andyfries Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I have a tubular hunk of metal and weighs 8.79 oz, appears to be gold or maybe brass. I did the magnet trick and the magnet did not stick to it. It has 5 punch marks on it. The top mark looks to be a crown over the letter "G" or maybe "C", the right mark is the letter "K", the bottom has the date of "1812", the left mark is "1/2 P", and the center mark looks to be a castle or Mediterranean palace. I have been unable to find any information on the piece from shops or online. I decided to post on here to see if someone might know something about it. The pictures are to large to upload but here is the link to see them. http://s1184.photobucket.com/albums/z334/andyfries/ also my email is fries_andy@yahoo.com. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoRnholio Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Looks like brass, definitely not gold. Looks like a seal of some sort, although for that to be the case the letters/designs would need to be in reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 1/2 pound brass weight? As for origin, I'll take a semi-random shot and say Denmark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtS Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 What a great old object! My first reaction was a balance weight too. Is that a "G" with the crown? That could stand for George III of England. The Danish king at this time was Frederik IV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 The Danish king at this time was Frederik IV. Thanks for clearing that up! I'm not familiar with the Scandanavian countries, but remembered that some had a number of "Christian" Kings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiho Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Looks like a die for Swedish Plate Money, as seen here... http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?/topic/30144-the-swedish-plate-money-type-set/ That said, I think it's British. No idea why, just a feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyfries Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Thanks for the information guys, if the "G" Stand for King George III of England then I dont understand the middle eastern palace in the middle? Atleast it looks more middle eastern to me than it does a castle. I cant find that mark in any book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyfries Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Looks like a die for Swedish Plate Money, as seen here... http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?/topic/30144-the-swedish-plate-money-type-set/ That said, I think it's British. No idea why, just a feeling. But then the punch marks would have to be in reverse, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Very nice. I would try emailing this site LINK It does look like a George III 'weight' but 1/2 a pound is 8 ounces, & as is normal written 1/2lb, perhaps back then they used a P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyfries Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Very nice. I would try emailing this site LINK It does look like a George III 'weight' but 1/2 a pound is 8 ounces, & as is normal written 1/2lb, perhaps back then they used a P. Thanks, I emailed them and hopefully they will be able to let me know more about the item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Considering that a 'weight' can not increase but can lessen due to wear, your weight could have been originally 8.8 ounces, which is 1/2 a metric pound or a pond. Known also as a Amsterdam pound. It still could be English(George III) but used for weighing imported Dutch goods or even German, because in German the term is Pfund. That would explain the 1/2 P & the crowned G. The date 1812 would probably mean 'Dutch goods' because of the Napoleonic wars. One other possibility is the crowned G is for Guillelmus the Latin for William, William of Orange-Nassau Dutch Prince & so is a Dutch weight for the Amsterdam Pound. My final guess is it could be from Hanover, being German the 'P' would be for Pfund & the British king, George III, was its ruler. As for the 'K' it could just be a month date letter, so Oct. or Nov. depending if they used the letter 'J' yet. Very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Wow, great insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 The heraldic image for Antwerp matches your weight, What you described as "the center mark looks to be a castle or Mediterranean palace" image from probertencyclopaedia.com. So I am pretty sure it is a '1/2 Antwerp Pound Weight' & therefore the crowned 'G' is for Guillelmus, the Latin for William, William of Orange-Nassau, who became William I of the Netherlands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldeCollector Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 A fantastically interesting piece and wonderful insight from Pat. Many thanks for sharing and please let us know the ultimate outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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