Trade Silver?

[paleomaxx]

I found this today in the same area as a tombac and a 1700's buckle. At first I thought it was a silver knee buckle, but after cleaning and close examination there's no sign of a chape mount and in fact no sign of any attachments whatsoever.



Definitely solid silver, but there's no maker's mark anywhere. There's a uniform tarnish except where the rocks scratched it during recovery so it's clearly not plated.



It's a simple, but pretty design on the front and then interestingly there are work marks on the edges from where it was filed to size and the craftsman didn't bother to polish them down.



So is this trade silver or something else?

 

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[Plug N Play]

I think you should start shopping for a cameo.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I think Plug N Play is onto something, that it was originally part of a piece of jewelry.
But why is there no evidence of solder, attachment points or a top loop?

My first thought was a child's colonial knee buckle or a brooch.
Dave

 

[Reanm8er]

Cool find paleomax!

Perhaps this was the bezel that held the stone in place. Perhaps the larger piece had the pin or eye on it and this
was intended to be a press fit into the larger piece around the stone. There might have been a rim on the
larger piece that would have been battered over to capture the ring. The larger piece got bent and all the goodies
fell out! The stone might be somewhere there about?

Best wishes!