Etched copper plate??

[jbwish]

I was out metal detecting in some remote hills in SD I found this buried about 7" down. Was watching the show "Expedition Unknown" and the subject came up about coded copper treasure maps. When I found this, about a year ago, I wrote it off as someone practicing etching but now kinda curious. It measures 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. Any thoughts?

 

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[hvacker]

Looks thin. How thick is the copper? Can you make out what it says?

 

[ScubaDetector]

The only interesting thing I see is a date Jan, 17. 1893. You have the numbers 1 - 0 and some random letters. I am wondering if someone was just doodling on copper for practice to write on another metal? I see upper and lower case letters also. I am keeping to my guess, a practice piece before writing on something important like a signet ring

 

[Bruce R]

I'm thinking early printing processes called etchings which used a copper plate as a "master"

 

[hvacker]

I've done copper plate etching and a couple problems I see is the press exerts a lot of pressure and the plates need to be heavy.
Possible these were put through a press and got damaged.