Mother Mary Locket and Rosary!

pganjon · Jan 4, 2011

Hello, I wanted to Post this find I made back near the end of November. I would have done it sooner, but just didn't get around to it :dontknow:

This I have to consider my best find! At a small local park in the center of town, I decided on running a high sensitivity on my Ace 250. I got a signal that bounced between quarter and nickle on my meter and said about 8 inches. After about 5 inches, I lost the signal :icon_scratch:

I decided to switch to relic mode and picked the signal back up again, except instead of a low iron tone, I got a good metal tone :icon_thumleft:

Two more inches and I saw what I thought was a big silver button. I was seeing this from the back and when I flipped it over, I saw Mary on front. I saw a couple small links on top to let me know that this was a locket of some type that broke off a long while ago. I didn't look at it in detail until I got home. After a lite cleaning, I decided to try and open it to see if there was any information inside. It would open about 1/4 inch, and that's when I saw the rosary inside :headbang:

Emptying it out, I saw APPACA Germany stamped inside, (German Silver). The rosary is beautiful and made out of the same metal. Since German silver is not silver at all, I was surprised at the beautiful shape it was in. My guess is maybe from the 1920's but not sure. Sure made my day :icon_sunny:

Thanks for reading, Paul :coffee2:

Chug And Red · Jan 4, 2011

WTg and Please explain this thanks Chug

Since German silver is not silver at all, I was surprised at the beautiful shape it was in!!

pganjon · Jan 4, 2011

Chug and Red said:
WTg and Please explain this thanks Chug

Since German silver is not silver at all, I was surprised at the beautiful shape it was in!!

Yes , German Silver is also called nickel silver, which is usually a formulation of 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% Zinc. Internet says it is considered a subset of Brass. I know, I was a little disappointed too, but it is cool that it survived well!

gregd573 · Jan 4, 2011

That is a way cool locket .....with the nickel for reference, really puts it in perspective. Great quality and a good find. So cool that you stayed with it and dug a maybe.

HH
gregd

Chug And Red · Jan 4, 2011

That is why I love this site, Learning is Great!!!! Thank you for the Info!!! Chug!!!

Bavaria Mike · Jan 5, 2011

Neat find but, I think it is real silver! HH, Mike

Blind Squirrel · Jan 5, 2011

Good find

Very good detail on that piece for it's size. Congrats!!! Enjoyed the post, thanks for sharing and HH, BS

pganjon · Jan 8, 2011

Bavaria Mike said:
Neat find but, I think it is real silver! HH, Mike

You may be right, I'm just going by whats stamped inside and the internet. I think some German silver items had a silver plating on them. Either way, Thanks everyone ! Paul :coffee2:

artyfacts · Jan 8, 2011

Congratulations, That is a very special find and in perfect shape. Arty

Woodland Detectors · Jan 8, 2011

That is beautiful.

Congratulations. :icon_thumleft:

amercer33 · Nov 11, 2012

I am a seminarian Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Maryland. My Grandfather had one of these. Is there anyway you would be willing to sell this item? It would mean a lot if you could.