Small heavy mistery items. Need help to ID.

[pax_in_ma]

Small heavy mistery item. Need help to ID.

Hi guys,

Found this item in an eastern Mass colonial field that has been pounded over the years. Most of what we dig today is early 1900 to now, most is trash. The round piece seems to be brass. There is an iron piece in the middle. The brass piece does not seem to be broken. Shape is symetrical. There are two numbers engraved on the brass piece 9 and 0. There might also be a letter V but could be a scratch. I attached a bunch of pictures from different angles to help with the ID process. Thanks for your help.

Patrick,

 

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[deepsecrets]

Counter weight from early balance scale?

 

[pax_in_ma]

Counter weight from early balance scale?

Could be. Best guess so far. Looked at 100s of scale counter weight pictures and did not see anything like it. Maybe there was a 2nd piece that fit into this one. I need to weight it to see if there is a correlation between the weight and the engraved numbers.
It is shaped like a spoon bowl. Wondering if it could be part of a mold.

 

[ARC]

Pendulum ?

 

[DCMatt]

I've seen 3 or 4 of these over the years on this forum and at my MD club. We have never ID'd them 100%. Lots of guesses tho...

DCMatt

 

[artemis moon]

Fishing weight?

 

[mcl]

I'm no expert but your item has a lot of visual similarities with civil war era artillery/grenades/projectiles, etc. Here is one site with pictures of artillery: Ridgeway Reference Library, Civil War artillery and a handy link to an image search for grenades, if you like: https://www.google.com/search?q=civil+war+grenades&safe=off&es_sm=93&biw=1455&bih=726&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVChMI0Yn4uYCnxwIVSlweCh0yhAGD

 

[Crispin]

The middle of it is rusted out iron that has completely oxidized over time. The outside is obviously a metal with a more stable outer valence electron shell that can withstand time and the elements. I know nothing about this area...but the question that needs to be answered here is, "why would iron be wrapped in a copper/bronze alloy?" Answer that question and you have the ID. I'm not smart enough to figure that out. I think ARC1 may be able to...(putting you on the spot, lol)

 

[Crispin]

Fishing weight?

I don't think so. Why would a fishing weight have an iron core and the be wrapped around with a more expensive metal?

 

[sutphin]

PAX DONT KNOW WHAT YOU GOTS BUT IS A COOL LOOKING RELIC. UPDATE LOOKS LIKE A PEAR SHAPED SCALE WEIGHT FROM 1700S FOR A BALANCE BEAM SCALE.

 

[DCMatt]

Steam engine flyball weights?