How do you know if it is old??

[baylorhall]

I live in an area where I have yet to find any old coins. I did find a piece off a 1929 Dodge, but no coins yet. This week I found my first harmonica piece, found near the roots of a big tree. Is there any way to know if it is old and if so, how old? There just aren't that many folks sitting at a park playing harmonicas these days. Thanks!

 

[STH69]

Hard to tell with out a mark or number?

 

[baylorhall]

I couldn't find any marks. I always wonder where the rest of the harmonicas are. Folks seem to find just this part!

 

[allen]

id guess the rest of the harmonica
would just rust away after awhile.

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

It's probably old. When was the last time you saw someone with a harmonica in their back pocket? The harmonica is the iPod of the late 19th and early 20th century.

When I am out detecting, a harmonica reed is always a sign that there are more old things to be found. I have found hundreds of reeds. The other parts of the harmonica have rusted away, but the reads needed to be made of a superior metal to give a consistant note.

Get back there and look for some of those old coins. They are out there!!

 

[Montana Jim]

You have a reed board... the "reeds" are the brass or steel pieces covering those slots.

I agree that the rest would have been rotted or rusted away, those boards are generally brass and there are at least two in every harmonica making them a little more common.

 

[baylorhall]

Thanks for the info! I am fairly new at all of this, so was excited to find my first reed in a city park. Glad to know it most likely old. I will have to try that spot again! Thanks, guys!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Mid 1800s to early 1900s find there. 

 

[Woodland Detectors]

theres a bunch of folks blowing those things all over the place! But, they don't use those reeds so yea it's older