1788 1/2 real, 1803, 1810, and 1842 LCs, old copper, and Krampus??

[Z.K.]

Hey diggers

Things are in full swing here and I've gotten out three times this week, with weather and rifle season closing in. I chanced upon my 6th Spanish silver of the year (mexico city mint) as well as my first Classic Head cent in addition to a tattered draped and a sweet condition 1842. The blank copper is the size and weight of the William III I dug at the same spot two weeks ago, but not a shred of detail is left. Attached are post hunt/pre-cleaned pics, as well as a group shot of the best after 7 hours total of hunting. Some nice buttons, couple of spoons, musket balls, and a cool piece of costume jewelry round out the bunch.

The most interesting piece to me is the one with the demonic figure, which as far as I can tell is a depiction of Krampus, the counterpart to St. Nick in German folklore, who punishes naughty kids. The object seems to be silver plated, (possibly sterling?, I'm not very good at knowing the difference) and has a clip-style fastener on the back (edited: just added pic). The face was totally obscured by dirt when I first uncovered it, so I didn't even realize that I had something more interesting till I got home. Moments like that are actually what I like most about this hobby right now. Anybody seen one of these before, or have any other ideas about what/who it is?

I sure hope like crazy that my "Nick"ing the Krampus piece with my shovel won't result in coal in my stocking this Christmas. Har-har.

Cheers

 

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[Subterranean]

Awesome finds, Z.K., Just a note on the silver piece. Is the fitting on the back affixed with a single post, allowing it to swivel? I ask as it is not centered and it makes no sense how it is facing to the side. If it swivels, and the long slot is turned to face the bottom, then it may have had a ribbon attached as some kind of medal to be worn. It may be Bacchus, as Crusader mentioned, or our dear friend, Krampus. I have always wondered if Krampus played a musical instrument. Because, he would then be "Minstrel Krampus." Ugh. Sub

 

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[thrifty76now]

Those hunts will be remembered by you forever. Great finds there.

 

[Gridwalker306]

What a great hunt! Copper, Spanish silver, and that big silver item is really unique. Never seen anything quite like it.

 

[Z.K.]

Awesome hunt Ken Huge congrats on that Spanish silver and those classic heads sure seem hard to come by. I really like that Krampus piece too. Looking forward to seeing what the back looks like later on. That big iron spoon would preserve great with electrolysis too. Looking forward to your next post man.

Thanks big guy. I still have not ventured into the Jedi ways of electrolysis...fear or laziness, but something I have promised myself to overcome this winter. I hope to get some tips from you.

Nice digs, wtg

Thank you! : )

That was a good hunt alright! I like the Krampus silver piece, and I'll be dollars to doughnuts it's sterling silver.
HH,
Brian

Really appreciate it, Brian. I'm just such a non-coin silver newbie.

Amazing!!! Love that Krampus! And please do post the picture of the back of it. The coins are great but that item is so freaking unusual, would be a centerpiece of my collection if I have found one.
By the way,looks sterling to me.At least Victorian and quality made. Find an old hallmark on the back of it and I'm sure that instead of coal you'll be getting a banner. Big congrats!

Your post made me smile. You cannon-balled into the T-Net pool (yup, bad puns are a specialty of mine) with some world-class finds, so I'm tickled that you'd enjoy this oddity. Thanks man.

All looks highly conserved, cool coins
..you have luck with the ground and site

Than you, weregolf! I'm hoping I can eke out a few more keepers from my active sites in the next couple of weeks.

Congratualtions on the very productive Relic and old Coin hunt!

Thank you, Doc, as always. You are always generous with others and humble in showing what you find.

Looks like a good hunt congrats on some very nice finds

Thanks Art. Don't know how you manage to read and support seemingly everybody on this site. Very cool

Wonderful stuff! Great coins and Krampus-esque guy. I also love the ornate pin you found! If the stone isn't glass, it could be garnet. Congrats. -Lisa & John

Hi Lisa and John- it is glass, but looks cool as heck when backlit. I think the property owner is going to love it

You had a great week! I saw that demon silver piece on facebook. That is just such a freaky piece, perfect for Halloween.

And last year I found a skull-looking buckle the day after Halloween. My wife loves this piece, but our oldest daughter took one look and said, "You need to get this out of the house."
If you can find out any more info on this, please post or pm me. Thanks!

View attachment 1375052

: )

Ken that sure looks like silver to me. What a beautiful piece! I care little about silver or gold jewelry but something like that is awesome. I think once we see the back somebody will be able to nail it down. Btw you've destroyed the rest of us in Spanish in a very short time. Imagine what you might have in an entire years time.

Thanks for the nice remarks. It has been an interesting couple of months for sure. Probably more location than my skill...I don't even know what most of the settings on my etrac do!!

 

[Z.K.]

Amazing finds. Also looking forward to seeing the back of the Krampus piece, it's such an unusual find.

Thanks BD! Posted a pic of the find a little earlier. Hope I can find a match out there.

I'm not sure, but the silver piece reminds me of decanter labels, & 'similar' to the Bacchus images thats connected to Wine.

This was very, very helpful. When I get home I'm devling into this. From a quick scan it looks as though bacchus/Dionysus isn't always depicted with horns, and rarely appears with the tongue protruding. Can't wait to learn more! Thanks for the insight.

 

[The Rebel]

Awesome finds!

 

[Carolina Tom]

I agree with Abe... Krampus looks silver to me. The tarnish on the back is "just right".

I think that is the real deal.

Congrats on all of the superb finds.

 

[Steve in PA]

Hey folks, thanks for the enthusiastic responses. Just posted a pic of the back of Herr Krampus...my apologies for the suspense. No hallmark that I can see (the notch at 1 o'clock is damage I think, but I'm at work now and don't have the object in front of me to confirm) but the tarnish does look more like sterling and the ding doesn't reveal any different material. Steve, if you can track down where you saw it on FB would love to hear more.

I'll be able to respond individually to posts later...back to work!

Z.K - Philip Mandolare posted it on the ID Me FB Group. He said it was found by a friend in a vacant lot next to a church. There are 23 comments on his post.

 

[Z.K.]

Those are some great old coins. Congrats.

Thanks Mr. Hunter

awesome-sauce!!!

Awesome finds, Z.K., Just a note on the silver piece. Is the fitting on the back affixed with a single post, allowing it to swivel? I ask as it is not centered and it makes no sense how it is facing to the side. If it swivels, and the long slot is turned to face the bottom, then it may have had a ribbon attached as some kind of medal to be worn. It may be Bacchus, as Crusader mentioned, or our dear friend, Krampus. I have always wondered if Krampus played a musical instrument. Because, he would then be "Minstrel Krampus." Ugh. Sub

Great questions, and I believe a contender for the pun of the year. The fitting does not swivel. A portion of it looks to have been bent over. I'll take some addition pics later.
Thanks sub!

Those hunts will be remembered by you forever. Great finds there.

Thank you thrifty!

What a great hunt! Copper, Spanish silver, and that big silver item is really unique. Never seen anything quite like it.

It was a good week. Hoping to catch up to you in the seated quarter department, though : )

Awesome finds!

Thanks Rebel

I agree with Abe... Krampus looks silver to me. The tarnish on the back is "just right".

I think that is the real deal.

Congrats on all of the superb finds.

Thank you very much, Tom. Nice to share a little success with good folks such as yourself

Z.K - Philip Mandolare posted it on the ID Me FB Group. He said it was found by a friend in a vacant lot next to a church. There are 23 comments on his post.

Well, my worlds just collided. Philip is a great guy. One of his videos got me to take the hobby seriously early in summer 2015. Then without ever connecting I ran into him in the middle of nowhere detecting a site 15 miles from my house that we had, against all odds, both researched and decided to detect at the same time. A top 5 coincidence in my life.

 

[Z.K.]

That was an excellent hunt,, congrats
Was Krum pus the first to say,, " Bahhh Humbug "

Thanks doc. I don't know! Man, this find has really exposed a huge gap in my knowledge of both Greek and Germanic mythology!! I seriously can't wait to research all this more

 

[Tommy G]

Wow, what a great assortment of finds! Krampus is really unique. I'm thinking that if this was just silver plated, that shovel strike would have most likely revealed the base metal, and I'm not seeing that, so my guess is silver.

 

[Z.K.]

Wow, what a great assortment of finds! Krampus is really unique. I'm thinking that if this was just silver plated, that shovel strike would have most likely revealed the base metal, and I'm not seeing that, so my guess is silver.

I think you're right, all signs pointing to silver. Thanks Tommy!

 

[UnderMiner]

Silver Krampus is really cool

 

[Z.K.]

Hey Underminer, thanks. I'm liking this thing more and more. My wife wants to frame it...that's a first!

 

[Z.K.]

The silver Krampus (does seem more likely than Bacchus based on overall form and having both horns and long tongue) may be a Victorian era "chatelaine," a decorative article for women from which to suspend keys and other domestic items. Made fashionable in the 1820s. The larger clip would fasten at the hip, and the loop coming off of it (folded over on my piece) would be an attachment point for the knick knacks.

Not totally sure, and without a makers mark or duplicate out there tough to verify. But I love it and learned something new!

The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women | Collectors Weekly

 

[Aureus]

The silver Krampus (does seem more likely than Bacchus based on overall form and having both horns and long tongue) may be a Victorian era "chatelaine," a decorative article for women from which to suspend keys and other domestic items. Made fashionable in the 1820s. The larger clip would fasten at the hip, and the loop coming off of it (folded over on my piece) would be an attachment point for the knick knacks.

Not totally sure, and without a makers mark or duplicate out there tough to verify. But I love it and learned something new!

The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women | Collectors Weekly

I still like the Krampus idea even thou Bacchus was no doubt more popular especially in the Victorian era culture. The lack of the hallmark might indicate that the object was actually much larger, unless it's hiding on that pin that seems bent. Any respected silversmith (and it was done by one no doubt about it) would have marked it... Anyways, a mystery and a very cool one.

 

[romeo-1]

Great finds...i love that Krakowski piece!!

 

[ARC]

I am very interested in the (what appears to be) sugar spoon...

Any markings ?

Oh and btw ... stellar hunt. WD.

 

[Z.K.]

I still like the Krampus idea even thou Bacchus was no doubt more popular especially in the Victorian era culture. The lack of the hallmark might indicate that the object was actually much larger, unless it's hiding on that pin that seems bent. Any respected silversmith (and it was done by one no doubt about it) would have marked it... Anyways, a mystery and a very cool one.

View attachment 1375320

I appreciate your thoughtful reply. To mystery!

Great finds...i love that Krakowski piece!!

I don't get the reference, unless your post auto corrected Krampus to krakowski...which appears to be a confection or that actress from 30 Rock. : ) Regardless, thanks Romeo

I am very interested in the (what appears to be) sugar spoon...

Any markings ?

Oh and btw ... stellar hunt. WD.

Thanks AARC! None I can really make out yet, but I welcome your thoughts