Just Found 2 of These in England Now One Here Yesterday...

Erik in NJ · Sep 3, 2012

Not sure what these things are. They are about 3.5 cm in diameter and there's a stud in the center on one side and a recess in the other side that has three countersuck screw holes inside it. Anyone else dug these. Ironic that I just dug my first two in England last week and then found another here at an old house in the US. This one seems to be made of brass as seen where I scratched it. Thanks for any help.

Charles Spurgeon · Sep 3, 2012

world war II something?

Erik in NJ · Sep 3, 2012

I think they are quite a bit older than that...my guess based on the other items that I was finding at both sites is that they date back to the mid-1800's.

taz42o · Sep 3, 2012

Dont know what they are but Ive seen many dug and have seen them posted here before. They are not all the same.

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deepsecrets · Sep 3, 2012

Tops off old glass jar batteries?

BFO · Sep 3, 2012

Ends off window pull down shad
es?

Erik in NJ · Sep 3, 2012

Hi BFO,

Funny you say that because one I found in England had charred remains in the recess and it appears that a wooden dowel would go there held by three screws (looks as though it may have been discarded in a fire pit). I was hoping they were from something a bit more interesting than that

..... Did they make pull down window shades back in the 1800's? I would have guessed that those were a fairly modern invention. It was ironic that I dug my first two of these last week in England in old ground and then just unearthed one here in the US a couple days ago. Regards, Erik

Erik in NJ · Sep 3, 2012

Hi Taz, very interesting.....I'll have to clean off the other two from England and post them. Nice collection there.....hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this one!

Erik in NJ · Sep 3, 2012

Hi DS,

Do you happen to have a pic of an actual battery to check it against? Thanks.

oldsoapy · Sep 4, 2012

Ends to the rod of wood that held a roller blind. ?

taz42o · Sep 4, 2012

There is an old post here about those maybe someone can find it. I remember the suggestion of roller blind ends but dont know if it was ever solved. There were Victorian roller blinds that used a type of clutch not like the modern spring loaded ones But I cant find a pic of one of those.
They are not battery jar tops.

kuger · Sep 4, 2012

Erik in NJ said:
I think they are quite a bit older than that...my guess based on the other items that I was finding at both sites is that they date back to the mid-1800's.

Yes,they do date to the mid 1800's so rule out Batts.I am pretty sure they are some part of lamps

Erik in NJ · Sep 4, 2012

kuger said:
Yes,they do date to the mid 1800's so rule out Batts.I am pretty sure they are some part of lamps

That's what I thought originally. The first one I found had charred remains inside the raised circle thing -- although the item didn't appear to have been burned in a fire I thought maybe it was used to hold a candle or something. By looking at the photo posted above some are not very symmetrical looking which might possibly rule out blinds. Could they have been used as part of horse tack? The brass base metal indicates they were decorative, though there don't seem to be any designs or markings on them.