I posted this for discussion on the Collectors Universe World Coin Forum, though it's obviously not a coin. I figured some of those skilled in Asian languages there might help decipher the squigglies.
This disc was found about twelve years ago in an old churchyard in Western North Carolina. The church was established in only a few years after the first white settler in that area came to this region of Western NC, and he was killed by the Cherokee.
I personally would be surprised if this item is older than the 19th century, but it's now been suggested by some that it is much, much older than that.? It's an interesting mystery. Perhaps I need to pull out some more of my mystery finds and photograph them. One little tubular brass piece I dug long ago and threw in the drawer later turned out to be a ramrod guide from a Revolutionary War era Brown Bess musket, so you never know, I guess...
(Edited to remove some of the more specific locational info, in light of the potential significance of this find)
