🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Gear made from a one cent copper? Year ID?

[Underwonder]

I found this gear which seemed pretty substantial and when I cleaned it up, it appears to have leaves and letters. I have twisted and turned it in the light and it seems to say “ONE CENT” and have a wreath. The onverse is more difficult to see. My best guess is between 1796 and 1804 penny based on the face looking right, and the distinctive patch of hair bumped out in the middle… Any other ideas on this date? …or why a gear was fashioned from a penny? and for what purpose? Thanks!

 

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[Retired Sarge]

Necessity is the mother of all inventions......Or in this case you make due with what you have.

I think it's cool and just goes to show how people of the time re-purposed what they had on hand to repair something. Unlike in today's "Instant" and "Throw-a-way" world we live in.

 

[RJGMC]

I am going to guess it was made to replace a missing rowel off of a cowboys spur.

 

[Underwonder]

I am going to guess it was made to replace a missing rowel off of a cowboys spur.

Thanks, RJGMC. Interesting thought and thanks for the new vocabulary word for me…rowel…

 

[l.cutler]

I think you nailed it down as close as you will get as to what year it is. Quite likely made to replace a clock gear, I think the teeth are way too small for use as a spur rowel.

 

[DizzyDigger]

I think you nailed it down as close as you will get as to what year it is. Quite likely made to replace a clock gear, I think the teeth are way too small for use as a spur rowel.

Not so much, really. I can't imagine anyone actually using those big spikes (teeth) on a horse, although there were people who did. Grew up with horses, and never once had to use spurs to get a horse to move. I did have a pair of blunt spurs, but don't recall any time when I wore them.

When you need a small gear, a round copper disk makes it ideal to be fashioned by someone with minimal tools available.

 

[Tony in SC]

Could have been a spur. The precision of the teeth makes think escapement gear for an old clock?

 

[RedLeaf]

1st thing I thought was homemade whirligig/ buzz saw toy, but I have never seen an example w/ a single hole, but then I havent seen many of these

 

[pepperj]

I'm liking the find a lot.
The repurposing of a LC into a functional item is so cool.
Got one cent they have a replacement-cost effective-as they might had to go to town (miles and miles away) or it just wasn't available and had to be ordered in.
Though I'm thinking it was made into a pastry jigger.

 

[Mackaydon]

Here's one used as a clock gear:

http://www.early-copper.com/coinpics/1795gear.jpg

and another used as a gear:

http://www.early-copper.com/coinpics/1820-19gear.jpg

Don.....

 

[Underwonder]

1st thing I thought was homemade whirligig/ buzz saw toy, but I have never seen an example w/ a single hole, but then I havent seen many of these

Cool, RedLeaf! Thanks for the image too.

 

[Underwonder]

I'm liking the find a lot.
The repurposing of a LC into a functional item is so cool.
Got one cent they have a replacement-cost effective-as they might had to go to town (miles and miles away) or it just wasn't available and had to be ordered in.
Though I'm thinking it was made into a pastry jigger.
View attachment 1990841

So many good ideas! Thanks, Pepperj! I have always wanted to find a holed coin but this was pretty ingenious. I was happy I inspected it closely and found the detail to know it was from a coin. It just felt thicker than other gears I have found. Thanks for the pic.!

 

[dozer dan]

Home made pattern tracing wheel

 

[RedLeaf]

dozer dan, that could be a strong possibility, I use them to make patterns & stitch spacing in leather work, always called them pouncing wheels

 

[Plug N Play]

"Time is money.
If you've got the money, honey, I've got the time."

Said the clockmaker to the maiden with the broken clock.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Clock, you say?

 

[Underwonder]

Home made pattern tracing wheel

dozer dan….another very practical item and plausible use! Thanks.

 

[Underwonder]

Here's one used as a clock gear:

http://www.early-copper.com/coinpics/1795gear.jpg

and another used as a gear:

http://www.early-copper.com/coinpics/1820-19gear.jpg

Don.....

Interesting!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

IMHO, your find is definitely a homemade replacement for a spur's lost rowel. We find the same thing in civil war Confederate cavalry encampments. (The Rebs often did not have the luxury of simply going to the Quartermaster to be handed a whole replacement spur, and tossing their old lost-rowel spur into the trash pit.)

Plug N Play's photo of a tub full of clock gears shows a hugely important difference between the "form" of a gear's teeth and your find. The teeth on your rowel-replacement taper to a point IN ALL DIRECTIONS. (Like the top of the Egyptian Pyramid... all four of its sides taper to form a sharp point at the top.) Gear-teeth taper to a point in one direction but in the other direction are wide and flat all the way to the tooth's tip.

Also, in order for the gear to function properly, its teeth MUST be identical in shape and precisely evenly spaced. Your find's teeth show small but important differences in shape and spacing, which would be important if your find was used for a "mechanical" purpose.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Very cool find I think whatever it's use was it was very ingenious to repurpose a penny. I actually have done it with two pennies to fix my overall straps they folded to the same size and shape as the piece that broke off.