It is about time! My first sterling thimble!

FoundInNC

Sr. Member
Mar 20, 2012
458
637
Mebane, North Carolina
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Garrett AT Gold and AT Pro
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I finally got back on a site that I have done well at in the past, but I can only take it in doses. There is a LOT of trash, mainly aluminum scrap and pulltabs. Today, I decided to dig every "tab range" target and it paid off. I had a signal in the high 60s on my AT Gold, and I dug it, not expecting anything, and low and behold I see this.........
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I immediately recognized it as a silver thimble, an item that I have seen dug so many times on this (web)site, but I had never. I cleaned it off at home and it turns out to be a pre 1880s silver thimble, due to the absence of a purity hallmark. Apparently before ~1883 the amount of silver was so minute that there was no government requirement to display a purity mark. The house is circa Civil War, so it very well could be a "period" silver thimble. AWESOME!

I kept on trudging through the trash and found another keeper....a trade token. The token reads L. T. Johnstons The Fancy Grocer Mebane NC Good For 5c Cigar or Soda. This is actually the second of these tokens I have dug in Mebane. The other was over one mile away! I did some brief research on the store and it was in business in 1913-1916, maybe more.

Yesterday I did some digging at the site and found my 66th Bingham School button, post Civil War Scovill backmark, and an interesting piece of sterling. It is pictured by the sterling thimble. Please help if you can help ID that item. There was a prong soldered on the back of one of the silver cups. I have found about 5 of these clusters of silver "beads" now. I am hoping to figure out what they were for! Thanks for looking guys and gals!
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recondigger

Bronze Member
Jul 12, 2012
1,223
900
Western New York
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Great find! Don't you just love silver. How long did it take?
 

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thrillathahunt

Silver Member
Jul 24, 2006
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TEXAS
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Cool sterling thimble, but I really like that token too. Looks like it might be prohibition era (good for "soda" or cigar)
 

OP
OP
FoundInNC

FoundInNC

Sr. Member
Mar 20, 2012
458
637
Mebane, North Carolina
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
4
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold and AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
recondigger, if you are asking how long it took in my detecting career, I started detecting(seriously) in 2009, and this is the first silver thimble I have dug. I have dug about 11 non silver thimbles. If you were asking how long it took to find it today, I got out of my car, and it was my honest to gosh first signal that I dug.
 

blugotti1

Bronze Member
Jan 19, 2009
1,136
924
GA
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awesome digs!!
 

recondigger

Bronze Member
Jul 12, 2012
1,223
900
Western New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
garrett at4 beach hunter, bounty hunter,CZ-5,CZ-7, Minelab EXP SE, Garrett ACE-150, E-Trac, CTX 3030
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
recondigger, if you are asking how long it took in my detecting career, I started detecting(seriously) in 2009, and this is the first silver thimble I have dug. I have dug about 11 non silver thimbles. If you were asking how long it took to find it today, I got out of my car, and it was my honest to gosh first signal that I dug.

Well hard to beat for a first signal. I was asking about how many years It was before you found it. Sorry about that.
 

CRUSADER

Gold Member
May 25, 2007
40,872
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ENGLAND
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XP Deus II v0.6 with 11" Coil
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A mate found one this weekend & I told him that they are a rare find. It takes Dad & I about 2000 hours to find just 1 - congrats!
 

JohnnyMac

Bronze Member
Mar 30, 2012
1,316
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South Jersey
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cool...looks brand new
 

beau-bc

Full Member
Mar 3, 2012
153
137
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Good detecting,takes work but well worth it,nice finds.
 

Westfront

Silver Member
Jun 15, 2010
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Germania Secunda
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Congrats! Silver thimbles are hard to come by. I'm still waiting for mine.....
 

CASPER-2

Gold Member
Jan 3, 2012
17,159
19,973
NEW ENGLAND
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casper2.jpg I BEEN HUNTING OVER 30+ YRS AND HAVE ONLY FOUND 1 SILVER ONE - PRE 1900s
HAVE GOTTEN MANY COLONIAL BRASS ONES - STILL HOPING TO GET A COLONIAL SILVER ONE ONE DAY
 

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