Found old spoon in Charlestown, WV

[Tucson Dan]

While on business in WV, I begin knocking on doors asking residents if I could dig in their yards. More than what I thought actually said yes. I found an old spoon a bunch of square nails and various other items in just 30 min in one yard. The spoon I think is brass because it wasn't rusted but instead a reddish brown. Does that sound right?

Can't seem to get pictures attached. I will try again soon.

 

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[Tucson Dan]

Here are some of the items found in a yard in Charlestown, WV. The interesting find was the spoon as stated with the neat design on the handle. Any thoughts on the spoon? Found in the middle of civil war central just a few miles from Harpers Ferry.

 

[Wv.relichunter]

I live in harpers ferry also here is a few things I've found in my yard

1797 One Cent
1807 One Cent
3 buckles
4 civil war bullets
4 buttons
And some kind of spoon

 

[jayg]

how deep were the cent pieces?

 

[Wv.relichunter]

how deep were the cent pieces?

4" 1/2 to 5"

 

[Tucson Dan]

Just went out again today near Harpers Ferry and the Bolivar Heights battlefield (I was on private property) and found some bullets, three broken horseshoes, some shrapnel, a cut nail, and a flat button. Very good hunt for an AZ guy. Unfortunately I have to go home tomorrow.

 

[jayg]

nice relics

 

[olfacere]

I believe that spoon may be made of pewter (~90% tin).

 

[Tucson Dan]

What vintage



would it be then? It does have some nice ornate design on the handle. It was found out the back door of a colonial era home about 6"-7" down.

 

[olfacere]

I don't know much about "silverware." There are directories full of different designs and it would take some decent familiarity to pick out a design visually. I say that it looks like pewter (~90% tin) because of the corrosion. When tin corrodes badly, like the bowl of the spoon, it eats through and looks a lot like rust. When it's only surface corrosion, like on the handle, it will give a wide range of yellows, greens, and reds. You can also see a patch of the clean metal on the handle (probably due to corrosion being knocked/scraped away in the digging process). It looks very much like pewter and pewter was a really common metal prior to the 20th century. Most items that needed to be rigid and durable, but not truly strong, were made of pewter. Nowadays we mostly use it for cheap jewelry and display items.

Note: I'm assuming that it's not silver because of the extent to which the spoon's bowl is corroded.

 

[Tucson Dan]

I need to get online and research designs. Hopefully I'll be able to date the spoon. I may contact the metalurgy dept at the university here and see what they say about the type of metal. That may help.