I’m going to begin posting some of my mystery finds in hopes that some of the thousands of visitors to this site could help me identify them.   This tag was machine pressed, found at 11″ and is brass.  It was at an 1835 home site in Paris KY.

The stamping on the front is done by hand, and appears to be the Knight’s Templar cross.  I know there are some vague connections to freemasonry with this symbol, but I’d like to figure out why in the world it was put on a tag like this?

Click to zoom – this is a high res photo:

 

Knight's Templar Cross on Livestock Tag

Click to zoom

 

Input so far:

Stan Shoemaker says:  This would be a Loraine Cross if it were truly marked by the Knight’s Templars.   The Loraine cross has double crossmembers.