any ideas what it is?

[buzzgator]

was told it may be a drivers license.

 

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[jdsarasin8194]

was told it may be a drivers license.

I dont think its a license, and i cant tell what the bottom lettering is because of your flash...

 

[CRUSADER]

whats the letters around the edge? I can see DEPT. (Department)

 

[buzzgator]

the bottom says UG DEPT and the top has A.C.L then a hole and what looks like OPEN but not sure on the OPEN because of damage to tag. Center of tag is 1786 and May 1909

 

[whynot]

Maybe ACL stands for Atlantic Coast Line Railroad... Started operations in 1900 and bought out the old JT&KW RR in 1904 (Palatka, FL). Just a guess...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Coast_Line_Railroad

-whynot

 

[buzzgator]

Maybe ACL stands for Atlantic Coast Line Railroad... Started operations in 1900 and bought out the old JT&KW RR in 1904 (Palatka, FL). Just a guess...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Coast_Line_Railroad

-whynot

I am going to guess that you are right as it was found at a homesite within 200 yards of train tracks and the site is loaded with railroad spikes! alot of spikes I have never seen some with nbo heads and some with a hook coming off the side. But what was the tag used for? what did it tag? Thanks for the help.

 

[Breezie]

was told it may be a drivers license.

It's not a driver's license or license plate. The first driver's license was issued in New Jersey in 1913. The first license plate was issued in New York in 1901; below is a pic. Neat find! Breezie

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

the bottom says UG DEPT and the top has A.C.L then a hole and what looks like OPEN but not sure on the OPEN because of damage to tag. Center of tag is 1786 and May 1909

Could we see a better pic. It doesnt look like A.C.L. Post a couple pics please especially these 2 areas.

 

[deepskyal]

I see dead people....

Really...I see 4786...not 1786. And it looks to me like the letters on top are A.C.M. ...then the hole. (ACME)...maybe the coyote ordered something...lol "BEEP-BEEP!"

My guess is it's a freight tag of some sort...possibly to a specific rail car or a particular item that needed an inventory count.
They use bands on doors of railcars as a sort of theft deterrent and ID.

The way that hole<s> look is kinda like a duel loop to thread a band thru

Al

 

[buzzgator]

I see dead people....

Really...I see 4786...not 1786. And it looks to me like the letters on top are A.C.M. ...then the hole. (ACME)...maybe the coyote ordered something...lol "BEEP-BEEP!"

My guess is it's a freight tag of some sort...possibly to a specific rail car or a particular item that needed an inventory count.
They use bands on doors of railcars as a sort of theft deterrent and ID.

The way that hole<s> look is kinda like a duel loop to thread a band thru

Al

batteries died in cam. Im positive on the 1786 and the A.C.L. and UG DEPT. Will post better pics once the batteries recharge....

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I see the 1786 now and I think I see the L but the A looks like a triangle. I think I see MAY 1909 but I dont think its a patent.

Better pics would help tremendously, so we can guess and google the missing letters. One letter off and the search goes in the wrong direction. We need to be able to guess at the amount of digits along with different letter combinations. For instance how many letters are we missing before DEPT? How sure are you on the UG? Are there letters before or after UG?

 

[buzzgator]

new pics

 

[jdsarasin8194]

Thats not better, it just makes it blury.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

That first pic is in great focus, just a small shadow on bottom, so the others must be human error. You are either moving the camera or you are not pausing halfway to let the lens focus. Or maybe you are just too close and need to back up an inch or so. I guess good phototography is a learned skill..

Also outside lighting will eliminate flash reflection.


You should be able to get the entire token in one good clear picture. Watch your shadows and be careful not to cut off anything important. Push the button momentarily pausing to let the lens focus. Daylight is by far the best lighting unless you are set up. If you are too close the screen, it will tell you if its blurry. Back up an inch or so until it looks focused. Some cameras work closer than others. Thanks.

 

[Noodle]

I guess good phototography is a learned skill..

Good photography has a great deal to do with the quality of the camera. Digital cameras, believe it or not, are NOT good with closeups. Unless you have several thousands of dollars to devote to a top 35mm camera with all the lenses and caps and etc., which most of us don't, you do the best with what you have.

Noodle

 

[chipveres]

This is a suggestion rather than a fact: It may be a pole tag for the telegraph that went with the railroad. The pole number helps to locate line faults, and the date indicates when the pole needs to be replaced.

Chip V.

 

[Ramitt]

I guess good phototography is a learned skill..

Good photography has a great deal to do with the quality of the camera. Digital cameras, believe it or not, are NOT good with closeups. Unless you have several thousands of dollars to devote to a top 35mm camera with all the lenses and caps and etc., which most of us don't, you do the best with what you have.

Noodle

Complete rubbish, good photography is possible with pretty much any decent camera, it is just learning how to do it. That high end camera takes crappy pics if you don't know how to use it. Learn how to use the macro setting, or if you don't have one experiment with the minimum focus distance, the manual may even tell it. Good pictures are taken by good photographers, not fancy equipment.

 

[buzzgator]

I guess good phototography is a learned skill..

Good photography has a great deal to do with the quality of the camera. Digital cameras, believe it or not, are NOT good with closeups. Unless you have several thousands of dollars to devote to a top 35mm camera with all the lenses and caps and etc., which most of us don't, you do the best with what you have.

Noodle

OK OK I am a crappy photographer! Now that we got that out of the way.. Sure the pictures arent perfect but its not hard to see what the tag says only problems I have seeing are the damaged parts... This thread wasnt started to critique my photpgraphy skills it was started to ID a piece of metal! Thanks to everyone for their ideas as to what it is..

Complete rubbish, good photography is possible with pretty much any decent camera, it is just learning how to do it. That high end camera takes crappy pics if you don't know how to use it. Learn how to use the macro setting, or if you don't have one experiment with the minimum focus distance, the manual may even tell it. Good pictures are taken by good photographers, not fancy equipment.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I guess good phototography is a learned skill..

Good photography has a great deal to do with the quality of the camera. Digital cameras, believe it or not, are NOT good with closeups. Unless you have several thousands of dollars to devote to a top 35mm camera with all the lenses and caps and etc., which most of us don't, you do the best with what you have.

Noodle

Im sorry noodle but I disagree.. Taking good pictures to post online is a learned skill and decent pictures can be had with an inexpensive autofocus digital camera. I use an old digital Sony Mavica MVC-FD85 (the FD-83 is good too) with floppy disc and they can be found on eBay for under 30 dollars. Yes thats $20-$30. My camera is only 1.3 megapixels but it has a Macro lens and I can post great close up pictures. I can get as close as 2 inches, I think. Problem is you need a floppy drive. There are other good closeup cameras on the market but I prefer the old ones..

If you didnt notice, his first picture is properly focused. So the problem is not the camera. The camera didnt crop off the bottom and its not the cameras fault it cast a shadow.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

OK OK I am a crappy photographer! Now that we got that out of the way.. Sure the pictures arent perfect but its not hard to see what the tag says only problems I have seeing are the damaged parts... This thread wasnt started to critique my photpgraphy skills it was started to ID a piece of metal! Thanks to everyone for their ideas as to what it is..

Im sorry buzzgator if I offended you. I am just trying to help and taking good pics is not hard. With out-of-focus, chopped off pictures, I cannot ID your item. The important areas we need to see are either chopped of, out of focus or in the shadows. The pics are also so large I cannot view them on my screen.

The trick is to look in your LCD screen. What you see is what you get.