What could this be - 2 ?

[tileys]

Hi all,

I'm new here; I found the forum and thought it just the place to get some idea on 3 objects I have that I don't have much of an idea on.

First, a bit of background...My Dad is (or rather was sadly) the 'treasure hunter' - he had a long history of metal detecting, first with a detector he put together himself and then with a Garrett which I think he was pretty taken with. He did a lot of beachcombing on holidays and when I was younger also detected on a few fields near my hometown in rural Northamptonshire in England.

I'm not sure where this object was found to be honest but it was in with a collection of roman and english coins. I got it out for a look recently due a resurgence in interest in archaeology after watching a few excellent episodes of "Time Team".

This object is without being too prescriptive a 'ring' of unknown metal. I thought that since it has discoloured green quite a bit that it might be copper or bronze but there is a small scrape on it which has unveiled a silvery almost steely (maybe it is steel...actually, it's not magnetic...just tested it) base. It is quite heavy but no heavier than 18ct gold of the same size - it is actually I think a little too big to be a ring for wearing in the finger - it fits onto my thumb with 2 to 3mm on all sides. It is slightly oval in shape and round in section. It is not uniformly of the same thickness although an initial glance would lead you to think so.

I'd be keen to hear, and grateful for, your responses as to what you think it might be.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Cheers,

Steve

 

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[lordmarcovan]

It could be one of a number of things- I'm not really sure what.

I do love "Time Team"- it used to air on the History International channel here in the States, but I haven't seen it in a long time. Great show. I like "Meet The Ancestors", too.

 

[TreasureTales]

Hmm, it's fairly uniform in shape and thickness. Its patina is a little unusual for being a silverish type metal. Could it be made of pewter.. the poor man's silver? I've never seen pewter tarnish to that color, but I've not seen pewter after it's been in the ground for a couple thousand years, either.

 

[lordmarcovan]

I've dug 200-year-old pewter buttons and a rare US Light Dragoons beltplate that was pewter. In my experience, it tends to be rather corroded and sometimes flaky. That ring doesn't look like pewter to me, but I could be wrong.

 

[TreasureTales]

I've dug 200-year-old pewter buttons and a rare US Light Dragoons beltplate that was pewter. In my experience, it tends to be rather corroded and sometimes flaky. That ring doesn't look like pewter to me, but I could be wrong.

Alrighty then. Not much pewter in these parts, especially not buried pewter. So I defer to your expertise. I would be happy as a pig in poo to find a US Light Dragoons beltplate...or any US/CSA beltplate for that matter. How cool is that!!!!!!!

 

[lordmarcovan]

It was from the War of 1812.

A wretched, ugly thing, really... bent, flaky, and pitted. But somebody told me it might've been only the second or third intact one known. The book only shows a line drawing and photos of some fragments of one, I believe. Ugly or not, mine was intact, and sold for nearly $1,000 on eBay when I listed it. The dealer who bought it said he'd have gone as high as $1,250. Normally I don't sell my dug stuff but made an exception in that case.

I found a ring that looked sorta like the one above, on the same site as the LD beltplate, actually. But in my case it was brass or bronze, probably brass. And probably part of some horse bridle or something.

 

[TreasureTales]

It was from the War of 1812.

A wretched, ugly thing, really... bent, flaky, and pitted. But somebody told me it might've been only the second or third intact one known. The book only shows a line drawing and photos of some fragments of one, I believe. Ugly or not, mine was intact, and sold for nearly $1,000 on eBay when I listed it. The dealer who bought it said he'd have gone as high as $1,250. Normally I don't sell my dug stuff but made an exception in that case.

I found a ring that looked sorta like the one above, on the same site as the LD beltplate, actually. But in my case it was brass or bronze, probably brass. And probably part of some horse bridle or something.

Whoa, you sold your beltplate How sad is that? I mean the money is great, but you had something extremely rare!! Well, I am tempted to sell some of my stuff (uh, I have sold things, in fact, on occasion ), but I've never found anything truly rare. Well, I found a dagger that might be rare, but I can't be sure because nobody seems to know what it is...although everyone has an opinion.

Well at least you had the satisfaction of finding the thing. And the enjoyment of the money. I hope you have photos of it so you can look at them and reminisce at times!!! lol

 

[buscadero]

TT: Did you put your Dagger in "What is it?" If not, Please do.

There are some EXPERTS on TN that are so good, its scary!



Joe

 

[TreasureTales]

TT: Did you put your Dagger in "What is it?" If not, Please do.

There are some EXPERTS on TN that are so good, its scary!



Joe

I'd like to post it but I haven't the computer/camera gear yet that will do so. I've got a laptop with no scanner, I don't have a digital camera, and my desktop is no longer internet compatible. So I'll have to spend some bucks (which I don't have right now) before I can get fully functional on this great website. Thanks for the interest.

I'll try to describe the dagger. It is 10-3/4 inches long overall. It has a single piece (rusted iron) blade and rectangular "shaft" with a knob on the end as a "keeper" or stop so the handle can't slide off the shaft. It's handle is in the form of an eagle or falcon (the figure has a crested type head -- but not like a rooster head or Woody Woodpecker head lol), with a nearly flat top. I was told the figure is made of bronze, but to me it looks like tarnished brass. There is fine detailing in that the beak is slightly open and there are insets for eyes (no jewels in the insets, dang it!). There are feathers etched into the figure. The falcon/eagle figure is the brass/bronze handle portion -- about 4 inches long -- and represents the neck and head of the bird. But not the throat portion of the bird, because that's where the wooden handle with leather wrap and gold wire would have been visible and grasped, had the wood and leather and wire still been intact. I'm guessing about the handle being wood and leather with wire wrapping based on what other knives have had. There is a decorated oval-shaped band that seems to serve as something that would have held the handle in place just above the guard. The pommel consists of the bird's head (beak, flat head, and crest). This is a three-dimensional bird, just so there's no confusion on that. I didn't describe this very well, and I'm hoping to get a digital camera soon. I'd really like to know the details about this knive's origins.

I was offered $75.00 for it at a gun/knife show. The offer came from an antique dealer (his antiques consisted of things dug up and in really terrible condition...rifle barrels, padlocks, etc.). He said he wanted it for his private collection. I was tempted to sell it because I could have used the money at the time, but since he wanted it for HIS PRIVATE COLLECTION, I thought it might be more valuable than just $75.00. Or it may turn out to be a piece of interesting junk. But, hey, I like junk! My MD buddy was quite... uh, well...jealous when I pulled it out of the ground. He found a dagger several months earlier that one person described as being Spanish circa 1700s, but have not been able to confirm that either. It is now at a museum on display. If mine turns out to be historically significant, I'll donate it as well. Better to let many enjoy viewing it than to have it collect dust on a shelf IMO. Anyhow, everyone who sees this dagger is interested in it. It's nothing I've seen before, but then I've not seen many daggers with this kind of detail. I tried looking on the internet for one like it and only saw slightly similar ones from Germany, Austria, Hungary and America. And at the gun/knive show I was given a wide variety of dates, places of origin, and uses. Who knows, maybe it was a WWII souveneir some GI brought home. Or maybe a knife a 49er brought with him from Hungary.

 

[Oroblanco]

Hello Steve,
You mentioned that you father did some detecting in merrie olde Englande? Your ring looks to be of bronze, and could be Celt, and more than 2000 years old. The Celts used bronze "ring money" as a form of coinage before they struck their own coins (and later adopted Roman coins) and these rings were used in many ways, not often as jewelry but in horse tack (bridles, harness etc) and many other ways including rope ties. It could be quite something else too, might be worth sending a photo to a museum in England. An interesting find, anyway!
Oroblanco

 

[tileys]

Thanks Oroblanco, I hadn't thought of that - nice avenue to investigate.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[tinpan]

That ring has an awsome history and a real keeper. congrats. hey treasuretales i would like to see some of your finds and the dagger too.I just cannot wait Hey Ta Ta boy and no thanks on the kisses.

tinpan

 

[TreasureTales]

hey treasuretales i would like to see some of your finds and the dagger too.I just cannot wait
tinpan

tinpan, are you serious or just trying to do a tit-for-tat? Either way, I'd like to post some pix but I haven't got a camera or scanner that will work with my current computer. If I did, I'd probably be posting pix till I was asked to stop!!! Nothing terribly valuable or rare, but stuff I'd like to learn more about through the expertise of all here.

[By the way, I recently found a single-bit axehead and thought of you!!! I thought, man I have got to post a picture of that and ask tinpan to comment. lol Hey, just joking around. I'm trying to be more accepting and less skeptical of people's speculations because it seems I upset a couple TN members. Live and learn, that's the only way I get educated.] G'day

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Welcome to the forum, tileys.