Puzzling Artifact

[stonestacker]

Good afternoon! I know what you mean about the artifact, and I hope you get it figured out and let us know . Good luck, Sir!

Thanks for the encouragement. Have a good day.

 

[RobertP]

Hello everyone, thanks for accepting me to your group. I'm an Air Force Veteran, and have to admit I've previously been most interested in WWII, as my Father had 7 Bronze Stars from campaigns in Africa, Sicily, Normandy, France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe, But recently I have questions about an object I've attached photos of that hopefully members of this group will have comments on. It was used as a doorstop in a recently demolished brick home that was built in 1818, that once served as a stagecoach stop on the "National Road" Route 40 here in Western Pennsylvania. It was described as a mortar shell, but after viewing hundreds of photos, I can't find any similar items.
The Artifact, I'm gonna call it that for lack of knowledge, is 3" tall with a 3" diameter, and weighs over 4 pounds. It has a thin copper casing with an unusual crimp pattern around bottom fastening it to a thick iron plug that is slightly concave. Something metal must be inside as a magnet sticks to copper case. Give close attention to the circled area on top where a small rectangular object is seen. After some prior discussion, we came to a possible conclusion that this might be some type of triggering mechanism.
The thin copper casing seems to make it unique as far as cannon or mortar shells go, and even though it seems to be an extremely old relic, maybe it's not as old as I think, and I'm not even connecting it to the correct era. It's an extremely interesting artifact, and I'm hoping someone here will recognize it and be able to provide some details about it and possibly the artillery used to launch it. And if someone recognizes it as something that has nothing to do with military ordinance, or maybe it is but from a different conflict, that's okay too. I'm only interested in knowing it's true purpose. Hope my post captures some interest, and that answers will be revealed. Thank you in advance for any comments provided.
Barry

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What if that were a clock weight? We have a grandfather clock whose weights are iron encased in a brass sleeve. They are every bit 4 lbs. The rectangular object on top could very well be where a hook that connects to the hanging chain was cut off.

 

[RobertP]

What if that were a clock weight? We have a grandfather clock whose weights are iron encased in a brass sleeve. They are every bit that heavy if not heavier. The rectangular object on top very well could be where the hook that connects to the hanging chain was cut off.

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And this shows the weights in our other grandfather. They are iron, 2.5" x 7". The pendulum is lead clad with copper.

 

[stonestacker]

And this shows the weights in our other grandfather. They are iron, 2.5" x 7". The pendulum is lead clad with copper.
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Good Morning Robert. That's a great suggestion. Can't say I'm convinced you're correct, but I really appreciate the idea, and that you took the time to photograph and post your conclusion. I'll have to explore that path further. Thank you Sir.