NEED ID

[sonnyxlt]

My th partner, Cliff Flynn, found this in an old tobacco patch. it is a metal disc about the size of a half dollar, 3/8 in. thick. The lettering is in reverse. on the face it says; "Pendleton County" at the top, "Falmouth, Ky." across the bottom and "election P.C.T.C. thru the middle. on the reverse side something was attached to the edge. Can anyone tell us what it is? Thanks sorry for the blurry pic.

 

[Mike in Tn]

Hey Sonny, Sounds like it is an old seal stamp. It was probably at one time attached to either something like a pair of pliers or it could have just had a handle. But, from the thickness. Sounds like a lead seal stamp. If so, they are usually on something similar to a set of wire pliers. Could have been used to put an official seal on about anything. But, sounds like it was probably a ballot box seal stamp.

 

[sonnyxlt]

Thanks. Any idea how long ago they were used? the house that was located here dated the late 1800's.

 

[Mike in Tn]

Not really, There were a lot of places that used paper ballots into the late 1980's. So, it could be fairly new or really, really old. But, I would say if the house was that old. It is probably from the late 1800's or early 1900's. Regardless, it would be a very rare item. Because they would have only had a very few and would have been kept under lock & key when not in the possession of an election official. And only election officials would have had access to them. I would say, you could contact the KY county where it came from and they could probably tell you the exact age. Might even be able to tell you when it was lost and by who. These would have been kept a very close eye on. So, I would say, it is in public records if one of them were ever lost. And, the design was probably changed afterwards, to avoid whoever ended up with it from ballot tampering.