Trace Chain?

[southernrelics]

My wife found this a few weeks ago at a place (GA) we have found bullets, boot plate, civil war fork and 1847 coin, etc-thanks!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[taz42o]

Looks like a trace chain to me, here is one with U.S. on the swivel. Can you read what yours says?

52 inch Civil War US Military Artillery Limber Pole Trace Chain non dug relic | eBay

 

[southernrelics]

Can't read the script-that's the real mystery any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[MrMarsHill]

This is a super old thread, but the script says "Guaranteed". I figure this may help someone in the future, or even the OP. I have lots of experience reading jewelry hallmarks and the like, so I can generally read most marks that aren't disintegrated. Hope that helps!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Despite what uneducated Ebay sellers say, those US-marked horseharness trace-chains are definitely NOT from the civil war. They are from the Spanish-American War era on through World War one and beyond.

As an example of that fact... a farmer friend of mine has almost a dozen of the US-marked trace chains in his grandfather's barn. When the US Army got rid of its horses in the 1930s, the surplus horse equipment was auctioned off to military-surplus dealers and sold to the public.

For anybody here who doesn't know what a trace-chain is, in the drawing below, see the chain at lower right.

The one found by Southernrelics is the same basic form of trace chain as those with a US marking on the metal swivel... but his has a tag marked "Guaranteed"... which strongly indicates it was made for Civilian usage, not Military.

Has anybody here ever seen a civil war Military-usage relic marked Guaranteed? In my 40+ years as a digger and dealer of civil war, I haven't. Ha anybody else? If so, what kind of civil war relic was it?

 

[A2coins]

Good info CBG cool find