2 pennies & could use some light shed on an item

[WHADIFIND]

Went to the mansion for about an hour.

The lantern wick holder is the item of interest for me on this one.

The pennies were a clad and a 1916 whole wheat toast.

The wick holder came from a full 14 inches deep! After I got down to 10 inches I figured I have an interesting something or other. So, I slowed my dig. I was being very careful. It paid off. This thing looks like it would break just by looking. The control arm alone looks like it should have broken off a long time ago! Especially buried down there for soooo long!

It appears to be brass. All I've done is rinse it with some water. The control wheel has some lettering but try as I may, my eyes just can't put it together. I've done the best I could with the pics. Even took some through my eye loupe. Hopefully, someone will recognize the style or maybe see some of the markings and know how old this thing might be.

I don't understand how something like this gets so deep. The lawn has never been sodded.

If a different angle would help, let me know.



How might I attempt to clean this thing to see better detail?

Any help appreciated!

Thanks for peeking!

HH!

 

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[nsdq]

take your time cleaning tooth brush werks good congrats on find wheat toast

 

[gypsybandit]

soak it in vinager ..

 

[BuckleBoy]

The problem is that you washed the dirt off. What I typically do with relics like that is try to keep any part I'm going to toothpick as dry as possible, or at least NOT scrub the dirt off that part and let it dry afterwards. Then toothpick. Check out my post in "Cleaning and Preservation" on how to clean buttons. Or my article in Western and Eastern Treasures on the same topic several months ago. Same tips apply to anything with a raised or stamped-in design that you'd like to read after cleaning.

Best Wishes,

Buck

 

[WHADIFIND]

The problem is that you washed the dirt off. What I typically do with relics like that is try to keep any part I'm going to toothpick as dry as possible, or at least NOT scrub the dirt off that part and let it dry afterwards. Then toothpick. Check out my post in "Cleaning and Preservation" on how to clean buttons. Or my article in Western and Eastern Treasures on the same topic several months ago. Same tips apply to anything with a raised or stamped-in design that you'd like to read after cleaning.

Best Wishes,

Buck

Yeah, I know. I try my best to preserve in the field but this one was dug in a rather muddy field. So, it sort of washed itself a bit. When I got it home, I rinsed the mud a bit to check if there was anything to read. That's when I noticed the letters. (albeit too late). Anyway, I'm working to get each mark I can ID individually. Maybe then I can put it together.

Thanks for the advice!

HH!

 

[matt092079]

All I can make out is "USA" in the middle part. Are you trying to date it or something?

 

[WHADIFIND]

All I can make out is "USA" in the middle part. Are you trying to date it or something?

I saw the US part of that and under special lighting and magnification, I think I've made out the "A". Right before that I THINK I'm seeing the word "IN"
Also, I could see a star and I THINK I've been able to discern 3 characters that look like " '70 ".

So, putting together all those assumptions, I'm thinking this is a wick holder from a brass oil lantern, " (made) IN USA" & " (pat'd) '70 "

I know that some of my deduces are wild, but that's as close as I can get. LOL

How'd I do?

Thanks for the help!

HH!