Found this in area where Revolutionary troops went through and house dates to 1789. I thought it was pewter but after cleaning it up it isn't pewter and it's magnetic. It says something but I can't make it out. Probably just junk. Any ideas?
Could be a sporting jacket button, brass alloy front and iron back. That would explain the design on the front (common for those buttons) and if it gave a “pewter” reading (copper and iron together sometimes rings up as mid-range). The age would be late 1800s to early 1900s.