Lead spike?

[Easylife]

I found this lead/alloy spike like artefact on pasture a few fields away from where I found another one a few years ago. I'm still curious to know what they are or part of. It has a 2mm central core of a harder metal but doesn't appear to be iron as not attracted to a magnet. Being lead/alloy it's quite brittle so maybe unlikely to be a tool. It has a good white patina, is about 11mm at it's widest and weighs 37g. Any ideas?

[muddy mick]

All i can think of having found a few ? https://kcl-antiquities.co.uk/a-small-b ... 2227-p.asp

[Easylife]

This is very similar in dimensions but I'm not quite convinced yet.
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts ... /id/960914

[DaveP]

This is a bit left field but go with it. The longitudinal picture looks like the tip is / could be corroded rather than shaped for purpose.The metal centre is also curious. That lead me (no pun intended) to "is this part of a lead acid battery?" which in turn took me to lead anodes in chrome plating (which have a problem of being brittle) and are hung in the plating bath.
I'm not saying this is the case but it "feels' like an area for further checking. I've done a quick search but can't find anything similar except some larger modern plating electrodes in rod shapes and with a central copper hanger.

Just a thought.

[Easylife]

This is a bit left field but go with it. The longitudinal picture looks like the tip is / could be corroded rather than shaped for purpose.The metal centre is also curious. That lead me (no pun intended) to "is this part of a lead acid battery?" which in turn took me to lead anodes in chrome plating (which have a problem of being brittle) and are hung in the plating bath.
I'm not saying this is the case but it "feels' like an area for further checking. I've done a quick search but can't find anything similar except some larger modern plating electrodes in rod shapes and with a central copper hanger.

Just a thought.

I scraped the flat end and there appears to be a thin silver metal tube with a single copper wire in it, so it does seem to be a conductor of sorts.

[DaveP]

wonder if it was, or what's left over from, a small sacrificial anode. Can't think where it would be used as lead isn't a common material for that function these days.

Which made me think are you definite it's lead? If it was a complete lead rod of 100x11mm it should be around 104g. If you lost say 40% it's still around 60g if my sums are right. Might be worth a density test as other metals e.g. zinc alloy would be a better fit with an electrode of some sort.

[Sensorman]

Perhaps it could be a broken earth rod from an electric fence?

[Easylife]

I found two more pieces of these on the same field, they have a casting seams on both sides. The longer one is 50mm long.