Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown - New Pics added

rjs123

rjs123

Full Member
Dec 14, 2009
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Richmond VA
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Found this at an 1830s Plantation Site in an area where there were slave cabins. It appears to be brass. I know VR stands for Victoria Regina meaning it was made after 1819 when Victoria became queen.

It is exactly 1 3/4 inches high. No markings at all on the back. About the thickness of a large cent with blunt edge all the way around.

It does not appear to be broken off of anything. Which has me wondering what it was used for.

arrowhead_shaped_brass.jpg


back01.jpg

Here is the back. Doesnt appear to have been attached to anything.

back02.jpg

Here is a closeup of the only spot on the back where something might have been attached but I dont think so. The small rough spot is not even in the center.
 

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Re: Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown

Although I have never seen one that shape,I beleive it is a key hole cover off of a lock
 

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Re: Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown

kuger said:
Although I have never seen one that shape,I beleive it is a key hole cover off of a lock
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. You could be right. I would think it would have pivoted on something to uncover the key hole. There is nothing real obvious on the back that would tell me it was broken off of something but its a little rough and hard to tell. There is the slightest bit of a spot in the upper center that could mean something was attached. Not sure though.
 

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Re: Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown

Very interesting!Thats the only other place I can recall seeing the "VR"I want to say that stands for Victoria Regal?
 

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Re: Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown

Cant help with an ID but it is a sweet find. I'll be staying tuned to see if you get a positive ID. :icon_thumright:
 

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Re: Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown

Kuger wrote:
> I want to say that stands for Victoria Regal?

Your're pretty close. :) Actually, the VR marking stands for "Victoria Regina" ...which is Latin for "Victoria Queen."

For anybody who doesn't already know:
The Latin word Regina is the feminine form and the masculine form is the more-familiar "Rex," which means king. Thus, coins (and etc.) say "Georgius Rex."
 

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Re: Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown

TheCannonballGuy said:
Kuger wrote:
> I want to say that stands for Victoria Regal?

Your're pretty close. :) Actually, the VR marking stands for "Victoria Regina" ...which is Latin for "Victoria Queen."

For anybody who doesn't already know:
The Latin word Regina is the feminine form and the masculine form is the more-familiar "Rex," which means king. Thus, coins (and etc.) say "Georgius Rex."
Click to expand...

Yea,thats what it was!!Thanks CBG!!Now,what is it?i was hoping you would know!! :laughing7:
 

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Re: Arrowhead Shaped Brass Marked VR with Crown

Kuger wrote:
> Thanks TCG!! Now,what is it?i was hoping you would know!!

Immediately upon seeing the photo, my guess was the same as yours (a padlock's keyhole-cover). :) That's why I didn't bother to post a reply ...until you asked about the exact meaning of the "VR" on the item.

To confirm or cancel our gueesses, we need to see the back of the item. If it is indeed a keyhole-cover, it will have a round stud toward one end of it, which fit into the lock's main body. The mounting-stud of course could be broken entirely off, but even if so, we should still be able to see a remnant of it.
 

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Back pics added to original post. Thanks for looking!
 

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Rjs123, thanks for making and posting the photos of the back.

As I mentioned in a previous post, a keyhole-cover's mounting stud would be located near one end of the cover (and usually near the smaller end). If a mounting stud was snapped off, there could be either a slight bump or a small shallow "crater" at the spot where it broke off. I seem to see a slight bump near the arrowhead's base, exactly in the middle of that area. What I'm seeing in that area in the photo looks like a darker area shaped like a small "frown" (upside-down piece of a circle). Do you see anything like that near the item's base?

Another clue to a marked item's purpose and ID is the "orientation" of the marking. Markings are usually positioned so that the bottom of the mark is toward the bottom of the item "in normal use." An example of that is the maker's-mark on a musket lockplate. This suggests your arrowhead-shaped item's "normal" position is point-downward ...which is the opposite of how an arrowhead Emblem (let's say, an inlay or escutcheon) is usually positioned and viewed. The orientation of the crown-&-VR marking is one thing that suggested to me that your item is a keyhole-cover.

Another ID-clue to me is that I've seen many small brass keyhole-covers marked with nothing but the crown-&-VR (or crown-&-GR).

But, if there's absolutely no trace whatsoever of a broken-off mounting stud, other IDs of the item must be considered. What's weird to me is, if there's no broken-off stud remnant (no slight bump or shallow crater), then how the heck was the item attached to anything? As you mentioned, your item doesn't seem to show evidence of being a broken-off part of a larger object. If it's not a broken-off piece of something, sure seems like it would need to have some kind of attachment provision.

Strikes me as odd that a manufacturer would put the important crown-&-VR marking on a glued-in decorative inlay.
 

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Great valid points CBG,I have somewhere a box of key hole covers,but I cant find them,and as you said they obviously have remnants of an attachment point :thumbsup:
 

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Couldnt open your link :dontknow:
But I am glad ya found it!!!I take it it was a cover? :icon_scratch:
 

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kuger said:
Couldnt open your link :dontknow:
But I am glad ya found it!!!I take it it was a cover? :icon_scratch:
Click to expand...

Try the link again. It is a keyhole cover. The first item on the link page is it exactly. Cool to see what I shinny one looks like :)
 

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AAA,there we go!!So it appears we are missing a "key",piece??
Hey I have several of that style lock minus the cover if you would like one?Let me know
 

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rjs123 said:
Found this at an 1830s Plantation Site in an area where there were slave cabins. It appears to be brass. I know VR stands for Victoria Regina meaning it was made after 1819 when Victoria became queen.
Click to expand...

1819 is when Victoria was born. She didn't become Queen until June 1837 (officially crowned the following year) and reigned until January 1901.
 

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