Pastel sunset, a farthing and a signet ring

To view a Slideshow of the sunset, click this photo, then choose Fullscreen (top right) & Fast (TL)

Yesterday afternoon I decided to give west beach a go with my detector. A wonderful sunset occurred while I was there.

When  I checked my finds I had a Farthing of Edward VII (1901-1910) in very poor condition and a most of a gold Signet ring which was heavily encrusted with copper salts. After scraping this off I can see two scrolled letters, I think the first is a G. The ring weighs 3.3gm.

Edward VII farthing

Signet ring as found

after cleaning

 

Dan & Gabi's wedding orchid now has 26 flowers on 3 stalks with another 4 buds to open. We now have 45 orchid flowers on 6 orchids on our table.

Sunrise, snow and sunsets

Yesterday's sunrise

The weather is conspiring against Christmas in the North. We have had snow flurries and sleet a couple of times this week, but each time it has melted quickly. I took the detector to the beach a couple of times. Finds were 3p, a clock key, 2 fishing weights and a red Dinky Alfa Romeo SZ.

Cod piece 

Yesterday's sunset

 after this morning's snow flurry

today's sunset

There was an excellent butterfly program in the Natural World series last night last night on BBC2: Butterflies: A Very British Obsession. The opening sequence about the Purple Emperor featured two people I know, Neil Hulme, Chairman of the Sussex branch of Butterfly Conservation, and Matthew Oates, National Trust Nature Conservation Adviser.
The programme can be viewed this week on BBC iPlayer.

We just watched the final of Strictly. We voted for Pamela, but were happy to se1e Kara win and thought all three were worthy finalists. What to do on Saturday nights now!

Digging for fasteners

To  view  a  Slideshow,  click  here  then  choose  Fullscreen  (top  right)

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