Hello all,

I have found myself in the position of asking for guidance yet again.  This
time, however, it is not related to pottery.

This past Monday while diving in shallow water (8-10 feet) off the east end
of Long Island collecting eelgrass reproductive shoots (don't ask, it's my
job) I came upon a small metal disk partially buried in sand that was
eroding at the edge of the meadow.  When I unearthed the disk I found it to
be heavy and assumed it was lead and thought it was some kind of weight for
fishing gear.  After brushing off some of the encrusting growth, I could see
that it had raised helvetic (?) initials "EK" molded into it composed of
what has been described to me as raised beeds.  A closer look at the disk
showed that at one time there were ferrous wires or pins (~60) set through
the disk running around the perimeter.  Total demensions are 4.5 inches
across, ~0.3 inches thick, weighing in at 753.2 grams or 1.66 lbs.  When I
showed this to a friend who is very knowledgable about fishing gear and
everything nautical he said he had never seen anything like it and did not
think it was related to fishing it any way.  Upon furher examination we
found that it would ring when struck and after scratching the back we came
to the conclusion that it may actually be made of solid silver.  With this
and the execution of the letters we surmised that it may be of 17th or 18th
century origin and could have been some decoration for a trunk, harness,
ship or garment?  Does this ring a bell for anybody out there?

I can send pictures to whoever would like to take a crack at it, but chose
not to attach the jpgs and clog your mailbox.

Thanks in advance for any information you could provide.

Chris Pickerell

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Chris Pickerell
Wetland Specialist
CORNELL COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
Marine Program

Address:
Cornell Marine Lab
3690 Cedar Beach Rd.
Southold, NY  11971

(631) 852-8660 Ext. 36
(631) 852-8662 fax
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