Found This Little Mystery Today...

DARKCYDE · Apr 12, 2016

2.5" by 1".
Short end has a hinge to open it up.
Side without holes is ferrous.
Side with holes is non-ferrous.

BigWaveDave · Apr 12, 2016

Might it be an old coin holder?

cw0909 · Apr 12, 2016

could a dime and penny fit in the holes
might be a late 1800s change keeper thing

bill_wabo · Apr 12, 2016

Any clue inside?

nhbenz · Apr 12, 2016

I would say its a combination coin purse makeup compact.
Edit: Oops, no, sorry about not reading the size first

DARKCYDE · Apr 12, 2016

A lot of dirt inside. I did find a few long round pieces of what looked like pencil lead, but it doesn't write on anything. I just tried.

DARKCYDE · Apr 12, 2016

cw0909 said:
could a dime and penny fit in the holes
might be a late 1800s change keeper thing

Holes are way too small to fit coins.

cudamark · Apr 13, 2016

I'm think maybe an old style hand warmer.

Bruce R · Apr 13, 2016

I'm not 100% on this, but I believe very early women's makeup was applied with a little bitty brush. Is there any kind of a divider between the holes? It looks like something that would be commonly carried, it also appears to have a place for a monogram.

DARKCYDE · Apr 13, 2016

Bruce R said:
I'm not 100% on this, but I believe very early women's makeup was applied with a little bitty brush. Is there any kind of a divider between the holes? It looks like something that would be commonly carried, it also appears to have a place for a monogram.

There may have been at one point. There appears to have been parts on the inside that corroded away.

DCMatt · Apr 14, 2016

Cigar cutter?

DARKCYDE · Apr 15, 2016

DCMatt said:
Cigar cutter?

View attachment 1299228

The holes seem too small. It also has a hinge on the one short end to open it up. There appears to have been stuff inside that pretty much corroded away.

Lord Verdigris · Apr 15, 2016

Could be way off but reminds me of them little electric cigarette lighters. Little circle for button and big circle for element to light the cigarette. Just a random guess though! [emoji2]

DARKCYDE · Apr 20, 2016

K1DDO1979 said:
Could be way off but reminds me of them little electric cigarette lighters. Little circle for button and big circle for element to light the cigarette. Just a random guess though! [emoji2]

That is a good guess! There did appear to be something inside at one time that corroded away.