What is this thing!?!? Metal detecting at beach

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Martinm1

Jr. Member
Jun 21, 2021
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Hey guys I live in vero beach and after the recent hurricane I went out this morning to metal detect on the beach. This was a huge signal and was deep. I got it out Finally after fighting the waves and I'm not sure what it is. I think it's a pilots badge from eastern airlines but not sure. It says 10k on the back which is amazing to me. But what on earth would this have been doing in the ocean?????? Anyone have any ideas what to make of this?
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Maybe a plane crash from long ago???
 

ARC said:
its 1/10th 10k... AKA... "gold filled". ... might even say 1/20,,, cant quite make it out.
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So is it worth something? Gold filled?
 

Interesting find. It’s a pilot’s cap badge. This listing from Flying Tiger Antiques suggests it to be “sixth issue” from c.1960:

Eastern.jpg

Yours also has the “B in Shield” maker mark for L.G. Balfour of Attleboro, Massachusetts. I think ARC is correct that it says 1/10 10K, which does mean it’s gold-filled. That’s another way of saying “rolled gold” which means it’s plated, but with a thicker layer than you would get from electro-plating.

However, while electro-plating gives you a layer of pure precious metal, gold-fill can be any desired fineness of gold and usually a rather lower fineness. So, here, you have an item plated with 10k gold (41.7% fine), of which 1/10th the total weight is the plating. That means a smidgeon over 4% of the total metallic weight is actual gold.

There’s a handy calculator at the link below (you need to look up the spot price for gold first):
https://www.goldnscrap.com/post/gold-filled-calculator

Depending on how damaged it is, I would think it probably worth more to a collector as a badge.
 

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Red-Coat said:
Interesting find. It’s a pilot’s cap badge. This listing from Flying Tiger Antiques suggests it to be “sixth issue” from c.1960:

View attachment 2048822

Yours also has the “B in Shield” maker mark for L.G. Balfour of Attleboro, Massachusetts. I think ARC is correct that it says 1/10 10K, which does mean it’s gold-filled. That’s another way of saying “rolled gold” which means it’s plated, but with a thicker layer than you would get from electro-plating.

However, while electro-plating gives you a layer of pure precious metal, gold-fill can be any desired fineness of gold and usually a rather lower fineness. So, here, you have an item plated with 10k gold (41.7% fine), of which 1/10th the total weight is the plating. That means a smidgeon over 4% of the total metallic weight is actual gold.

There’s a handy calculator at the link below (you need to look up the spot price for gold first):
https://www.goldnscrap.com/post/gold-filled-calculator

Depending on how damaged it is, I would think it probably worth more to a collector as badge.
Click to expand...
Wow thank you for that information! I still can't figure out why this was on the beach or how it got there. The hurricane really caused alot of erosion on the beaches here. I have no idea who this belongs too, you think it has been lost since the 60s??
 

Martinm1 said:
Wow thank you for that information! I still can't figure out why this was on the beach or how it got there. The hurricane really caused alot of erosion on the beaches here. I have no idea who this belongs too, you think it has been lost since the 6
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We do find some unusual things on the beaches here on the Treasure Coast. This won't be your last. Great recovery.
 

Sandog said:
We do find some unusual things on the beaches here on the Treasure Coast. This won't be your last. Great recovery.
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Well maybe someone might collect these and make an offer! Might help cover my gas money right!
 

Martinm1 said:
Hey guys I live in vero beach and after the recent hurricane I went out this morning to metal detect on the beach. This was a huge signal and was deep. I got it out Finally after fighting the waves and I'm not sure what it is. I think it's a pilots badge from eastern airlines but not sure. It says 10k on the back which is amazing to me. But what on earth would this have been doing in the ocean?????? Anyone have any ideas what to make of this?View attachment 2048806View attachment 2048807
Click to expand...
Nice!!! Congrats!!!
 

Martinm1 said:
Wow thank you for that information! I still can't figure out why this was on the beach or how it got there. The hurricane really caused alot of erosion on the beaches here. I have no idea who this belongs too, you think it has been lost since the 60s??
Click to expand...

You're welcome.

Who knows how or when it might have been lost, but I’m doubtful that the enamelling would have survived in that condition after 60 or so years in salt water.

[Incidentally, although I make no suggestion that this relates to a crashed aircraft, Eastern only lost two into the sea in that era. Flight 375 plummeted almost vertically into Winthrop Bay near the end of the runway at Boston-Logan Airport after a bird strike on 4th October 1960; and Flight 663 crashed into the Atlantic and exploded about 6 miles SSW of Jones Beach State Park, New York after loss of control when avoiding a collision with another aircraft on 8th February 1965. No pilots survived either crash.]
 

In 1972 there was an Eastern Airlines flight that went down in the everglades while attempting to land at Miami International. Did they use this badge into the 1970s?
 

Red-Coat said:
Interesting find. It’s a pilot’s cap badge. This listing from Flying Tiger Antiques suggests it to be “sixth issue” from c.1960:

View attachment 2048822

Yours also has the “B in Shield” maker mark for L.G. Balfour of Attleboro, Massachusetts. I think ARC is correct that it says 1/10 10K, which does mean it’s gold-filled. That’s another way of saying “rolled gold” which means it’s plated, but with a thicker layer than you would get from electro-plating.

However, while electro-plating gives you a layer of pure precious metal, gold-fill can be any desired fineness of gold and usually a rather lower fineness. So, here, you have an item plated with 10k gold (41.7% fine), of which 1/10th the total weight is the plating. That means a smidgeon over 4% of the total metallic weight is actual gold.

There’s a handy calculator at the link below (you need to look up the spot price for gold first):
https://www.goldnscrap.com/post/gold-filled-calculator

Depending on how damaged it is, I would think it probably worth more to a collector as a
Martinm1 said:
Hey guys I live in vero beach and after the recent hurricane I went out this morning to metal detect on the beach. This was a huge signal and was deep. I got it out Finally after fighting the waves and I'm not sure what it is. I think it's a pilots badge from eastern airlines but not sure. It says 10k on the back which is amazing to me. But what on earth would this have been doing in the ocean?????? Anyone have any ideas what to make of this?View attachment 2048806View attachment 2048807
Click to expand...
You never know what’s next and the best part is finding the history behind what you found and the mystery of how it became there
Click to expand...
 

RatherBeDigging said:
In 1972 there was an Eastern Airlines flight that went down in the everglades while attempting to land at Miami International. Did they use this badge into the 1970s?
Click to expand...

That, I don't know... but the crash site (Flight 401) was 25 miles from the nearest coastal beach:

Flight 401.jpg
 

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Yea its certainly a mystery. Hopefully it's not from any crash!! I like to think sometime long long ago a pilot lost his hat in the wind while walking on our beautiful beach and it blew into the ocean lol I had no idea guys how collectable this Eastern Airlines stuff is! I think I might get a fair offer for this thing. I'll have to hit that beach with my detector again for sure
 

Very nice find congratulations
 

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