✅ SOLVED Any ideas on this brass rivet / spool thing?

[Tedyoh]

Hi - found in North Central PA at a site where the oldest coin found was an 1864 IHP. The diameter is .728 and the length is .650. It is solid one piece construction, not pressed together like a rivet. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

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[Mud Hut]

looks like a leather rivet, probably off of a harness, but could be off of numerous other things.

 

[bigfoot1]

agree with mud hut.one on right is bridal rivet.note they appear one piece as they are hot hammered/pressed


...and yours..

 

[Tedyoh]

OK - thanks guys - one dumb question though, if it's not hammered, pressed or screwed, how did they attach the leather together with the rivet?

 

[BosnMate]

Kind of like a cufflink, used in adjusting leather straps. Could be used for adjusting harness where there is no strain on the leather, like the straps that hold the britchin' in place. The only one I recall seeing was on a belt for humans, which folded over for adjustment on the buckle end. Don't know how well it worked. Seems like it would be common if it worked good. On harness and other leather there are copper rivets and burrs, and you can usually tell where the rivet is upset to hold the burr in place. There are also tubular rivets, but they don't look anything like your find.

 

[Tedyoh]

Harness related makes sense as crotal bells and rosettes were found at the same site - thanks everyone.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Another method is that the leather had a keyed hole. A circle with a line cut along the lengthwise piece of the leather. The stud slips in and rests in the circle cut-out. The slits are placed where the leather isn't stressed from the pull.

Like in the hole on this guitar strap.

 

[Tedyoh]

I was thinking earlier along those lines Charlie, but you would think with two pieces of leather with that pattern cutout that they would lose rivets faster than they could replace them? Unless it was a snug fit. Thanks for the imput

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I've had camera straps that use that system (heavy old Nikon F2A Photomic) and it works pretty well. The leather will fail before the rivet pulls out.