Mystery item.

[IMAUDIGGER]

Please excuse what seems like too many pictures.
This one is important to me to identify.
I suspect there are more pieces that I have not found.
Somewhat lightweight cast alloy material.
It's not soft metal and is silver colored with no rust, just patina.
There are notes written in pink if anyone cares to zoom in on each one.
I think they might be legible.
The 4th picture is the only one that shows evidence of use.
Have to zoom in and look carefully.
It was found in a gold mining area in California.
Suspect it dates 1850's to early 1860's
Thank you.

 

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[ARC]

Old icebox / milk box side ?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Any examples that come to mind?
I'd love to see some pictures of something similiar.

 

[ARC]

Merely a guess / suggestion... Hence the "?"

:P

 

[ARC]

You stated that it was not rusting... BUT... did you try magnet ?

Could be galvanized steel perhaps... ?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Not magnetic.
I'm just picking your brain.
It's been a mystery for me for several years and I really want to know what it is.
On the 4th picture, the scratch marks are left and right of the circular holes.
Similiar pattern on each side.

 

[ARC]

Ok so we can rule out steel... Unless corroded stainless ? nah... cant be... ummmmmmmm

Alien spaceship part ?

:P

Tis a weird one... From the pics it LOOKS like steel.

 

[Kray Gelder]

That, IMHO, is a leverite. Don't know, can't tell, not precious metal, not usable, not restorable, might be interesting, probably not. Let it go, and move on. No offense intended.

 

[ARC]

Agreed... leverite .... AKA,,, "Awdabin".

Awdabin left where ya found it. :P

 

[creskol]

For some reason it reminds me of an antique paneled safe-style bank, similar to the one shown below:

 

[Icewing]

Are you sure it's metal? It looks like asbestos to me.

 

[Plug N Play]

Might be a tin tile ?

 

[Tony in SC]

I was going to say old Masonite panel?

Are you sure it's metal? It looks like asbestos to me.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Thanks for the thoughts so far.
It definately is metal and is not soft or very bendable.
I would be super stoked to find more pieces or verify what it was from.
---------
Kray, this is not just some random useless find that has peaked my curiosity. Respectfully, "forget about it and move on", does nothing to help with my request. I'll admit it does kind of rub me the wrong way just because of the nature of this particular forum. Do you have any ideas as to what it could be? It's very obvious to me it's not a precious metal..and is broken beyond repair.
---------

 

[DCMatt]

I'm thinking it's just a piece of a stove.

It's pretty common to find stove parts any place where people have lived for any length of time...

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I'm thinking it's just a piece of a stove.

It's pretty common to find stove parts any place where people have lived for any length of time...

I agree about stove parts being common.
However all the stove parts I have found over the last 30 years have been cast iron or sheet metal.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

It ha the look of old masonite or pressboard to me, was it found with a detector?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

It ha the look of old masonite or pressboard to me, was it found with a detector?

Yes. It really is metal and it was found with a metal detector.
It's not fiber or pressboard.

It looks like it was crudely poured (molten) into a mold.
Definately looks like it was made to look like something more substantial than what it is.

I agree it looks like paneling.
It has at least 3 holes cast into it for reason.
Two of which show some wear adjacent to the holes.

The pieces found were scattered over 1000 feet of ground.
It was likely broken and spread around by a dozer because it was found in a linear fashion.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I can't find an exact match online, but my best guess would be part of an old metal shipping crate, like the ones used tears ago for eggs and milk...

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I can't find an exact match online, but my best guess would be part of an old metal shipping crate, like the ones used tears ago for eggs and milk...

The interesting part is that three edges are "finished" or not broken. No holes for screws or bolts other than the two you see.