1940's Dump Score! Seven Matching Sterling Silver Salt and Pepper Shakers!

[FreeBirdTim]

Went back to the dump that gave up a Sterling silver military badge yesterday. Didn't find another badge, but I did score some more Sterling silver. I dug up seven matching salt and pepper shakers! They're 3" high and probably from the 1920's or so. Based on the hallmark, they were manufactured by the Manchester Silver Company of Providence, Rhode Island. They were in business under that name from 1914 to 1985.

Out of seven shakers, only three are in decent condition. One is dented, one is split open on the side and I scratched a couple as well with my digger. Tried to clean one, but they're very tarnished. Might be able to make them look presentable, but mainly worth their scrap value. They weigh 17.5 grams each, for a total weight of 122.5 grams. That works out to around $62.50 scrap value. Not a bad day at the dump!

I'll bet there's at least one more shaker at that dump, so I'll be back there tomorrow looking for it!

 

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[dirtdigginfool]

NICE! Those shakers are worth much more than scrap! Would like to see them all shined up..thx for sharing, Ddf.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Incredible dump find! Hard to believe that people dont know what "sterling" is just because its tarnished.

 

[UnderMiner]

Very nice! Have never seen so many shakers from the ground all at once before!! That's got to be a record!

 

[Relicific]

Nice score

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Thanks, guys! Don't worry, I won't scrap them. Without a doubt, my best Sterling silver find ever!

Tried to clean them with the baking soda and aluminum foil method, but that didn't do much. So I hit them with Wright's brass polish. That did a good job, but I still need to clean them more some other time.

Here's what they look like now. Not bad at all...

 

[WaterScoop]

Gorgeous ! I bet the detector played Beethoven's 5th when you were over them.

Did they overload your reading?

What detector did you use and how deep were they?

AWESOME AWSOME AWESOME!!!

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I actually found them while I was digging for bottles. I had found the silver badge the day before, so I was keeping an eye out for anything shiny. They were pretty grungy, but they did stick out enough for me to spot them. Unfortunately, I scratched a couple before I wised up and broke out the pinpointer. Dug a lot of rusty junk doing that, but eventually found the 7 shakers and their tops. Took me over two hours to get them and I know I must have missed one. There has to be four pairs of shakers there!

 

[Trezurehunter]

Excellent finds ! Those would be in my antique display case before they went to the scrapper. Those shakers are just a nice piece of the past.

 

[against the wind]

Sweet Sterling Silver,,
Those shakers were probably disposed of by a Fancy Smancy catering hall. Excellent saves and good job on the cleaning.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Awesome relic recovery!

 

[creade]

Awesome recovery job,terrific cleanup what a score

 

[A2coins]

wow can i help lol great post

 

[Sooper Dave]

Those are cool and I bet they sounded great on the detector!

 

[FreeBirdTim]

wow can i help lol great post

Sure! Bring your shovel, since we got 4 inches of snow last night! Going to be a rough day at the dump today! Hope I can find the spot where I dug them!

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Those shakers were probably disposed of by a Fancy Smancy catering hall

I'll be you're right! That means there could be dozens of them there!

 

[luke_00]

Those are some wonderful finds! Congrats!!

 

[Argentium]

Great find ! Way better than scrap !! Yeah there really could be more !

 

[trdking]

I love it! almost as good as GOOOOOOLD!

 

[highnam]

Shaker Cache! Dang those look nice all cleaned up. Congrats