Don't expect anyone can help with this but:

[LouisvilleKYShop]

This thing might be an inch long at most.  Looks like a tiny tea infuser but with only one hole.  Intricate chains.

I am guessing a military item for perhaps a drug but that is a reach.

[renegade3220]

My first glance look would have been a bell. But I don't know if bells looked anything like this in context with whatever the time frame is.

[Lloyd]

Just a wild guess... but could it be a powder container used to contain and place a small amount of black powder on the external striker/firing plate of a flintlock weapon (or something similar)?

Either that, or the float from the float bowl of a Leprechaun's toilet cistern!  

[mwilson603]

I'm more with Jeremy than Lloyd on this one.
See http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/showcat.php?cat=100 for more examples of what I think this is.
Also Lloyd, there is no such thing as a leprechaun my friend.  Everyone knows that they died off in the Pixie wars 
regards
Mark

[Lloyd]

.... there is no such thing as a leprechaun my friend.  Everyone knows that they died off in in the Pixie wars

That's what you think, but 60% of Ireland believes otherwise!   To each his own - Let the Troll wars begin!  

But if it is less than an inch in diameter then I'd be happy to go with a bell. People when you post this sort of stuff a scale is very useful for determining possibilities! That said, I admit that I should have picked it up from the dimensions of the weave in the background. 

[otlichnik]

Possibly a rattle for medieval horse harness.

Rattles are similar to bells but can be sealed.  Bells need the opening slit or hole at the bottom so they can ring.  A rattle can be sealed as a weight inside just jingles or clunks around.

Shawn

[renegade3220]

Possibly a rattle for medieval horse harness.

Rattles are similar to bells but can be sealed.  Bells need the opening slit or hole at the bottom so they can ring.  A rattle can be sealed as a weight inside just jingles or clunks around.

Shawn

He said it had one hole in it. That is why I went with bell.

On a side not my iPhone just tried to change bell to hell when it was correctly spelled. Way to go Steve Jobs, way to go...

[LouisvilleKYShop]

Thanks everyone really.  The "hole" I mentioned is more like a pin hole so it might have been sealed at one time.  But it does look like someone made a hole with a small nail on the bottom.

I add another scan next to a ruler from a protractor and next to another item I have no clue on.  I am getting a lot of things I do understand in the lots I am buying but these are the things that can make you crazy.  The item in question weighs 4 grams by the way with the wire attached. 

And what could the tiny chains be for I wonder?  If you know what the other item is by the way, feel free to let me know.  Looks like a protractor itself.  Seems complete and is flat except for the handle which is 90 degrees to the flat item so you can hold it in place.  Real thin but stand up on a table.

[renegade3220]

I think the next question to ask before we continue with the bell/rattle idea (which rattle seems more likely to me now) is whether or not it rattles . Is there anything in it when you shake it?

[LouisvilleKYShop]

Empty.

[LouisvilleKYShop]

Well the second item is I think identified.  A man who was religious came to the cases today when I was grading papers.  I showed him the item and he seemed instantly to guess it.  The part I thought sat on a table did have some signs of cementing to something.

He sees it as a hook.  With a radiant cross and a hook to maybe hold prayer beads.  It does look like it glues against a wall and the part I thought was a handle is at a 90 degree angle so it would hold something like a hook.

Still have no idea what the other item is but I feel really good about his thoughts on what looked initially like a math device or protractor.  I am biased as a chemist to not see the obvious.

[Molinari]

The first item might be a fishing weight or one of those devices that two or three hooks come off of, but I forget what they're called (a "jig" maybe).  That's the first thing that comes to my mind, anyway.

[LouisvilleKYShop]

Actually an interesting idea! And it is sealed so it could float perhaps a bit.  

I sent the photos to [REMOVE BY ADMIN].  Maybe they can let me know.

Thanks!

ADMIN NOTE:  NEVER PUT AN EMAIL ADDRESS THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN IN A DISCUSSION BOARD (AND I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND PUTTING YOUR OWN EMAIL ADDRESS ON A DISCUSSION BOARD EITHER). 

[LouisvilleKYShop]

The fishing guy said he did not recognize it, but it could be a creative fisherman.

Also for the other item, I think I was wrong.  Look at this ebay listing of a bronze firestarter.  Exactly the same dimensions. 

[LouisvilleKYShop]

The link sorry:

[REMOVED BY ADMIN]

ADMIN NOTE:  DO NOT LINK TO EBAY ON THIS DISCUSSION BOARD.

[LouisvilleKYShop]

Slavic Temple Ring:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/trmain/tr1main.html

I have seen other links that have them as well.  Dead on for this one.

Well that settles that.