Finally, an end to the summer silver drought

[cti4sw]

Got permission to hunt the grounds of an empty convent/Catholic school across the tracks from where I grew up.

Among other random things on the way there, including about $5 in clad, were these:



The ring is marked "STERLING" on the inside and fits on my pinkie, lol. Dime is a 1920 Merc. Strangely, I found no wheat pennies in the yards around the buildings. Used my small coil first for target separation as I knew I would encounter a lot of trash, but my second visit will be with my standard coil.

Also found this "RFD" padlock, the loop is broken off. Google says the RFD stands for Rural Free Delivery and is an early USPS brand.


The church was built in 1916, and the school/convent in the 1920s. Not sure if this lock predates that, but Google also says that the RFD concept was born in 1890. The USPS had fully adopted the idea by 1916. I wonder if the lock was used during the early construction of the campus and left once it broke. Pre-1916, the area the church sits on was a strip of empty land privately owned surrounded by similar strips. The borough was incorporated in 1891, until then it was a farming community buried in a nearby township.

 

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[Old Dude]

Congrats on your silvers. Does the ring have a hallmark? Nice little lock too.

 

[46Wheat]

Nice digs . Thanks for the pics . Yup I had an RFD address until about 1989 or so

 

[cti4sw]

Congrats on your silvers. Does the ring have a hallmark? Nice little lock too.

I didn't see a hallmark, just the Sterling stamp.

 

[Argentium]

Very nice site for you if you can continue on there - I'd really like to see the ring design ( get a sense of age )

 

[cjon455]

Was wondering what happened to ya good to see ya back at it. Great digs, the silver is awesome but I'm liking the lock!

 

[cti4sw]

Very nice site for you if you can continue on there - I'd really like to see the ring design ( get a sense of age )

Is the pic clear enough? Looks like a rudimentary butterfly type pattern repeated around the outside.

 

[cti4sw]

Was wondering what happened to ya good to see ya back at it. Great digs, the silver is awesome but I'm liking the lock!

Haha, it wasn't for lack of digging - I haven't found anything worth posting. I like the lock too! It's one of those small finds I feel ties back to the borough history, of which very little is known before 1890.

 

[dirtlooter]

nice finds, nice silver