Sunday, 12 December 2010

Digging for fasteners

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This morning was excellent weather for a farm dig. It was cold at the start, but warmed up during the morning. The field had stubble and the clayey soil was easy to dig. It was new territory for us and evidently undetected as we found plenty of objects. I ended up with 5 buttons of different types, an 1887 penny, a Georgian halfpenny, a bullion weight, 2 clothes fasteners, a watch winder, a thimble and a mystery item. I haven’t yet sorted my junk box so maybe there is something in there.
The farm cat kept its distance
The prize was this silver Tudor Clothes Fastener which will go to our FLO for evaluation. I didn’t appreciate what I had found until Kevin enlightened me. After a dose of the ultrasound machine and brushing it looks amazing, with a hint of gilding. Apparently there was a mansion house on the site in Tudor times. Weight  = 5.28g, 26.13mm x 17.15mm Similar item on this link
Recorded on PAS database: PUBLIC-66D1A8 FASTENING
The second Clothes Fastener was copper alloy, 2.84g, 31.6 x 11.43mm. Similar item on this link
This is a copper alloy Bullion Weight for silver coinage. The weight is similar to a pound coin. On both sides are the markings D X. The D indicates the weight is for Pennies and the X indicates the weight equals 10 silver pennies. Bullion weights were used to weigh quantities of silver during the reign of William III, when much of the hammered coinage had been replaced by machine-made coins. The original silver hammered coins would often be clipped or damaged so people wanted to be paid by weight of silver. This weight dates to 1640-1816. Similar item on this link
This Crotal Bell did not have its clanger unfortunately. Crotal bells are animal bells. weight = 23,7g, 38.4mm tall, 32mm wide. Similar item on this link
Watch Winder, weight = 1.6g, 24.2mm long, 14mm wide, 2.21mm depth. Similar item on this link
Thimble
This is my Mystery Item. It is of copper alloy, weight = 100g, 16.7mm tall, base is 20.4mm diameter. Answers on a postcard please!

This silver James I penny was found
at

2 comments:

  1. mark and tom goonan28 December 2010 at 01:02

    Hi Colin, what a beautiful find that Tudor fastener, thanks for telling us about your site, what lovely photo's and great to see the Endcliffe park ones, bet you didn't expect to see us metal detecting under the laurels in the rain down there. Keep up the great site and the detecting, regards mark and tom.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Colin28 December 2010 at 09:51

    Hi guys, thanks for your comments. You're right, a surprise to see you! Next time I come up I'll bring my detector. If you fancy going out with me then let me know by email (there's an email button on the side).

    ReplyDelete

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