Engraved gold.

[john78phells]

Found this in a little ghost town in shennendoah va, the town was very active during the civil war but went bust at the turn of the century. It is non magnetictic had zero oxidation on it and with the exception of some water to wash away the dirt how you see it is how I found it. The only thing o see that looks like a makers mark is directly below where ot looks like it has broken. I also jabe neen unable to find any type of moose, masonic, k ect lodge in va with the number 422 associated to it. The style engraving looks very similar to id tags I jave seen recovered from civil war camps. Any thoughts? Thank you.

 

[mudwhale]

It's membership pin for a metalworking/machinist trades lodge. There were a bunch of these organizations working with the "International Association of Machinists" on standardization of the different metal working trades. The number of the lodge was the particular metalworking group. This was the industrial revolution in it's heyday. Early 1900's ish.

 

[MasonDixonMding]

Love it.

 

[john78phells]

Thank you! That actaully makes sense, Catherine's furnace is just around the bend from where I found this.

 

[metaladdict]

Idk if its gold, I would test it.

 

[mudwhale]

Thank you! That actaully makes sense, Catherine's furnace is just around the bend from where I found this.

The writing on yours is definitely 1800's style.

 

[Cupajo]

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Gold plated, maybe, but definitely not solid gold.

 

[Chroma]

Roanoke Times, 8 Apr 1898

Could be from Lodge 492 of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen in Roanoke VA. Unlikely, but a possibility. I searched Virginia newspapers.