Awesome 1901 Pan American Exposition Letter Opener. Silver Coins Plus More.

[JerV3]

Hey everyone,

Been hunting a nice old section of a park and been coming away with some nice keepers. Not as old of finds as I would like to be finding but I'll take what I can get.

One one outing I managed 18 old coins and a awesome piece of history. The letter opener made my day. It took hrs to clean it. It was ranking as one of the harder items I ever cleaned.

It was a surface find and had been beaten to death by weather over the last 100 yrs. It has a patent date of may 14th 1901. I am pretty sure it was a give away at the expo to get folks to attend. It was in buffalo NY where it took place.

I love to find old coins and silver. But this one was truly a keeper relic. I managed like my 5th no date standing lib of the yr. I got a few war nickles. One nice indian head. A really nice 1907 V nickle and a 1927 buff.

Got a few mercs common dates. I think a 42 and a 28. I'll be back at it again this weekend. The compact thingy is solid sterling even though it is broken. Also got a 47 rosie 18 wheats and a 1922 pgh railways token.

Hope you all like the pics and finds.

Thanks for looking

HH Jer

 

[Mirage]

Awesome letter opener. The V nickel looks sweet too.

A lot of keepers. I don't mind stuff not being so old as long as I am finding stuff and the hunting is easy

Bob

 

[JerV3]

Thanks alot everyone for all the great replies.

Sorry, It took so long to reply. I had a really busy day yesterday after I posted these finds. Ball games dentist app lawnmower rebuild etc.

I am located in Pittsburgh P.a. So the letter opener traveled about 300 miles. The opener is made of solid bronze. It was a real bear to clean. Surface finds are very hard to clean.

Don't cry anyone out there lol when I tell you how I cleaned this item. I have a very steady hand and have cleaned thousands of coins and artifacts. I've ruined a few in my day but as you test new ideas you learn what to do and what not to do.

I first gave it a few peroxide baths as best as I could. The item is large and you need a large bowl of peroxide and alot of peroxide to clean it with. I had to resort to using one of the wifes onion choppers to fit the item in. I can tell you she wasn't thrilled.

But hey I had to get my relic cleaned. I first tooth picked it down as best as I could. I realized even before the peroxide bath what I was going to have to do to get it clean. I broke out my favorite steak knive. Took the back side of it put it flush to the opener and gently scraped the black crud off of it without scratching the surface of the item.

With the right ammount of pressure it can be done without scratching the item. There were so many grooves on the buffalo that a tooth pick just doesn't have the density to take the dirt/corrosion off.

Finally hrs later after it was completely free of dirt. I am a perfectionist so if even a spec was on it I went over it and over it till it was 99% free of dirt.

Then the rest of the fun part. Polishing it all out with a safe for all metals polish to smooth it all out. All work was done by hand. It probably took me about 8 hrs off and on over the weekend to get it pretty nice. Then I will let it soak in extra virgin olive oil for awhile.

That will fill in the small corrosion bubbles and darken them from green to black or brown. I was pretty happy with the results when I was done. I was optimistic at first because I knew it was going to be a real pain to get it back to a nice state again.

Some of the other items where cleaned in a heavy duty tumbler. Just soap and water does a nice job on them. Some of the other items where peroxided hand scraped down and a coat of mothers mags was applied to them with a q-tip. Then let soak in oil.

Hope this answers most of your guys questions. Once again thank you for the nice replies and viewing.

HH Jer

 

[Nana40]

Absolutely stunning find, Jer! And beautiful job cleaning that up! 8) That's one to be VERY proud of! All those finds are awesome! Many congrats and thanks for posting!

Hope ya have a great weekend! Nana

 

[clump63]

That letter opener is very cool. Great finds as usual. Congrats.

 

[civilman1]

Beautiful letter opener! You always find the coolest stuff!

Awesome find's Jer..... King of the coolest stuff!!!

 

[weasel606]

excellent finds WTG

 

[JerV3]

Thanks alot everyone for the nice words.

I appreciate it Nana, there are times when I think should I still post. Lot of good treasure hunters out there feal this way. At times it seems the forum is still for the newbie and begginer. I'd rather spend my time teaching than posting my own finds.

I was back at it again today and struck some older coinage. Got a nice large cent. First one of the yr. Plus some other nice items. Will post them soon.

Thanks again,

Jer

 

[cntrydncr1]

Fantastic letter opener. Thanks for posting! You must have alot of patience to do all that cleaning!

 

[longsocks]

OUTSTANDING ! ! ! ! !

 

[Johnny Ringo Silver]

Love the letter opener and you know me....LOVE the SILVER!!! That letter opener will never leave your collection I bet!! 8)

 

[crazyjarhead]

Very nice assortment of finds

 

[bigrig43]

really cool finds jeremy! wtg,bigrig

 

[TimC (North Alabama)]

Very cool finds, that letter opener has some tereffic detail.

 

[JerV3]

Thanks alot everyone,

Yes, patience is the biggest factor in doing this stuff. From the hunt to the restoration of the item. It all takes patience. I hunt with guys who have none and don't find much either. And when they do I clean there finds for them.

Yes, this one will stay in the collection for awhile. I am younge so I plan on enjoying my finds for a long time then I will part with them when the time is right. They can only get more valuable. Alot of people that don't hunt don't understand what a item means to us.

Everyone wants you to sell and make money. Losing a nice relic is like losing your best friend. Not exactly but you all know what I mean.

Thanks again,

Jer