Three Day Hunt – STERLING Spoon, Coins, and an Egyptian God!

[ANTIQUARIAN]

This is a site I first received permission to detect last year. I’ve been waiting patiently for the fall wheat to be cut, so last week when I saw the farmer making straw bales, I headed out to the field at 5:30am last Friday. This field was certainly a test of my arm strength dealing with 4 – 5” wheat stubble. My first find was the 1904 Canadian LC, which was followed by the 1852 Upper Canada One Penny Token. I headed back early on Saturday morning finding the field full of Canada Geese feeding on the leftover wheat. Almost immediately I found the Northumbria ‘STERLING’ Silver Spoon. In all honesty, it was so dirty I thought it was just another brass spoon, that is until I got it home and washed it today. In 10 years of detecting, this is my first complete solid silver piece of cutlery. I headed back again on Sunday and found the Egyptian Pendant. I have no idea when this piece dates from, but I’m thinking between 1900 – 1920. I have no idea what the round chrome disc is from either, I was thinking maybe part of a truck’s hubcap?

Thanks very much for looking,
Dave

 

[lenmac65]

Congrats on the great finds. Wish I had your preservation skills.

 

[Tuberale]

That Upper Canadian cent looks interesting to me. Congrats!

 

[dirtdigginfool]

Congrats on your awesome finds, I love the insitu pics.. always great to see round in the ground! Nice job cleaning those relics up, turned out excellent... great saves, thx for sharing. Ddf.

 

[Gridwalker306]

Wow that token is sharp! And congrats on your first solid silver utensil!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Congrats on the great finds. Wish I had your preservation skills.

Thanks very much for your post Len.
I appreciate your compliment too.
Dave

That Upper Canadian cent looks interesting to me. Congrats!

Thanks for your post and support Tuberale.
I mainly find the Halfpenny version of this token, the One Penny's don't pop up near as often.
Dave

Congrats on your awesome finds, I love the insitu pics.. always great to see round in the ground! Nice job cleaning those relics up, turned out excellent... great saves, thx for sharing. Ddf.

Thank you for taking the time to post ddf.
I too like seeing a relic in the dirt for the first time, it's part of the excitement of detecting.
I take pics of most of my finds in situ, not everyone wants to see them though.

For me, the most satisfying is when I find a coin in situ sticking out of the ground.
Dave

Wow that token is sharp! And congrats on your first solid silver utensil!

Thanks Cache, it's a great site with a ton of potential too.
I seriously couldn't believe it when I saw the 'STERLING' mark after I washed and straightened it out.
I actually had to Google the maker 'Northumbria' to make sure it wasn't 'German Silver'.

Hope you're having a good year so far,
Dave

 

[pepperj]

Well done on the sterling spoon and the one penny (they seem to clean up nicer than the half penny).

It's the horseshoe that's the keeper

 

[Plazz58]

wow great finds sounds like a lot of work but well worth it...

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Well done on the sterling spoon and the one penny (they seem to clean up nicer than the half penny).

It's the horseshoe that's the keeper

I feel a hunt is never truly complete without a horseshoe find, it's amazing how high they ring up too.
Probably a combination of quality steel and the nail holes.

Funny, most of the One Penny Tokens I find are often in rough shape, the Halves are usually the ones that clean up nicely.
I assume the secret is in the drainage of the soil, the soil at this site is very sandy and stony.

Thanks for your post buddy,
Dave

wow great finds sounds like a lot of work but well worth it...

It was a lot of tough swinging, this is probably why my shoulder and lower back have been so sore lately.
Of course, it could also be due to the fact that I'm not as young as I used to be.

Best of luck to you in NY,
Dave

 

[Red-Coat]

Some neat finds, Dave. As you will have discovered, ‘Northumbria Sterling’ is not well documented. They were a Canadian company, based in Toronto. Some sources give their address as 158 Sterling Road, based on a booklet they published about the etiquette of table-laying that was probably given away with cased sets of their cutlery. Part of that building now houses a contemporary art museum.

There’s also a reported advertisement claiming “The Solid Silver You Buy At Home - Your Way”. That suggests they probably operated mainly by mail order, but some of their silverware seems to have been distributed by a company called ‘A.G. Ltd’, along with ‘Wear-Ever’ aluminium cookware produced by the Northern Aluminum Company of Shawinigan, Quebec which became the Aluminium Company of Canada (better known as Alcan) in 1925.

The pattern is known as “Laurier” and was discontinued around 1950





I’ll put a few thoughts about your pendant on your other thread, but I see that our esteemed sleuths have already nailed a lot down.

 

[Aureus]

Congratulations on the sterling spoon. Those aren't easy to find.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Well done on the field hunt, congrats!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Some neat finds, Dave. As you will have discovered, ‘Northumbria Sterling’ is not well documented. They were a Canadian company, based in Toronto. Some sources give their address as 158 Sterling Road, based on a booklet they published about the etiquette of table-laying that was probably given away with cased sets of their cutlery. Part of that building now houses a contemporary art museum.

There’s also a reported advertisement claiming “The Solid Silver You Buy At Home - Your Way”. That suggests they probably operated mainly by mail order, but some of their silverware seems to have been distributed by a company called ‘A.G. Ltd’, along with ‘Wear-Ever’ aluminium cookware produced by the Northern Aluminum Company of Shawinigan, Quebec which became the Aluminium Company of Canada (better known as Alcan) in 1925.

The pattern is known as “Laurier” and was discontinued around 1950

I’ll put a few thoughts about your pendant on your other thread, but I see that our esteemed sleuths have already nailed a lot down.

Thank you so much for this information Red-Coat.
I tried to research the history of ‘Northumbria Sterling’ but as you mentioned, I found very little information on the company.

Funny thing, when the spoon came out of the ground my first thought was, "wow, this still has a lot of the silver-plate left on it."
But after I washed it I thought, "man, why is the metal turning white, it must be a chemical reaction to the dish soap I use."
It was only after I straightened it out that I saw the 'STERLING' mark.

Thanks again mate,
Dave

Congratulations on the sterling spoon. Those aren't easy to find.

Thank you for your post Anton.
I find so many brass and German Silver pieces of cutlery each year, it's real a shock when you actually find silver.

Well done on the field hunt, congrats!

Thanks very much Professor!

 

[Rookster]

That’s what I’m talkin about. Great hunt

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

That’s what I’m talkin about. Great hunt

Thanks rook, I feel I've literally only scratched the surface with this site too.
Hopefully the rains will come and make the straw stalks softer to swing through this fall.
Dave

 

[Relicific]

Silver spoon is on my bucket list.
Nice find

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Silver spoon is on my bucket list.
Nice find

Thanks buddy, I sure wish it was older than 1920 though.
But hey, beggars can't be choosers.

 

[cmthunder]

Nice hunt site and finds Dave!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice hunt site and finds Dave!

Thanks for your post my friend.
Hope you and your family are staying safe in the US
Dave

 

[WaterScoop]

Very nice hunt. Looks like you had a lot of fun. Very well documented. Super cool photos to share. I love the 1953 dog tag. It seems to fit the time line with the pattern in the silverware being discontinued in the 50’s was there an old homestead before or was this a former dumping area in the 50’s before it was farmed.

Cheers