Odd flat tin

[Tuberale]

Found today while searching for a cache. Didn't get photo, gave to landowner as keepsake.

Thin tin can, similar to sardine or smoked oyster. One oddity: the interior looks either gilded or gold-plated. Possible? Anyone seen something like that?

 

[kuger]

Have I seen sardine cans?Yes,Have I seen thin tin cans ?Yes.I am not sure what kind of answer you are looking for?In the right soil conditions I have dug 150 year old sardine cans that were still shiny

 

[vayank54]

Have I seen sardine cans?Yes,Have I seen thin tin cans ?Yes.I am not sure what kind of answer you are looking for?In the right soil conditions I have dug 150 year old sardine cans that were still shiny

Yep
It would help if you could get a couple pics.

 

[Tuberale]

Have I seen sardine cans?Yes,Have I seen thin tin cans ?Yes.I am not sure what kind of answer you are looking for?In the right soil conditions I have dug 150 year old sardine cans that were still shiny

Yep
It would help if you could get a couple pics.

I'll be going back in about a week. Will try to take photos then.

The riffled surface of the inside of a tin sardine can looks either gold-plated or anodized. Probably dates to around 1935 or so, based on the history of the house that I was searching at. From 1935 to 1937 the house owner worked at a local cannery.

The question I have regarding the object is: were cans gold-plated or anodized at that time?

Exterior of the can was tin, not steel. Exterior bottom had indented grooves; interior has raised ridges. Would have been almost large enough to have stored $100 or so in small gold coins, say $5 to $10. The entire interior of the tin has a bright golden coloration, even after being in the ground long enough to cause the tin to turn whitish.

 

[kuger]

Ahh,O.k.I cant say I can help ya as I dont hunt many 20 th cen sites.Here is a 1850 sardine can though,that is still silver shiney

 

[Breezie]

When I was a kid I remember eatting sardines from a can that was gold colored on the inside, and silver tin color on the outside. Those same cans had a key stuck to the bottom, and you rolled the can open. (Mmm, hopefully I didn't reveal my age too much ) Breezie

 

[Monty]

What is it's size? I have seen foreign cigarettes that came in tin cans of the appropriate size. Usually unfiltered types. Monty

 

[Breezie]

What is it's size? I have seen foreign cigarettes that came in tin cans of the appropriate size. Usually unfiltered types. Monty

Monty, would that be a smoked herring? LOL Sorry, couldn't resist. Breezie

 

[Monty]

Breezie, it sure could be just as well as anything else. Monty

 

[Tuberale]

What is it's size? I have seen foreign cigarettes that came in tin cans of the appropriate size. Usually unfiltered types. Monty

About 3 inches wide by 4 inches long, and perhaps 3/4 inch thick. The sides were squashed down a little, and probably got stepped on a few.

I didn't notice what appeared to be gold plating on the sides: just on the bottom. Talked with my mom today (she's nearing 80, has a home economics degree) and she has never heard of gold plating for a can either.

So ... maybe it is a cigarette tin. Or, just maybe, it was something rarer, like a gold-plated cigarette case that got squashed. When found the inside was completely packed with dirt, and probably held water as well. Good condition everything considered. Not really the same as the sardine can that someone was kind enough to post, but similar: no lid on the top at all that I could see.

 

[NHBandit]

I collect tobacco tins and I have seen some that had a sort of gold colored plating on the inside. However ALL the small ones Ive ever seen have a hinged lid since they are intended to be opened and closed over & over again until all the tobacco has been used rather than a one time deal like a can of sardines. Is the lid hinged ? I know you said there was no lid but you would be able to see a rolled edge on one side where the hinge was. A one shot deal type of can like a sardine can typically has a rolled edge all the way around. This Edgeworth tobacco tin has gold colored plating on the inside of the lid with writing printed over that but there are hundreds of varieties of advertising tins and not just tobacco. The size of this particular tin is roughly the same as you describe. I also have a couple of tins with removable lids that contain tire patching kits from the early years of automobiles. Could you see the remains of any writing at all on yours ? If not it still dosn't mean much since the writing is normally mainly on the lid.

 

[Monty]

I don't know how the cigarette tins opened as I never bought any. I just saw them on the shelf at an Italian tobacco store in Tripoli, Libya when I was stationed there in the Air Force. I also believe I remember seeing some when I was in Malta? Since we had all the superior US cigarettes we needed we never bought any. I remember picking them up and thinking abut buying some as a souvenir. They were small, about the length of an old fashioned Luck Strike and I believe it held 20 unfiltered cigarettes. I haven't a clue if that's what it is, it just reminded me of them. Monty

 

[Tuberale]

First, thanks everyone for your posts. Secondly, I never knew there were so many varieties! I guess I've lived a sheltered life.

Let me describe, at least in words, the tin a little more. It was actually made of tin, not steel. Has been in the ground so long the tin had turned white or off-white grayish, and had some irregular holes in it, mostly on the sides. There was no lid that I saw, hinged or unhinged. It didn't have a key-type opening on the side, which come to think of it, if kind of odd. There was an opening on the top which was not quite the size of the complete top. In other words, there looked to be a top with part of the top still attached to the rim, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide around the sides. The raised ribs in the bottom of the tin extended almost all the way across the tin: each in the 2.5 inches by 1/4-inch range. The only gold plating or gold anodizing I saw was on the inside of the tin.

Is it even possible to gold-plate tin?