small handle, Austria-France

[BobinSouthVA]

anyone want to take a stab at this? Just a piece of something, about the size of a half dollar

it says

Austria-France

then upsidedown

...R 27.06 & Oct 2....

any ideas?

thanks for looking and HH

 

[creskol]

I think might be part of a stopper for a hot water bag, a canteen, or something of that nature. Definitely a stopper though!

 

[BobinSouthVA]

I think you may be right, it resembles the ones further on in this post I found with google

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=340173.0

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Great work!

...R 27.06 & Oct 2....

Must be MAR 27.06 (1906) patent and possibly this later Oct patent:

 

[BobinSouthVA]

Thanks guys

Now I can just imagine some sick person holding it to themselves 100+ years ago....Ok maybe I don't want to touch it anymore now....

(hmmm how long can small pox survive anyway, maybe I don't want to know)

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Patented 1906 USA, Austria and France. I originally thought it may have been used in WWI, but since it says Austria, must be post war.

The last Habsburg Emperor was overthrown and Austria became a republic in 1918. Patents were only good for 12-15 years so I date this item 1918-1921. It amazing how much can be learned from a scrap piece of metal.