Dead men tell no tales, Medalon/Pendant

[metal junkie]

Found this in the Ottawa River. I dug roughly 4" down. Finding a large 2x2 foot rock. Flipped the rock and dug another 4" or so. Then this little guy came into view.
The skulls eyes, also the triangles on the reverse, seem to have inlays. Maybe glass or.... The reverse has the saying (dead men tell no tales) on it's outer edge. It has some weight, but not as heavy as gold.
I have done multiple searches on the net. Leading no where. Any info would be greatly appreciated. As I am scratching my head on this one.
I included a canadian quarter for sizing.

 

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[capt-zero]

speeling

The center appears to have an image of a stylelized compass rose, perhaps a reference to pirates. However just above the 'No' in 'Tell No Tales' there is a mark that looks like "Made in China"; makes me think it's a circus trinket or some such. Is it made of pot metal?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I rarely go out on a limb by making a guess about an object I've never seen before and cannot locate another example of. But I'll at least tell you what I know about what's on your medallion/pendant.

Everybody has seen the famous pirate logo of a skull atop two crossed bones. But on your medallion, the skull is wearing a head-kerchief. That very distinctive image, along with the phrase Dead Men Tell No Tales, are "signatures" of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, which has existed since 1967 ...predating the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies by over 30 years. Believe it or not, according to the Commentary on the PotC movie DVD, the basic premise of the movie was based on the Disneyland ride. So, my not-entirely-wild guess is that your medallion is an old Disneyland souvenir. It would pre-date the movie, in which the design of the medallion was changed to an Aztec gold coin (worn by Elizabeth Swan).

Update:
Found a link which documents the info I've told you about the PotC ride and its history. http://pirates.wikia.com/wiki/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean_(ride)

 

[metal junkie]

Great eye Capt-Zero!
Thank you!
I can't believe I missed that!
That really explains some origin. I'm just surprised, I have not seen a pic of it out there.
Composition wise, I'm not sure. It seems like a cheaper metal, that was painted or toned. It's not overly heavy, for its' size. Also non magnetic.
It was dug from an area, producing objects from the 40's to the 80's.

 

[capt-zero]

No problem, metal junkie, the ability to isolate, manipulate, and blow up online graphic images is one of the things I like about the OS I use (Kubuntu 12.10).