castlehill/chpteleven.htm
and look at the seals they show. Some appear to be similar to what you describe.
Let us know if you find out.

Regards,
CBG

[Trap]

  Could be , but it has no way of attachment. I will bring it to the NCOWS convention and we can continue the puzzle there.

[Drydock]

Could it be a stamping die?  I've seen round dies like that, used to stamp buttons  and other insignia.  It would be a positive or backside die.  Possibly made of Linotype, very hard lead, to be melted and remolded as it wore.

[Texas Lawdog]

That might be a good contest at the Convention. Guess what it is?

[litl rooster]

survey marker

[Texas Lawdog]

That's another possibility.

[St. George]

I've collected US Militaria for decades - one thing I found early on, is that not everything marked 'US' was actually 'US-issue'.

There were/are firms with those letters and they mark their products proudly - no doubt riding the coat-tails of association.

Sometimes, there just isn't an answer until a photo or a catalog shows the exact thing.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Trap]

   Drydock. Your guess looks and sounds the most reasonable so far except it would be a reversei mage.

[Drydock]

No, its a backside stamp.  large insignia would be stamped from the backside, giving a positive image, then cut out.  Most brass insignia is done this way.

[Trap]

   The letters are pressed into the "lead"