Whydah Gally wreck

[reptwar1]

I recently watched a show about the Whydah Gally wreck, and among the artifacts salvaged from it, was a large round lead medallion. I found one that's identicle in my yard near the Arkansas river. This river empties into the gulf of Mexico, so I'm thinking it may be a slave tag from Africa seeing as how the Whydah Gally was captured carrying hundreds of slaves. My yard is an old plantation as well. I will post pics of the Whydah medallion, then mine.

 

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[ARC]

There is a lot of theories on these...

Personally I always felt they were for holding things down on deck... like maps.

Basically a paperweight... IMO of course.

As far as "identical" to yours... similar would be better... for the shape differs slightly.

Cool item none the less... thanks for posting it.

 

[Bum Luck]

What's the size of yours?

I found a very similar lead disc in the tree bank of a 1840s house. I can't figure out what it is.

It is almost round, varying from 1" to 1.1 " in diameter, and about .2" thick. It may have been poured in a lightweight cylinder of sheet metal, but not in a pipe, which is round. It's been in the ground for a long time, very oxidized.

There is no hole or groove in it for attaching a string or wire, so it's not a tag or bag seal; I've found lots of those. Nor a fishing weight.

There are no definable markings that I can see, although the surface is rough, except the edge.

 

[Boatlode]

All of the slave tags I have seen were much thinner.