mystery iron disc - what could it be?

[alabama11]

Hello to all,
Been working the same place for 35 visits and had a low productivity day so I decided to dig the deep iron. Well the ground is a little wet so not to bad. Got this 2 lb piece of iron that has a one inch hole in the base and 3.5 inches in width and 1.5 inches in thickness. Had a greenish color when I pulled it out of the ground 1.5 feet down. The location has CW bullets and buttons and several house remains as evidence. Hope this isn't something boring to all. Thanks for viewing.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[TheCannonballGuy]

It kinda-sorta looks like your "disc" has tapered sides, but I can't be sure because of the straight-down-on-it photos. Please clean some of the thick rust-encrustation off of it, and post more photos, particularly including a couple of "sideview" shots.

 

[alabama11]

Here are more photos. Hope this helps.

 

[HuntinDog]

I'd say it's a axle shaft hub washer.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Is there a hole in the middle? It looks like a washer from an old railroad bolt, the kind used in trestles

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

EDIT:
After the finder cleaned the last of the thick rust/dirt-encrustation off the iron disc, he saw that the hole goes all the way through it. So, it is NOT part of the base of an exploded artillery projectile... and I must cancel my identification of the object. I'm going to let the info and photos stay, because it might be useful education to folks here.

Thanks for the additional photos, and for (apparently) cleaning some of the thick rust-encrustation off of the iron. The sideview photos indicate to me that it is the blown-off "base-knob" of a version of civil war artillery shell called a Read shell (named after its inventor/designer). The digger, Alabama11, did say some civil war bullets have come from the same location this object was found.

The major clue is that its sloping sides have a "concave" slope, like a ski-slope, not straight or convex like a hub washer or bolt washer. (No offense intended, guys.) Please examine the "base-knob" in the 3 photos below showing a sawed-in-half Read shell. In the photos, the "base-knob" is the part INSIDE the copper (or brass, or iron) ring-sabot embedded in the shell's base.

The shallow hole in the wider side of the base-knob is the "lathing dimple" from the process of manufacturing the shell, and it indicates Confederate manufacture.

There is a possibility it is from a yankee-made Read-Parrott shell, but having what seems to be a lathing dimple indicates it is not a Parrott. Need to see a couple more photos of the wide flat bottom of the disc. since you've cleaned it up.

 

[namxat]

I Think CannonballGuy is right,

I have seen several of those and if any identification came it was always "Bottom part of an older artillery shell". However until now nobody now could post photos.

Greets Namxat

 

[sawmill man]

Im gona have to go with the washer off of a set of farm disk, i believe the hole is to small in the center for a parrot sabot. but i could be wrong. Is your piece copper lead or brass. myself i would not think a sabot would be steel or iron. but softer than the gun barrel.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The finder, Alabama11, said it has a hole "in the base." He did not say the hole goes all the way through to the top. It cannot be a washer if the hole doesn't go all the way through. If it is an all-the-way-through hole and he didn't tell us that very important piece of identification-information, I'll be very disappointed, and withdraw my answer to his ID-request.

 

[alabama11]

First to TCBG, I would like to apologize for not cleaning the iron disc better, but was afraid to chip it up and damage it. The hole does go through and I chiseled the iron corrosion out of the hole. I honestly thought it was probably foundary debris that was used to seal the hole after manufacture.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Thanks for the new info, that the hole does go all the way through the disc. I've edited my ID-post appropriately, canceling my ID of the object but leaving the info and photos because they might be educational to some folks.

 

[Tony in SC]

With the hole and the concave on top it looks part of a bolster(pivot for a front axel) on a smaller wagon or cart.

 

[BosnMate]

Is there a hole in the middle? It looks like a washer from an old railroad bolt, the kind used in trestles

I agree with Ken, and I think the power company used washers like that also, for cross beams on poles etc.

 

[JccEldreth]

I agree with Ken, and I think the power company used washers like that also, for cross beams on poles etc.

I just dug three of them from a lake bed were an old rail road trussle was in the 1900s, it is a washer.

 

[Goldfinger450]

Hmm, I conjured up part of a Cannon Ball Ram or bore swab? The item may be a railroad tie plate washer, pretty common

 

[alabama11]

There could have been power poles at the location. There are a good number of RR spikes and there were telegraph poles nearby. So any could have been sourses for the iron disc.

 

[alabama11]

Are the dimensions the same?