Charl
Silver Member
So anyway, a few days ago I'm in southern RI, overlooking the Atlantic, surface hunting for Native American artifacts. I'm not metal detecting. I see this thing sticking out of the dirt, pick it up, and think "nice pattern on whatever this is, not broken, might as well keep it and figure it out later if I can." I have no idea how I did not immediately know it was a bell. It was packed with dirt, so the little pellet inside was silent, though.
So I carried it in my left hand for the next hour, while going about my business. Found a few stone points, pleased with that, and when I got home, my smarter half said right away "hey, that's a bell!". So while she cleans it out and discovers it still rings, I go online and discover it's a crotal bell, and then after reading this page, I was excited to learn it was an earlier type, dating late 18th century to c. 1845. I'm guessing brass, no maker's mark....
https://classicbells.com/info/DatingBells.asp
Boy, I'm sure glad I didn't just toss this back in the dirt!
So I carried it in my left hand for the next hour, while going about my business. Found a few stone points, pleased with that, and when I got home, my smarter half said right away "hey, that's a bell!". So while she cleans it out and discovers it still rings, I go online and discover it's a crotal bell, and then after reading this page, I was excited to learn it was an earlier type, dating late 18th century to c. 1845. I'm guessing brass, no maker's mark....
https://classicbells.com/info/DatingBells.asp
Boy, I'm sure glad I didn't just toss this back in the dirt!
