Clockwork-yep-3 rows of numbers rotating,top & bottom...Whattzit???

[Darkflight]

It was about 12" down in an area where I pulled a V nickle and a few mercury dimes...But man the spot is trashy & its hard work finding the old stuff.

Back to the "whatzit"....Definitely clockwork of some sort-perpetual calender?. Bottom row the center dial is fully exposed,top row the center dial is mostly covered by the other 2 # wheels. All wheels are 0-9 & the top left one is marked in red for the #'s...

Good luck!
Carl.

 

[Ism]

Reminds me of an old electric or gas meter. 0-9 is standard for the display and usually read from left to right starting with 1's, 10's, 100's.
This could be from a two family dwelling. However I cannot find an image similar to the layout of your works.

 

[Aarong81]

I would guess it is a double Tally Counter used for counting passengers boarding, then unboarding trains. I cannot find any double Tally Counters but here is a standard looking one from late 1800s to early 1900s. The wheels overlap similarly as yours.
http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/6119980/il_570xN.332883657.jpg http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/6119980/il_570xN.332883701.jpg
SOURCE: http://www.etsy.com/listing/98708479/reserved-for-annie-vintage-tally-counter

 

[Ant]

Or an old water meter dial Ism, I wonder what the dimensions are?

 

[dave5710]

In order for the digits to align and overlap, like they do on the handheld counter, the wheels would have to be in a triangular pattern. Wouldn't they?