Any Ideas what this is?

[kevo]

This was found in a ladies yard which is literally 55 feet from a civil war fort (however I am not implying this is a civil war era piece). I only found half. On the front it would have said Louisville, Ky (Ky stamped twice). Pics of front and back

 

[whodom]

Could you give us measurements? Thanks for posting this. Whodom

 

[{Sentinel}]

No, I don't think anyone is jumping to conclusions. The fact is that MOST Civil War I.D. Tags were round. However, that does not mean that some ole boy didnt make his own out of scrap. We know that this was actually the case in many other circumstances so yes it would be foolish to think to the contrary.

 

[imafishingnutt]

some times electric companys and fire hydrents had tags on them
is thier a fire hydrent next to where this was located if so ask your local water company

 

[DDEXPII]

it is a hand

 

[CRUSADER]

It could also be an old key fob from a business in Louisville, KY. Perhaps a boarding house.

If you try to research it, realize that they often listed the name of the proprietor on things like this. Even just the initials sometimes.

It looks like it has been buried quite awhile......a very interesting find!

This is what I thought, well the key fob bit anyway. Or a luggage tag

 

[diggummup]

Here's my thoughts on looking at it. The lettering looks like it is spaced unevenly, leading me to believe it was not mass produced. The "L" on the one side has a "dot" before it so I don't think the number "59" comes into play. The "ILLE KY" although probable, doesn't neccessarily mean Louisville, there are many towns in KY with the same last 4 letters. Some examples would be Shepherdsville, Millville, Mortonsville, Hollonsville, Bellville, Steubenville, Parmleysville, Touristville, Cissellville, Mackville, Mooresville, Pottsville, Jenkinsville, Sharpsville, Thompsonville, Polkville, Pondsville, Richardsville or a number of others. That was just the 7 counties that start with the letter W for all those towns. There are more than a hundred towns in KY that end in ILLE. The J.W. W on the one side is obviously the start of someone's name such as J.W.Wilcox or Wallace or something else starting with W. Having said all of this I still don't have a clue as to what it actually is. My first thought upon seeing it was also an advertising shoehorn but now I don't know.