Item found at 1890s'ish house in front yard.

[Noah_D]

I am not sure what this is made of but I think possibly brass or bronze... it is non-magnetic and somewhat heavy. I found it at a house from around the 1890s just outside of cleveland, which I was told used to be a shop. the front yard was very small and I was surprised to even get a couple of targets; this, a modern quarter, and two or three modern pennies. If anyone has any idea what this might be please let me know!
Thanks in advance, Noah

 

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[Peyton Manning]

Broken fence picket top, cast metal

 

[Noah_D]

Broken fence picket top, cast metal

Thats a pretty good thought. It seems like it would be about the right size and would make sense for the area. The only doubt I have is that it is not the same on both sides, the only fences similar to this I have seen have been pretty much symmetric on both sides of the fence. I am no fence expert though. Thank you.

 

[DCMatt]

Letter opener. Turn of the 20th C.

 

[Noah_D]

Letter opener. Turn of the 20th C.

View attachment 1776951

Thanks DCMatt, I think you might be on to something. How thick would a letter opener be?

 

[DCMatt]

Thanks DCMatt, I think you might be on to something. How thick would a letter opener be?

A letter opener might be relatively thin. If it is thick it may be a "paper knife". You typically see these listed by antiques dealers as a 'page turner'. They are not.

A common problem in Victorian (and earlier) era printing was uncut pages.



A book owner needed a way to cut the pages so they could be easily read. Hence, the paper knife. Today, we've lost sight of that problem and the tool used to solve it because most of the surviving old books have the pages already cut.