bigcypresshunter said:
Im thinking ol' relicdude and the others may be correct on this one. Most of them may be ID tags sold blank and were never punched or engraved. I just dont understand why we are not finding more engraved or hand punched examples with names or initials..
Yes, if they were sold for that purpose, you would think that we'd be finding at least Half of them with something on them--be it letters or numbers.
I am not meaning any disrespect to anyone, I'm just stating a fact. Ones with engraved, stamped, or punched information on them are almost totally absent in our actual finds. So it seems to me that we are not finding pieces with that function. Granted, some may have had that function--but that is not what I posted to be ID'ed. I posted Blank ones. And others posted blank ones as well.
So if we have any hope of getting to the bottom of this, we should put the ID disc function/purpose on hold for now and focus on the numerous blank ones posted (the "ID disc" theory was first mentioned a hundred replies ago). If someone could post a link or scan in and post any information from any source that is pre-civil war with more information about these discs being sold, it would strengthen the theory. An early advertisement, or (and this would be Much easier to find) a ledger or expense book with a line item that made reference to these items would also be a great thing to see on this thread. If they were an early promotion of some sort, then the blank examples posted here were very Poor advertising.
One day, someone will find a photo in a book or resource, or see a pre-CW saddle, leather piece of horse tack, or piece of furniture that will show one of these attached.
I actually side with the horse tack idea more than anything else at this point. There was little in this area in the way of furniture in the cabins and early homesteads that I hunt here. During the established date range for these pieces, KY and IN were the Western Frontier. I have read accounts of the living conditions of the early settlers to this area, and there is likewise little mention of furniture or storage of any kind, aside from the small storage area for wool blankets under the staircases of these homes. (I am willing to post these descriptions of the early homesteads in my area, if anyone would like to see them, with citations of the primary documents they are from.) In most cases, early 1800s homesteads here did not even have desks. Most folks did not read or write. This is likewise evidenced by the Deed Books and Will Books for Jefferson County in Kentucky, and Clark and Floyd Counties in Southern Indiana--all three sets of which I have seen in person. The vast majority of these documents contain the notary's words "his mark:" and this is followed by an "X" rather than a signed name. The notary then signed the name in his own handwriting (the same handwriting used in the will or deed itself), and initialed it. So I would imagine that there was less need of even a writing desk during this early time frame in my area.
The idea that these are pieces from a weapon is strengthened by the photo, posted above, of one of these pieces mixed in with other early musket parts--but as Crusader has indicated, he doesn't find other musket-related pieces with any frequency across the pond. He does however find these pieces frequently. I feel that this discrepancy cannot be overlooked. It certainly weakens the "musket piece" theory.
At this point, I am leaning towards the "saddle or horse related" theory, which would explain their strong representation in the panorama of European finds, the early rural "frontier" finds here, and many other types of sites as well. But it may take a book on Federal-Period saddles and horse tack to nail this one down. I can't recall any resources for War of 1812 accoutrements, but that might be another possibility if such a resource exists. If these pieces are horse-related, then they likely saw use during that chapter in American history, and a few of these pieces might have seen wartime use during the Mexican War.
-Buckles
Not really the same concept until we are sure what all these various pieces did. Also must be tons of metal out there that looks similar to that & are used for sorts of various things.
man!
![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
