There are some inconsistancies in the scale theory. For instance, if the three tabs are fulcrums, they would have to be on the opposite side than the notch. They are on the same side. In fact everything is on the same side. They are also positioned wrong, for instance if the notch on the larger end was used as a fulcrum (and the notch for the object to be weighed) there would not be enough weight to counter. I doubt very much it is part of a scale, at least not one anyone has ever seen before, but the corset idea of Trocar's does make some sense.
If you look closely at the narrow end, it has begun to disintegrate in different places, not just the "notch", which makes the notch more likely just a rusted away spot at the weakest end, the end which would rust away the quickest. Also notice the tabs. Their opening are designed so something, (a beaded chain, such as on a old light switch chain , or even a small button) could go into the larger part of the hole and then be anchored by the narrower part of the hole. (again, there would be no reason for such a tab design to be on a scale, as any weight applied to the tab would cause it to lean sideways) If this object was sewn into cloth with the tabs exposed however , then this could be some part of a device used to join two pieces of cloth, such as the corset which Trocar suggests.
If you google corsets from the 1860's , you'll see that the front was often joined with buttons (tabs). In fact it appears that the lower portion of the front 9below ther "pipestem waist") had tab spacing uneven such as this piece. (remember too, that there was a lot of pressure on these tabs, and re-enforcement was necessary) In addition, the found object is rounded at both ends and tapered so that the cloth it was sewn into would not tear or discomfort would not result. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Pipe-stem_waist.gif&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File
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