Odd local park relic

[Nolifeking]

Well it's been awhile since I've had time to post any finds on here both metal detecting finds and error coins. This relic I found in a local park and I thought it was a piece of jewelry until I flipped it over and read the inscription. The logging company mentioned on the back of the relic dates back to the 1910's and I can't really find much information on it after about 1918. The park I found it in was founded around that same time. Thought I'd see what you guys thought. The only feedback I got on it was that it might have been a advertising type trinket maybe won at a fair. It is extremely cheap and I have a feeling it's made out of pewter or lead. The back is covered in a thin silver film/tape to make it look shiny since the actually metal it was stamped into is a dull gray.

[Daniel]

Interesting, but don't know a thing about it.

[marc.durante]

That's pretty cool! What the heck could it be? You already know where it's from but here's a link with some images and a little info on the Shevlin Mathieu Mill ... not that it's much help.

http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm4/i ... OX=1&REC=7

Also found this http://www.jstor.org/pss/20162736 ... talks about Minnesota Log Markers and seems like every log needed to be individually marked by law before moving them. Could it be possible that this was somehow used to brand or stamp the mark onto logs? It does seem to have a specific type of lumber "Northern Pine".

Anyway pretty interesting! Can't wait to actually learn how to use my metal detector so I can hopefully find something cool like this.

Thanks for posting it and good luck finding out what it is!

[marc.durante]

How big is it btw? My guess if it was a stamp of some sort they might have kept some kind of ink or sap or something in that cracked bulb looking thing ... and with a brush or their hand or something put some on the other side to mark the logs?

[Nolifeking]

Well I already know that this isn't a log stamp. They would burn or hammer the stamp into the wood. The relic is a little bigger than a silver dollar. I'm still leaning towards a sort of a trinket or costume jewelry that the company made for advertisement purposes. Why they would need to advertise I have no idea. Unless it was some sort of an event that they sponsored.


Here you can see a actual log stamp
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... s%3Disch:1
They were like a hammer that you would pound into the log to make the impression of the stamp

[marc.durante]

Yeah those look more like what I would have thought a log stamp would look like. Interesting and if it's that small it's probably some type of advertising button or trinket like you said. Plus if it were some kind of stamp or something the lettering would be mirror and not proper like it reads, my bad.