Old Homestead Finds – Gold Wedding Ring, Coins & Bells!

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Through the research of an 1878 map of my town, I was able to locate the site of an old homestead. Based on the age of the finds, I would say the site ceased to exist sometime in the early 1900’s. I hit the field on Sunday morning after receiving permission last week from the site developer, who will be building a retail mall here. My first find was the Osborn Lockstitch Machine disc; this was followed by the holed Agriculture & Commerce Bas Canada Half Penny, the 1859 Canada LC & the 1913 Canada LC. Then I got an interesting yet solid signal in the 47 – 50 range and out popped a 22K Wedding Band weighting 1.4grams! The makers’ marks inside the band are as follows… Lion or Fox Head, the number ‘22’, a Crown, the letter ‘S’, an Anchor and the letters ‘J W’. I am not an expert on British gold makers’ marks and the marks have quite a lot of wear, so I could very well have misinterpreted the marks. If anyone can assist me in dating the ring, I would greatly appreciate it. After finding the gold ring, I decided it was time to re-grid the 50’ x 50’ in what I like to call the ‘Union Jack Flag’ pattern. This produced the crotal bell, the broken cone shaped bell and the musket ball… the large clay marble was an eyeball find!

Osborn Lockstitch Machine, sold by The Guelph Sewing Machine Co.
The company was also known as Keables, Osborn & Co and Wilie & Osborn. Based in Guelph. Osborn also worked in the USA, notably for the Leader Sewing Machine Company, for whom he held several patents. A lockstitch is the most common mechanical stitch made by a sewing machine. The term "single needle stitching", often found on dress shirt labels, refers to lockstitch.

History of the Sewing Machine Industry of Ontario, 1860-1897
While the history and development of the sewing machine industry in the United States has received considerable attention, very little research has been conducted on the same industry in Canada. In fact, it is not commonly known that Canada even had such an industry. Despite the large number of American sewing machines sold here in the nineteenth century, however, a domestic industry did emerge which produced thousands of machines over a period of thirty years. The industry's development and decline can be measured from 1860 to 1897, a period when fourteen Ontario manufacturers, in business from as few as two to as many as thirty-four years, were producing family or domestic sewing machines. Ontario-manufactured machines were based on exactly the same principles and elements as American machines. There was a trend among Canadian inventors to make additions or alterations to the basic principles; however, no significant new inventions in sewing machine technology were developed here. Stylistically Ontario machines were slightly behind their American competitors, but in quality and workmanship, they were considered to be on a par.

By the mid-1870s, there were clearly too many Ontario sewing machine companies competing for the domestic market and a number of the smaller companies either folded or were absorbed by larger ones. The eventual decline of the industry occurred for a variety of reasons. Changes in Canadian patent requirements resulted in a proliferation of American branch plants on Canadian soil, a factor which seriously threatened Canadian dominance in the home market. Comparatively low tariffs on imports promoted the dumping of American sewing machines into the Canadian market at ruinous prices. In addition, overproduction and the depression of the late 1870s severely damaged the industry. The ultimate result was disaster for the once thriving sewing machine industry of Ontario and one by one, the companies disappeared.

Thanks very much for looking,
David

 

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[vpnavy]

Nice finds! Thanks for sharing...

 

[Carolina Tom]

Very well played Anti! You got all sorts of good stuff, especially that nice little gold ring. Congrats my man.

 

[EasternShoreMetal]

Really nice saves esp. before they get buried for another indeterminate time by a mall! WTG!

 

[RJ55]

Great saves, congratulations.

 

[Rivers rat]

Well done!!!!!!!


RR

 

[Loco-Digger]

Looks like your research and ability to get permission really paid off. You pulled some great finds from that old home site.

 

[Old Dude]

Nice research Dave! Good job finding the site and then getting those items

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Awesome! You got the gold ring!!!! Congrats! Interesting sewing machine looks like an industrial one.

 

[jwarner51]

My initials are J W maybe you could just send that ring on over to me. Lol great finds

 

[pepperj]

Great hunt Dave, it was a really good hunt for you this trip into the fields. Liking the big coppers and what's there not to like about getting the 22K gold band.
The link page has the maker's marks and in the link might help and the date chart in the upper right hand corner will give you the date of which S. If a close up picture was possible we could have a look see to find out what the date of the ring is as all the info is there.
London Hallmarks 9 - Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks

 

[Ahab8]

Great stuff Dave! Nice to see you're rsearch was spot on and it all worked out. Some people have no idea how much time and effort goes into making a hunt happen. I have spent months before researching a property and writing a long and detailed letter to the owner. Then waiting for a reply. Then setting up the day. It feels great when it all works out. I'm headed home next week and have a potentially amazing 1600s site set up.
Great job making it all happen and walking away with a pile of great finds. Looking forward to seeing what else you pull from that dirt brother

 

[jwarner51]

How'd you straighten everything out so well?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice finds! Thanks for sharing...

Thank you Sir!

Very well played Anti! You got all sorts of good stuff, especially that nice little gold ring. Congrats my man.

Thanks very much Tom, best of luck to you buddy!
Dave

Really nice saves esp. before they get buried for another indeterminate time by a mall! WTG!

Thanks for your post Chris, we do what we have to do to save history right!

Great saves, congratulations.

Thanks RJ!

Well done!!!!!!!

RR

Cheers mate, best of luck to you !
Dave

Looks like your research and ability to get permission really paid off. You pulled some great finds from that old home site.

Thanks bud, at first every target was a keeper, after an hour I started to grid more meticulously, that's when the ring popped up.
Dave

Nice research Dave! Good job finding the site and then getting those items

Thanks very much Dave, hope your having a good fall for detecting my friend!
Dave

Awesome! You got the gold ring!!!! Congrats! Interesting sewing machine looks like an industrial one.

The gold ring... it's my precious!
I think the Osborn Lockstitch Token is the most interesting find I made here MsBB, anything with writing on it gives me a basis for research.

Best of luck to you this fall,
Dave

My initials are J W maybe you could just send that ring on over to me. Lol great finds

Sounds good buddy, just PM me your address and I'm put it right in the mail!
I just wish the marks were more clear, as I'd love to know how old it is.
Dave

 

[against the wind]

Nice hunt and really great pictures

 

[The Patriot]

What a great post! Love reading them! Fantastic finds for sure and great job on the ring!!!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great hunt Dave, it was a really good hunt for you this trip into the fields. Liking the big coppers and what's there not to like about getting the 22K gold band.
The link page has the maker's marks and in the link might help and the date chart in the upper right hand corner will give you the date of which S.
If a close up picture was possible we could have a look see to find out what the date of the ring is as all the info is there.

London Hallmarks 9 - Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks

Thanks very much for the link Jim!
I'm finding it difficult to get a clear indication of exactly what the makers marks are and I'm considering taking it to a jeweler to research it for me.
I've done business with a jeweler here in town that specializes in antique jewelry and I think she'll be able to help me out.

I'll try taking a few more pics to get a clearer view of the marks and will post it in the Whatsit Forum.
Thanks again for the map with the leads in the town just to the east of me, I'm going to research it a bit more this weekend, I'll let you know what I find out.
Friday does look to be a bit soggy, maybe we can play it by ear depending on how much rain we're in store for.
Dave

Great stuff Dave! Nice to see you're research was spot on and it all worked out. Some people have no idea how much time and effort goes into making a hunt happen. I have spent months before researching a property and writing a long and detailed letter to the owner. Then waiting for a reply. Then setting up the day. It feels great when it all works out. I'm headed home next week and have a potentially amazing 1600s site set up.
Great job making it all happen and walking away with a pile of great finds. Looking forward to seeing what else you pull from that dirt brother

Thanks for your post Abe, great to hear from you again!

Yeah, the research is 75% of the work, detecting is the easy part.
I like to tell people... if nothing happened there, then there will be nothing to find!

Best of luck with the 1600's site you have lined up too!
I'm going to be in Bangor the first week of December, I'll tip one back for you at The Sea Dog.
Dave

How'd you straighten everything out so well?

I have a ring mandrel/sizing tool that I bought years ago from a jewelry supply store in Toronto for just this purpose.
When I started detecting 5 years ago I mainly hunted parks and I found a fair number of rings, very few come out of the ground straight.

The Osborn Lockstitch token I flattened with the use of an anvil I have on my workbench vise.
It really helps when you have the right tools!
Dave

Nice hunt and really great pictures

Thank you for the words of support bud!

What a great post! Love reading them! Fantastic finds for sure and great job on the ring!!!

Thanks very much Patriot, it seemed to take forever to photograph, crop, then edit all of the pics!
This is definitely one of the longest posts I've ever put together.

Best of luck to you this fall,
Dave

 

[Brian C.]

Nice finds.

 

[Erik in NJ]

David,

Great set of finds and very interesting post! The gold ring straightened up very nicely, I love the old elongated bell and the sewing machine tag is fantastic. I enjoyed reading what you posted re the sewing machine industry in Canada.

Best, Erik

 

[IndianaHunter27]

Fantastic finds man! Love all the coins!