Any ideas what this might be..........

Hello all...About 35 years ago when I was like 15 I was walking along a
little creek here in North East Baltimore after a rather bad storm and

Kris Baker...

The beanfields in southwest Colorado constantly turn up pieces of
Pueblo and Anasazi pottery. One grower told me that he finds
about a 55-gallon drum full, out of his acreage, every year.

I used to stop in at the "bean store", and pick up all the free
shards I wanted. Now, they keep them below the counter and
you have to ask.

flood (After the water had gone back to normal) to see what sort of
oddities I could find and came upon this object half sticking out of
the sand on a bank of the water...It is 3.5" long x 2" high x .75"
thick..Despite it`s small size it is very heavy..Maybe 2 pounds...and

Tim Mullen...

looks to be made of brass or bronze...it is blank except the front
which reads "OLD ENGLISH" on the top line and then there is a thin line
of design and then "BROWN WINDSOR" on the bottom line...It is written
in mirror reverse as if it would be stamped onto or into
something.....This is a very old area of the city and this object
appears to be very old..I wrote both the Maryland and Baltimore
Historical Societies and they basically said, We don`t know what it is
leave us alone...I think it might be a historical object from long ago
Baltimore business..Brown Windsor seems to be some kind of soup and Old
English certainly wouldn`t be a stretch for the name of a brand in
colonial times....I have a webcam photo of it if anyone cares to
see..I`m not really looking for a value or even to know it`s exact

M.J. Schuon...

________

Ahhh, and it was amazing to be on the composing room floor of a large
newspaper and hear the din created by all those bits of brass and
lead! Takes me back.

origin from this group but maybe just an idea on what it`s purpose may
have been..Thanks

Lee Babcock...

Nothing in the world the size you quote could weigh 2 pounds!

Tim Mullen...

Actually, it's right on for lead. Taking the measurements literally,
I get 10544kg/m^3. Lead is 11340kg/m^3.

If I understand you it is a rectangular flat plate with raised reverse
letters on it.
If so, I think Janice is on the right track in that it would be used to
print/impress a name on something.
Print with a dye/ink or impress, either with heat or force on
wood/leather/etc.
Make a little scratch on the back and touch your tongue to it. If brass
, it will taste much like brass smells.

Tim Mullen...

Lead would make sense for printing.

M.J. Schuon...

________

But bronze or brass also might be used for an item that was to be
printed over and over. Lead was cheap and useful for newspapers, but
things that would be carried over from day to day (a newspaper's
masthead comes to mind) were often made of sturdier stuff.

Lee in Toronto