Huge Bucket Lister For Me....Luckenbooth Silver Trade Brooch

Ahab8

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First off let me just say that this Luckenbooth brooch is something I have always wanted to find. I have never obsessed about it like some other things because you rarely see them pop up and it's something that I knew I may never dig. A lot of my Scottish ancestors settled in this area and my mom and I have talked about how cool it would be to find one of these brooches. Now for the very strange coincidence. It was just the other day that Patriot dug one of these as well as an antler. Well I too dug an antler today as well as an iron shoe and a tiny shoe buckle frame. I also dug the guts of a shoe buckle, a destroyed colonial cufflink and a more modern link as well. But enough about that stuff....let's talk about the Luckenbooth brooch. I was hunting for a super early site (1660-1688) and having zero luck finding anything. Then I got into a small iron patch and got a crappy signal that had some iron mixed in. I knew it was deep but figured it was a deep nail. dug about 10" plug and that baby came out of the bottom. It took a minute for it to hit me. It didn't look silver when it came out and I wasn't quite sure if it was colonial. I figured it was early with the crown on top and started to believe it could possibly be Luckenbooth but didn't want to get my hopes up only to be disappointed. I texted Scrappy and OutdoorAdv and eventually it was confirmed that it likely was what I hoped it was. I still didn't allow myself to believe it was silver though.
Finally I got home and rubbed a little lemon juice on it. Sure enough it cleaned up great and I knew it was early silver. Super psyched to have found this and even more psyched to give it to my mom who will truly appreciate it. Thanks for listening to my rambling guys
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Iron Patch

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WTF. Is there a Colonial special on those things? Please give me the directions for the local sale here!
 

Terry Soloman

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I don't know what it is but I'm happy for you. Congrats! :occasion14:
 

Gridwalker306

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Oh yeah man! Definitely has that crude yet absolutely beautiful craftsmanship of early trade silver. What an awesome find, and bizarre that it's the second one posted in a week.

You asked for it, and you got it haha! Big congrats, and obviously I'm hitting the banner button.
 

JeffInMass

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What an amazing piece of history- Congrats Ahab on a great find!!

-- Jeff --
 

CTwoods

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Very nice, very RARE find, Indeed..

I chance that my post will not have merit...but here are just my thoughts...

I tried web searching 15 years ago on my find, which I posted here:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/my-best-finds/489157-colonial-era-silver-witchs-heart.html

Going by web research, and somewhat by common sense, I think yours might not be for trade for Indians, because it is the twin heart for romance/relationship. Why would some person go to the intensive extra work of twin hearts for a "European" tradition, if it was to be traded to Indians?

I have no idea why the workmanship is "somewhat" crude for a love/relationship token, though.

I'd like to hear your thoughts as well as other viewers.

The article I pasted in my thread, alludes to the twin heart as a later "meaning" of the original "Witches Heart"
 

ironhorse

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That is one fine luckenbooth brooch!
They sure don't show up everyday that's for sure and in such great condition; interesting to see another so soon after the last

I like yours, it reminded me of the one I found a few years back
Mine is the Scottish variety
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1479082473.643357.jpg
 

RelicMedic

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Gorgeous Luckenbooth!!! Congratulations brother. It's a show stopper for sure!
 

joeyfresh

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Pretty amazing that you found one Abe, given the fact that you and your mom were just talking about it. Crazy how stuff like that works.
Trade silver or not, that brooch is a thing of beauty. I like the crudeness of it which confirms it's not a modern one. Congrats brother and now start talking to your mom about colonial gold!
 

Scrappy

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Whooooo! Now that's a very fine save buddy. When you texted that one with "old?????". I said out loud "**** yes that's old!" Again, I didn't know for sure, but the Claddagh design on the top I knew was an old design. All of which was later confirmed by Brad.

I'm so happy that spot coughed up a few winner finds. You've been talking about that site for a while. Now we haven't debriefed yet, but I'll say that I'm not sure you landed directly on the Frog site yet.

Great iron buckle too. I know a guy who can preserve that. Lol.

Cheers
 

Chizzy

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Outstanding!! All I know about that piece is that it is beautiful!! Congratulations............
 

OutdoorAdv

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That brooch is incredible man :occasion14: I have to tell ya, while I was trying to figure out what it was when you were still hunting I googled "two hearts and crown". The first hit is the Luckenbooth wiki page and the second is the Claddagh wiki page... I skipped right over the Luckenbooth page and went straight to the Claddagh page. Why? Well I thought "Luckenbooth" was some sort of jewelry brand like "Tiffanys" for no reason other than it sounded like a jewelry maker. :laughing7: It wasnt until after I read all about "Claddagh" and "Fede", that I opened the Luckenbooth page and instantly :lightbulb: That is one KILLER find and a centerpiece in any display. WOW!


I'm not really impressed with those shoe buckles because I actually expect you to dig one every time you go out now. haha
 

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