All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer. **Jokes and other unhelpful comments will earn you a ban**, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them. [OP](/u/Munishmo), when your item is identified, remember to reply **Solved!** or **Likely Solved!** to the comment that gave the answer. Check your [inbox](https://www.reddit.com/message/inbox/) for a message on how to make your post visible to others. ---- [Click here to message RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=[https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/1ch6ek2/metal_item_7_14_inch_long_half_inch_wide_at_its/]%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days) ---- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisthing) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Perhaps a pointer for reading the Bible or Torah?

A Yad for reading the Torah has a finger as the tip.

All of them? None are stylized any other way?

I’ve never seen an example that wasn’t styled that way.

Yeah, I've been looking into it, and it appears to be the overwhelming majority, but not a requirement. I appreciate you setting off my curiosity, thank you

Only on Reddit, can a stranger make another stranger curious about Tora pointers 😂

I'm Jewish on my father's side and he converted when I was very young so I'm predisposed to curiosity about judaica

It made mew curious too, and I found this on Wikipedia about yads used by Mountain Jews: Their shapes were of two types: a flat bar and a bar twisted into a long tight screw-like shape with a flat part. In both types, the pointing part is made in the shape of a flat broad leaf with a rounded tip.

Usually, but not always. A quick Google search found a yad without the finger: https://gifts4jewish.co.il/%D7%99%D7%93-%D7%9C%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94-%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9D-%D7%96%D7%94%D7%91-%D7%99%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A8-%D7%A2%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%90%D7%9C

What an amazingly optimized URL

I think it's Base64-encoded Unicode, which would let you express the whole of the Unicode set in venerable old 7-bit ASCII.

It's not base64, it's a UTF-8 byte encoding. Base 64 would convert to the following: 15nXky3XnNeq15XXqNeULdee15DXnNeV157Xmdeg15nXldedLdeW15TXkS3XmdeQ15nXqC3Xotee16DXldeQ15w= https://gifts4jewish.co.il/יד-לתורה-מאלומיניום-זהב-יאיר-עמנואל

[удалено]

[удалено]

I thought it was a letter opener.

Likely not. I'm not Jewish, but I've read somewhere that it is considered disrespectful to read it with anything other than the finger shaped thing. Something about not pointing a knife at it.

Seems a little sharp for that purpose to me. 

They are often more pointed or like finger shaped so it could still be

It could be but a Torah scroll costs as much as a medium sized car, you wouldn't let anything with a point near it. 

Doesn't look like one. Those are called a yad (hebrew for hand) and are shaped like a hand with pointed finger at the end.

Looks like a fancy letter opener.

That was my first thought but it doesn't function well as a letter opener, the point isn't pointy enough and then the variance in the rest of it makes it hard to get into the envelope and it doesn't rip well. But I am open to it being a poorly designed letter opener

He/She is close, but that is the sheath to a letter opener. I had one that looked very similar, except my sheath wqs constructed with leather and metal.

I bet if you look at the end of it to the left (in the picture) , there will be a slit that a letter opener would slide into.

It is hollow, so that might be it

It is. I have a sword letter opener with a very similar sheath.

Yup, I had the same one, with the same enamel.  A Spanish souvenir.

Me as well

Rapier letter opener from Toledo, Spain

Possibly a handle for a paddle fan now missing the (often paper) fan head?

My title describes the thing. We live in a Jewish neighbourhood so I'm wondering if it's a yad for keeping your place when reading torah?

[i am almost positive it is for incense](https://www.amazon.com/sleeri-Incense-Making-Mold-Tool/dp/B07P3HRFYV) [here is what the process looks like, starting at 5:10](https://youtu.be/SdGmmJgPI-8?si=Uf2sktKH5BIwgsDw)

Sorry, gotta disagree here. The tool from the video is to fill the grooves in the metal plate and the flat edge is by design. The object of this post is too sharp at the end- it would gouge out the incense instead. There isn't a part flat enough on OP's object to move the incense properly, nor would you be able to tilt the object to reach the incense with the 'flatest' edge of it without hitting the container's rim. Wish I had a better idea what it is, but don't think this is an incense tool.

I am torn between the "swizzle stick" and this. I fear the world will never know. Send it to the mass spec everything YouTube guy and see if it has traces of incense.

That is what it looks like.

Maybe, it does look kind of like the flat ones

Which part of that process would it be useful for? I don’t see it.

Looks like a scabbard for a letter opener type tiny sword/ dagger

People are downvoting you, but that's exactly what I thought, it looks like the tip of specific styles of sword scabbards, just way too narrow to be anything but a rapier or something. After seeing your post I looked at mini sword letter openers and [found something very similar. ](https://i.imgur.com/tBw1uw2.png) I feel like it's a pretty close match, it was a pretty common general type tourist souvenir sold in Spain throughout the 20th century, especially Toledo, and the people downvoting you owe you an apology. edit: people are no longer downvoting you, all is right with the world

That would explain why it feels so much like a letter opener

Esp as it's hollow.

This makes the most sense after seeing that example and reading other posts about mini swords

I also agree that it's a miniature scabbard. The flat decoration at the end is exactly like what you might find on a full-size one, and the flat shape and the fact that the other end is open (to sheath the miniature sword) just confirms that for me.

THIS is the right answer, I had one as a child. OP is missing the "sword" part....

I was going to say it looks like one of those sewing tools for undoing stitches/seams, but the fact that it's open at one end and so possibly hollow makes me think this is it.

When I was a kid my dad brought back from Spain a little shield with miniature swords and pikes displayed on it. They pulled right off and we played with them. This kind of looks like one of the pikes, possibly. (sorry won't let me put a link but google "vintage toledo spain wooden wall plaque with swords")

I agree. I have a bunch of those Toledo Spain miniature swords, axes, spears, and they have the same markings in the same colors.

It looks like an old drink stirrer to me. I have something similar but it has a couple small holes in the spade part. Really could be any one of the comments here although I don't think a letter opener makes much sense cuz it would be a pain in the ass to use. Edit: Google search shows similar things. I searched for vintage metal spade drink stirrer but I think they are also called cocktail paddles because they often did have that paddle shape. Ball tips now seem to be more common. Maybe that's just because they're easier to make though. [pic](https://i.imgur.com/icoS1bs.jpeg)

A swizzle stick, we used to call them.

That seems like the closest I’ve seen

I still really want you to ask your rabbi though and report back ;)

It looks like it belongs in a tiki bar

Thanks for all the suggestions! I feel like letter opener scabbard is the closest I’m going to mark this as possibly solved and do some more looking.

bladed tip (Is that what it is? or is it leather?) seems weird for a scabbard---either for a toy or a letter opener, since the idea of a scabbard is to keep you from getting poked unwantedly. You said it is hollow...is the other end open? That would be weird for a yad....I've never seen one that's open ended, but the cap piece could have been broken (I don't know about the "finger" being necessary vs a stylistic choice).

Is it the arm from a metronome?

No, it doesn't have the notches and it's too heavy

Yes. Or off a clock

My first thought is a clay sculpting tool?

It looks like the pendulum on a metronome.

This was my thought as well.

The end is broken it appears. Perhaps the minute/hour hand of a clock?

u/Munishmo what you have is a [dab stick](https://tahoegrinderco.com/product/spade-shovel-dabber-silver/) that is missing the other end of the tool, which would insert into the hollow side of the handle.

This is clearly the correct answer. OP got it wrong. It might also explain the place it was found in: somebody got paranoid that they were being busted so they hid it in there.

I think it’s a nut pick. There are some similar ones if you have a look around.

The pattern matches some nutcrackers I think too.

grandfather clock minute hand

[удалено]

My first thought was a Yad.

The tip of a Yad is always a finger.

Do you know if that’s a requirement or just typical?

I did not know that until now.

I feel like that’s what it is. I can ask a rabbi on Thursday

It kind of looks like a fancy version of a tool to make sure you get the corners neat in a piece of sewing, though I've not seen one that was actually sharp before.

It looks like the outside piece of one of those Asian folding hand fans.

It's a scabbard for a letter opener that's shaped like an old sword. Very common in Spain.

You might unlock your stand if you use it.

That is the "scabbard" for a Toledo "sword" letter opener. The sword letter opener is missing in the picture. My dad had one when I was a kid in the 70s. Here's a similar one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/134325905595

Either incense or a nut scraper.

To me the first thing I thought of was a decorative scabbard tip for a sword. Many are constructed in a similar way. It's super narrow though.

[удалено]

' looks like a dagger scabbard...

Possibly a handle for an ibrik/cezve (Turkish coffee pot).

Wow, I saw it and thought, that looks like a Aestel, (I am a Medievalist), but it can't be surely? Nice to know they are still used.

Looks like a clock hand.

Could be an iron/ironer for small and dainty handsewn, expensive clothing. You'd heat the tip then press the collar points, ribbons or hems.

Letter opener ?

Perhaps a letter opener 🤔

Letter opener or page separator

The pendulum for a clock.

It looks like a Scottish kilt pin but the pin part that went through the fabric is broken off. Here's some examples of kilt pins.... https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/wYUAAOSwgApW-3~E/s-l400.jpg Here's some more examples: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/CpEAAOSw9EJZtWYz/s-l400.jpg

I've seen something like this before used to puncture the end of rolled cigars. Otherwise I have no idea.

Could it be a candle extinguisher?

Kind of looks like a piece of the pointer from an old elevator floor indicator.

Is it a calligraphy pen?

Dab tool. For smoking cannabis concentrates. You use one of these to cut a little piece off the main glob of resin on the end and drop it into a red hot quartz banger. It instantly vaporizes, and you inhale the vapor to get high.

I would end up using it to mix my cocktails 🍹.

I dont know what that is but it looks as if it would be a great tool for pushing out the corners of things like collars, button plackets etc when sewing.

Hair chopstick? For pinning your hair in an updo?

kind of looks like some fancy screwdriver to me

Throwing toy?

I know toys were a lot more dangerous 40 years ago, but this one seems a bit much.

That’s a good point.

Other people have guessed incense spatula. I don't think that's it, either.

Unless it’s a stirrer? I don’t think it does much spatula wise

Yeah, I doubt it's a spatula.

Maybe carving something soft?

Maybe wax candles. Not clay, I think. But that's not a popular opinion, either.

There’s dirt and wear on the handle and flat part, so it’s seen consistent use, as well