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 Replies: 18 / Views: 1,171 |
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Valued Member
United States
229 Posts |
I'll keep this short and sweet: see below...  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6054 Posts |
First thing that came to my mind was...curtain weight....  |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
18355 Posts |
Possibly a curtain weight, although they often have a hole or some other way to be sewn to a curtain.
Can you tell us the size, weight, and possible composition of this item?
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Valued Member
 United States
229 Posts |
Sorry, I should have included that. The diameter is a little more than 26mm and the weight is 9.81g. And while I can't be sure of the metal, I can tell you it has much more of a grayish, lead color than the picture shows. Sorry.
Edited by jdsstrat
04/10/2025 12:20 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6054 Posts |
Quote:
they often have a hole or some other way to be sewn to a curtain. Although this may be true, I've always seen them to be solid and sewn into the corner bottom hems. Quote:
much more of a grayish, lead color that statement has me leaning further towards a curtain weight.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
18355 Posts |
Quote:
that statement has me leaning further towards a curtain weight. Same. Not many tokens or coins are made of lead.
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Valued Member
United States
229 Posts |
Forgive my ignorance, but what does the T D dot 1 2 have to do with a curtain weight?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1814 Posts |
Wonder if it could possibly be a worker's identification token? When I worked at a nuclear power plant the workers had to pick up their "Brass" when entering (similar to a time clock) and drop their brass by the end of their shift. I also thought that it could be the back of a button with the shank removed?
Edited by MisterT
04/10/2025 06:45 am
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Moderator
United States
162803 Posts |
Very interesting. I have never seen a marked curtain weight, but I have only managed to find a few—sewn into the hem as described above. My mother was not happy that I removed them.  |
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Moderator
Australia
16291 Posts |
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Same. Not many tokens or coins are made of lead. Actually, there are lots and lots of tokens made from lead. In Britain and in Europe more generally, mediaeval and early modern tokens are normally made from lead. However, the style of lettering on this piece precludes it from being too early. In this case, surprisingly, a Google search for "lead token TD" came up success, with the forbidden webpage coming up as a top hit. There's an image of three different denominations of these lead TD tokens: 12, 6 and "D", which I'm going to steal:  This sequence of numbers indicate these are tokens for the British predecimal monetary system; the "12" token must be a shilling, or 12 pence. As for the purpose of the tokens, to quote from the website (which is an archived ebay sale): Quote:
18th Cent. Lead HOP PICKERS TOKENS x 3 T D THOMAS DAWS, SOGGS FARM, EWHURST
THREE Tokens. Type: British Lead HOP TOKENS: Surret, Kent, Sussex. Time Period: 18th Century. So, your token is a 1 shilling / 12 pence token for the estate of an English hop farmer by the name of Thomas Daws, used for paying their farm workers some time in the 1700s. Late 1700s, by the style of lettering; I would assume it dates from the English coinage shortage of the 1780s and 1790s. As for value, well, the three-token set went unsold with a £10 initial ask price. The Daws family is still growing hops in the region, according to this website: https://englishhops.com/pages/the-g...bFasCX_Jr8nJ
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
18355 Posts |
Wow, great job, Sap. Quote:
Actually, there are lots and lots of tokens made from lead. I stand corrected.  In fairness, I was thinking about more modern times (20th century), and had not considered that it could be so old. Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Valued Member
United States
229 Posts |
I had tried a google picture search, got zero and left it at that... I know you will say it was nothing, Sap, but I am in genuine awe. WHAT a story!
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Moderator
Australia
16291 Posts |
Some more background information, from the Wikipedia article on hops: Quote:
The need for massed labor at harvest time meant hop-growing had a big social impact. Around the world, the labor-intensive harvesting work involved large numbers of migrant workers who would travel for the annual hop harvest. Whole families would participate and live in hoppers' huts, with even the smallest children helping in the fields. The final chapters of W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage and a large part of George Orwell's A Clergyman's Daughter contain a vivid description of London families participating in this annual hops harvest. In England, many of those picking hops in Kent were from eastern areas of London. This provided a break from urban conditions that was spent in the countryside. People also came from Birmingham and other Midlands cities to pick hops in the Malvern area of Worcestershire. Some photographs have been preserved.
The often-appalling living conditions endured by hop pickers during the harvest became a matter of scandal across Kent and other hop-growing counties. Eventually, the Rev. John Young Stratton, Rector of Ditton, Kent, began to gather support for reform, resulting in 1866 in the formation of the Society for the Employment and Improved Lodging of Hop Pickers. The hop-pickers were given very basic accommodation, with very poor sanitation. This led to the spread of infectious diseases and led to contaminated water. The 1897 Maidstone typhoid epidemic was partly as a result of hop-pickers camping near the Farleigh Springs which supplied Maidstone with water.
Particularly in Kent, because of a shortage of small-denomination coin of the realm, many growers issued their own currency to those doing the labor. In some cases, the coins issued were adorned with fanciful hops images, making them quite beautiful. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6054 Posts |
Quote:
Wow, great job, Sap.  ...... 
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Valued Member
United States
229 Posts |
P.S. Sap, I just posted another mystery token that I hope you get a chance to see before you sign off.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1814 Posts |
Great job SAP. You are a super sleuth!
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Replies: 18 / Views: 1,171 |
Posted 04/09/2025 10:54 pm
