NEED SOME HELP

[calmerthanu]

my buddy dug this yesterday, looks like a saddle shield with a script F on it, he thinks its an old model T ford emblem, anyone have some insight on this piece?

 

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[DCMatt]

Size? Is it flat or slightly curved?

DCMatt

 

[calmerthanu]

slightly curved

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Requesting again: We need size-measurements of width and height. Your photo gives no indication at all of the object's size -- so you'll have to tell us.

Also, please clean it at least enough to show the letter's form clear enough that it's unmistakeable, and post another photo of it after cleaning. Yes, it "kinda" looks like an F, but certainty is needed, because several Old-English letters can look extremely similar to each other.

 

[calmerthanu]

i did not find this piece a friend did, i will have to get hold of him and get some more pics and size info, from what i can recall it was probably around 2in wide by 3 - 3 1/2in high

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Since we have to wait for size measurement and additional photos to clarify what the letter on the shield is, I'll show you the other known variations of your friend's find. I've put a lot a research into them because they were deing advertized on Ebay as "Confederate saddle-shields." That is fraudulent. They definitely are not Military.

Also, nobody seems to be able to come up with any proff they are from the civil war era. (In my opinion, they are from sometime in the first half of the 20th-Century.)

Actual saddle-shields are flat. These are curved, to be screwed or riveted onto a cylinder which is approximately 3.0-inches in diameter. That suggested they are a motorcycle or bicycle front-frame "badge." That tube on a bicycle is usually smaller than 3"-diameter... but just to make sure, I emailed a major collector of bicycle badges. He said he's never seen one like these.

Note that the three attachment-holes on these brass shields have a solid-cast "reinforcing pedestal" encircling the hole, to strengthen the attachment area so the shield cannot easily "tear through" the mounting-screws/rivets. No saddle-shield has strengthened attachment-holes.

Here are the photos of four known variations, and a photo showing the shield's curved body. The known letters are A, C, M, and T, all of them in Old-English Script. If your friend's letter is indeed an F, that would be a fifth variation.

Important note:
The photo showing the curvature, with a US 25-cent coin for scale, is "perspective-distorted" by the depth-distance between the two objects in the photo. These shields are not 3 inches wide. The only width reported thus far is 1.6-inches, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of that measurement.

Note that the background on three of them is raised overlapping circles, and the other has a checkerboard background.

Three of the variations in the photos show gold-plating.

I'm posting all of this information (and the photos) in the hope it will prompt somebody who knows for certain what these things actually are to step forward with solid proof.

 

[Breezie]

I think these are walking cane/stick badges.
Brass Shield Letter N Walking Stick Badge by tippleandsnack

http://www.etsy.com/listing/113272527/enamel-walking-stick-badge-shield-letter

http://tomassinionthewind.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/the-royal-walking-club-solitaire/

Breezie

PS: Pete, the checkerboard background is called basket weave if it's an 'over-under' design, but I can't tell from the pic.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Thanks for the links, Breezie. One shows the exact same for (and size) of shield, another shows it with an enamel-covered background. (So I've added the letters N and U to my list.) Despite the seller's guess, I am 100%-certain they are not walking-stick badges...unless the waking-stick is 3 inches thick. Note the arc of curvature shown in the "topview" photo I posted. It is a very wide curve, like an archery bow. I "did the math" (using the Pi formula) on the the arc of the 1.62"-inch-wide shield. Using that arc, how many shields would it take to complete a "perfect" circle? My estimate is six shields, which results in a diameter of 3 inches, approximately. But for the sake of discussion, let's say five shields -- the circle's diameter would be 2.54 inches. Either answer would be a walking-log, not a walking-stick.

In my prior post, I started to use the descriptive term "basketweave" ...but to a lot of people, it means looking like a wicker-basket -- which is not a match for the pattern of background on the shield. So I settled for the term "checkerboard."

 

[Breezie]

Thanks Pete I found this post on TNet, and I'll cross reference both of them. Hopefully we can solve this mystery.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/334022-help-unknown-shield.html