2 flat peices of lead found right next to each other

[clf_02]

Thought maybe buttons but don't know how you would attach them. So any ideas?

 

[HuntinDog]

roofing nail head washers

 

[clf_02]

Hole isn't all the way through

 

[duggap]

roofing nail head washers

He's correct. It is the head off old roofing nails. Drive you crazy, sound just like a minie ball.

 

[Cycluran]

Interesting... Years ago, when I lived in Vicksburg, I visited Poverty Point, across the river. If you've not had the chance to visit those mounds, it's pretty kewl. Anyway, it was a drizzly, cold day there and I was the only visitor, so I did some exploring. Among the things I spotted were a handful of lead thingies, like yours. They were near each other on a creek bank and I believe they may have been part of an article of clothing. They look like they were pressed into place somehow.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The proper name for them is the lead cap from a roofing nail. They aren't the nail's head, they are a cap which covered the nail's head. Hammering the lead-capped nail into the roofing tightly compresses the lead above, around, and under the nail's head, thus providing a more-effective water seal than a plain nail-head does.

Lead-capped nails go back far into the 1800s (and perhaps even earlier), and they are still made-&-sold today... so their lead caps can be very difficult to time-date.

I've used lead-capped nails myself. Your two finds are definitely the (used) caps off of roofing nails. The probably came off the nail when a roof was replaced.

 

[bbheigle0605]

I find these all the time and they drive me insane! One of the areas we find them the most are in AG fields where old farm houses use to be.