Flattened/Holed "coin"

[asmerri]

I posted this in the "What is it?" Section as well...

I found this yesterday while detecting the site of an 1800s school. It's bent and in really bad shape but it has my curiosity. It has a reeded edge so I believe it's a flattened coin with a small square hole in the middle. What US copper coins have a reeded edge though? Also, my eyes may be playing tricks on me but I believe there is a little pattern detail on the front still. Any ideas or IDs on what remains of design? Thanks for looking!

 

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[Back-of-the-boat]

I don't believe it's a coin I think it is a gear to something.Maybe like a music box or something like that, the edge is what doesn't look right to be a coin also the thickness it's to thin.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Dime or quarter. See the reeded edge? Clad looks coppery colored when it's been crushed by a train.

Regards,


Buck

 

[vpnavy]

Interesting find asmerri.

 

[Dug]

My WAG would be that it is a Chinese coin that had been put on a railroad track and run over.

 

[Mackaydon]

I like each idea posted above and will add my own: If the square hole is perfectly placed in the center of the item, it's a gear part. If the hole is not centered perfectly, its been made by a square nail to facilitate the item then becoming a piece of jewelry--as in a good luck piece; part of a necklace or bracelet.
Don....

 

[ynpto804]

It's a train flattened coin. Was anyone round here ever a kid I'm surprised I did kill anyone with one of those coins flying of the tracks.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I'm just hoping that's not your 2-cent piece after some additional "cleaning" (sorry couldn't resist that one! )

 

[Wildcat1750]

It would be great if you could make out a design on one of the faces. That might rule out the gear theory?

 

[recondigger]

Just put it on a scale and you can figure out, If it's a coin what type it would still weigh the same as a non flattened one minus the metal lost when putting a hole in it.

Dig until your arm falls off

 

[BosnMate]

Just put it on a scale and you can figure out, If it's a coin what type it would still weigh the same as a non flattened one minus the metal lost when putting a hole in it.

Dig until your arm falls off

The square hole would have had to be punched, so no weight lost, and there should be a raised area on one side where the nail went through. Not there, and centered hole, must be a gear. The coins I laid on the track came out elongated, never perfectly round.

 

[LaGold]

Looks like a Chinese coin that's been smashed to me.... Look to the right of the hole in one of the pics, looks like Chinese writing to me.

signals diggem all... LaGold

 

[asmerri]

I'm just hoping that's not your 2-cent piece after some additional "cleaning" (sorry couldn't resist that one! )

Ha! Low blow Erik