Shako? Hat pin? Or nothing?

[Vonclemen29]

Well I hunted at a new site is found not too far from an old town that died out in the 1830s an I'm pretty sure this site is that old. Anyway I found this and was wondering if anybody has any ideas. It's brass. An looks to have been silver plated at one time.

 

[Vonclemen29]

One for scale

 

[Carolina Tom]

I saw this earlier...

I looks old, and hand engraved, but that random design baffles me. If had numbers or letters or anything but that cross hatch on it, I would believe it to be something really good. It looks like a hat pin, but with nothing identifiable on it, I can only guess and say that it was for fashion purposes, as opposed to a military pin that would tell about the soldier's rank or unit.

Just my humble opinion.