strange disc

[Glider]

I found this in a cornfield,its heavy.
I think its from a farming machine but there is no way to connect the disk to a kind of a holder?
Who can help me?

 

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[pippinwhitepaws]

does it fly?

appears to be a weigh for a flower arrangement...

 

[Silver Searcher]

It looks like a lead Sewing Palm Guard used for stitching leather, it could date to any period.

SS

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

dang...i always forget about the sewing aspect of those things...

I was hoping it flew...tiny aliens...

 

[bradyboy]

could it be from the bottom of a smelting pot, left over lead to saved for future melting, bullets?
Brady

 

[rock]

Is it metal or Hematite? On the flat side is there a indent or is it just flat across? To me it looks almost like and Indian artifact. Might not be but....

 

[cheese]

Yeah, it's what's left at the bottom of the pot when whoever melted their lead was done with it.

 

[Archeodeb]

Boy, all these answers sound so reasonable it's hard to decide which I like best. I think I am going to vote for leftover metal. The sewing thing was good too, but as someone who sews, I'm not sure that would work as well as something a bit less rigid.

 

[HutSiteDigger]

I was thinking this thing got thrown up in the air and was shot a couple of times : ) but i know thats not it.

 

[DCMatt]

I think the symmetry and bevelled edge are too perfect for this to simply be leftover metal. This object was made this shape.

Any idea what type of metal? it does not look like lead.

DCMatt

 

[artemis moon]

Was there a Roman presence where you found that item?

 

[mical66]

possible counter weight for scales ?

 

[Archeodeb]

I think the symmetry and bevelled edge are too perfect for this to simply be leftover metal. This object was made this shape.

Any idea what type of metal? it does not look like lead.

DCMatt

The metal would have been liquid and would have shaped itself to the bottom of the crucible. If the crucible was regular and symmetrical, the cast found inside would be too. Those holes and scratches would have been raised areas inside the crucible -- either from some leftover, harder metal that did not melt, or irregularities in the crucible itself. If this cast is lead, (which it could be since the OP says it is heavy) that melts at a very low temperature, so almost any other metal would stay intact under it. You can cast toy soldiers and fishing weights in a pot on the stove.

 

[Glider]

Its a heavy object so i think its lead, it looks indeed very symetrical but there no engravments on it only
some wear on the backside middle section.The scratches and holes are made from the years of plowing.....

 

[Glider]

Yes indeed i found roman coins Artemis moon ,or so i think they are,you can find them also in the same forum.I think archeodeb has the most clausable explonation so far.

 

[cheese]

See the rounded edge around the flat edge? That's caused by the surface tension of the lead (motlen lead has a lot of surface tension). This means that the lead was molten and cooled in this form (look at lead pots for plumbers, they have round bottoms like this). I work with lead a lot, melting and pouring bullets and ingots. I think the dents are either from an irregularity in the pot, or more likely something hitting it. Unmelted metal would not stay under lead. You could throw a chunk of cast iron in a pool of molten lead and it will float like an ice cube. Lead is heavier than just about anything else you'd commonly find.

 

[CRUSADER]

This is a tough one. As its most likely Lead, a palm guard is possible, although its not the usual shape.

I have found many similar sized & shaped pieces like it. I have two theories:
Homemade Weight.
Homemade Ingot - reason being is that I have found some cut into sections.

I think they melted the lead into this easy to make shape & carried it until they needed to cut a piece off. Hard one to date, could be any period.

 

[missoiula4me]

Could be a surveyor's disc. Some kind of property marker. There are also similar discs inlaid in concrete that have a metal tag. They are used for elevations. Although the property marker discs squally have a little hole tapped in for the surveyor crew to put their rod into with the prism on top.

Probably a real long shot

 

[tamrock]

Babbitt?

It sure looks as left over soft molton metal from a melting pot. It could be Babbitt if not lead, a cast in place bulk bearing metal. An old steam tractor would have had babbitt bearings and may had the maintenance on the the fly wheel shaft bearing done just where it was found and they then just chucked away what was left over in the pour pot. Some of the hard rock mines run old ball mills that still use Babbitt in the pillow blocks or large bearing on each end of the drum. Its standard maintenance to remove and pour new molton babbitt in these large bearings.
Babbitt (metal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[gunsil]

The metal would have been liquid and would have shaped itself to the bottom of the crucible. If the crucible was regular and symmetrical, the cast found inside would be too. Those holes and scratches would have been raised areas inside the crucible -- either from some leftover, harder metal that did not melt, or irregularities in the crucible itself. If this cast is lead, (which it could be since the OP says it is heavy) that melts at a very low temperature, so almost any other metal would stay intact under it. You can cast toy soldiers and fishing weights in a pot on the stove.

Deb you are quite right about the molten lead and symmetry and I do believe this item is a leftover from a lead melting pot. BUT since lead is so heavy there is almost no other metal or stone that will sit on the bottom of a pot of liquid lead. I have melted probably a ton or more of lead in small pots and any stone, iron, steel or brass floats right to the top when the lead becomes molten. You can push a piece of steel down in molten lead and it will pop to the surface like a cork in water. It looks to me like most of the marks on the object were made after it was cast. Bradyboy, smelting is the act of heating ore to get the metal out of it, the term for melting metal for use or re-use is simply melting. Glider, the lack of lead oxide (a thick whitish patina or coating) on your object leads me to believe your item is not too old, say less than 75 years.