I think a found a 19th century cattle ear tag?

[DigIron2]

I was cleaning a few corrosion covered cornfield relics last night,And what i originally thought was a washer with a hole in it, turned out to have some gilt on it.Closer examination revealed some inscription that looks like 'N&P which I think might stand for Northern Pacific railway,more research told me they where in the cattle trade. If there "are' numbers on there,it will take much more cleaning to see them.What ever it is, could have been made out of a flat button.If someone has seen something similar or know what it is please let me know. "its copper,size of typical flat button,drilled hole in center,and has a little gilt left on one side.'and what looks to be company marked.

 

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[creskol]

It has substantial wear around the center hole, and the gilt appears to be chrome .. both consistent with a plunger of some sort, maybe out of an old grease gun.