🔎 UNIDENTIFIED A token I can’t figure out.

Merf

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Tia for any help. Looks like it was soldered to something
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Based on the date, it may have something to do with memorializing The Great Chicago Fire? :icon_scratch:

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8 – 10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed 3.3 square miles of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire began in a neighbourhood southwest of the city center. An extended period of hot dry windy conditions, and the wooden construction prevalent in the city, led to the conflagration. The fire leapt the south branch of the Chicago River and destroyed much of central Chicago and then leapt the main branch of the river, consuming the Near North Side.

The fire is claimed to have started at about 8:30 p.m. on October 8, in or around a small barn belonging to the O'Leary family that bordered the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street. The shed next to the barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire. City officials never determined the cause of the blaze, but the rapid spread of the fire due to a long drought in that year's summer, high winds from the southwest, and the rapid destruction of the water pumping system, explain the extensive damage of the mainly wooden city structures. There has been much speculation over the years on a single start to the fire. The most popular tale blames Mrs. O'Leary's cow, who allegedly knocked over a lantern; others state that a group of men were gambling inside the barn and knocked over a lantern. Still other speculation suggests that the blaze was related to other fires in the Midwest that day.
 

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It hard to decipher what's actually written on the piece.
W.M.Westlake?
----
--AT--L
OCT.3
CHICAGO
 

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On Oct. 3, 1871, the company was granted three patents; one for a lantern, another for a sprinkler head; and the third for a platform for a stove. I agree the OP's object was probably affixed to one of the patented objects.
Don.....
Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=BlRHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=Wm.+Westlake+Chicago+Oct.+3+1871&source=bl&ots=dnpvpUQY8s&sig=ACfU3U35AOrQSQfbbuODD03wjXO9uUWySg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjttabV3rr5AhUzK0QIHTCQBSIQ6AF6BAgYEAM#v=onepage&q=Wm. Westlake Chicago Oct. 3 1871&f=false
 

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On Oct. 3, 1871, the company was granted three patents; one for a lantern, another for a sprinkler head; and the third for a platform for a stove. I agree the OP's object was probably affixed to one of the patented objects.
Don.....
Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=BlRHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=Wm.+Westlake+Chicago+Oct.+3+1871&source=bl&ots=dnpvpUQY8s&sig=ACfU3U35AOrQSQfbbuODD03wjXO9uUWySg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjttabV3rr5AhUzK0QIHTCQBSIQ6AF6BAgYEAM#v=onepage&q=Wm. Westlake Chicago Oct. 3 1871&f=false
Yes I agree, William Westlake patent and its most likely one of those three. A patent search might get a lucky hit but I forget how to do it lol and my signal is slow. https://patents.google.com/?inventor=w,+westlake&patents=false&oq=inventor:(w,+westlake)+&page=2
 

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Looking at Don's link to the 1871 patents - Westlake had a "Zinc-board for stoves" March 21 1871 and then the "Platform for stoves" Oct 3 1871., which are the dates on the tag. I don't know if it came off a stove part but it does look to have come off of something. My first guess was a lantern - but now I'm looking at stoves :)

Anyway - here is another that was posted on Worthpoint. They didn't know what it was either but it sold for $30.24.

 

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Upvote 5
Looking at Don's link to the 1871 patents - Westlake had a "Zinc-board for stoves" March 21 1871 and then the "Platform for stoves" Oct 3 1871., which are the dates on the tag. I don't know if it came off a stove part but it does look to have come off of something. My first guess was a lantern - but now I'm looking at stoves :)

Anyway - here is another that was posted on Worthpoint. They didn't know what it was either but it sold for $30.24.

Thanks Bramble. Great info.
 

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Looking at Don's link to the 1871 patents - Westlake had a "Zinc-board for stoves" March 21 1871 and then the "Platform for stoves" Oct 3 1871., which are the dates on the tag. I don't know if it came off a stove part but it does look to have come off of something. My first guess was a lantern - but now I'm looking at stoves :)

Anyway - here is another that was posted on Worthpoint. They didn't know what it was either but it sold for $30.24.

An exact match Bramble. Thanks
 

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