Old printing plates

diggingthe1 · Apr 18, 2020

I love old printers plates. Maybe there already is a thread and I can add these. I would love to see more of what all of you have found!

villagenut · Apr 18, 2020

This one was found by me a long time ago, and thanks to Bramblefind here on t net I was able to see several newspaper advertisements depicting the plate....all from 1887. Here is one of many ads from across the U.S. John Wannamaker happens to be a very prominent department store innovator. I thought it was a great find, once I learned a bit more about him.

diggingthe1 · Apr 18, 2020

Thanks for contributing, these plates hold a lot of history! I am glad you were able to locate the advertisement!!

cw0909 · Apr 18, 2020

i really like the gun one, what size is it
does it have any writing on it, maybe i can find the ad

A2coins · Apr 18, 2020

Amazing finds those are really cool. Great pieces of History keep em coming

diggingthe1 · Apr 18, 2020

Thanks CW and A2 the gun has great detail, no writing. Here are a few more pictures. It is 2 and 1/2 inches long.

Coinstar magnet · Apr 18, 2020

These deserve some kind of honorable mention...absolutely cool recoveries...and you located the newspaper articles as well! Is there a place for these in the collections section?

IMAUDIGGER · Apr 18, 2020

What type of metal are these cast out of?

diggingthe1 · Apr 19, 2020

IMAUDIGGER said:
What type of metal are these cast out of?

Hi Imaudigger. A couple of them are copper plates soldered on lead. I believe the others are made out of pot metal or pewter or alluminum(I'm guessing because I don't know) I would like to know more about old printing plate composition and how they were made. I don't think any old plates are made out of lead. Lead would not hold the ink and not hold up to pressure.

Coinstar magnet said:
These deserve some kind of honorable mention...absolutely cool recoveries...and you located the newspaper articles as well! Is there a place for these in the collections section?

Villagenuts plate sure is cool! There sure has been some nice ones posted over the years. I would sure like to see more!

dognose · Apr 19, 2020

Very neat finds!

Were those found with a detector or how exactly?

diggingthe1 · Apr 19, 2020

dognose said:
Very neat finds!

Were those found with a detector or how exactly?

Thanks dognose, I found them all detecting the local ghost towns around here. Don't know the numbers, but they made a very nice signal. I have not researched them at all. It will be fun to discover what the books are someday. There are two in the pile picture.