Ancient Snake Sword Letter Opener.. Age? Composition? Maker? Info Please

[franking]

Was hunting on an old Victorian Mansion site in Western Massachusetts. Dug an old bronze/gold (?) sword or dagger letter opener. Aprx 6" long. It has a snake head and other markings, but no letters or numbers. It easily left "gold looking" flakes on sand paper. Has a very very slight magnetism to it but barely anything. Gives a low VDI number on my Matrix M6 in the gold range. I tested it against a gold ring and it came up with close to the same numbers. House and land was owned by a very wealthy business man in the 1800's.. However the artifact looks much older than that. It looks like it was intentionally buried as a cache. Any ideas on maker, age, worth or the likes.. Thank you and happy hunting.

 

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[franking]

Cool find.

Thanks Ramitt - I have gotta get back out there and do some more digging in that area.

Happy hunting

 

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[franking]

At least from the pic it looks a little too blunt to be a letter opener. Looks almost like a gaming piece. like maybe D&D or something like that. Just a guess. Cool though.

Nice observation TypicalClinger -

Some gaming pieces do have that ancient or medieval look to them. I do not own any such objects but have seen a few pictures online of fantasy swords and such.
This artifact is actually very old or very very worn or both. The history of this mansion I found it at has a rich victorian background. It was even a convent for nuns at one time long ago.
Thanks for posting.. Happy Hunting!

 

[franking]

Have it tested for gold content? Good luck!

Hi 2Minnesota - thanks for posting and encouragement to get it tested for gold content.
I have not done so yet but it is on my list of things to do soon..
Darn procrastination!
Happy Hunting...

 

[franking]

I'm still looking for the snake on it. ha! As far as sandpaper and cleaning goes, put your sandpaper away, FAR AWAY. Really! Soap and water and old t-shirts to clean and dry. Maybe a soft toothbrush to clean grooves, but only if it is really soft. Do no damage.

It really doesn't appear to be sharp enough to be a letter opener to me, but I don't know what else it could be unless it's a game piece (?) or a what-not. Pretty, though.

Hiyas Noodle , The handle is the snakes coil wrapping around the handle to the snakes head. The pommel is the snakes head. Two eyes and a kind of snout for a nose being the pommel top.
Can you see it?

Happy Hunting...

 

[franking]

My first impression was that it was either made to look old, or that the workmanship was really bad. Still thinking about other aspects of it.

Hello High Plains Digger, I once thought the same as you but only briefly as I realized the pitting and wear was real.. In addtion to it being made of one solid piece and not cast from two pieces as some of the markings and dents almost present themselves as such. It kind of throws you off at first as far as the age or authenticty goes.
thanks for posting... happy hunting!

 

[franking]

Sandpaper I agree.....loose the 80 grit!! It looks like a newer piece, but if it IS old, you will destroy the value almost immediately. It is a really cool little letter opener though! HH

DeJa

Hi there DeJa,

Yes I agree loose the sand paper as most here would agree too.
At first when I found it, it was just a silly relic... The more I looked at it, the more significant it became. It was at that time that I stopped trying to clean it as I was damaging and loosing bits of metal on the sand paper. However it did bring out a more brilliant shine, which got me thinking it may be made of precious metals!
happy hunting!

 

[franking]

I'm not sure if the following is a clue or a wild goose chase. But I thought the text that accompanied the item was kind of interesting because it uses both Fleur-de-Lis and frog in its description. I realize its an entirely different letter opener, but maybe there is a connection of some kind to the one in question, and maybe not. Whichever the case, here goes ...

~ Vintage Fleur-de-Lis Handle Letter Opener ~ Dagger ~ Spain ~

"This is a vintage letter opener. It measures 10" tip to tip. The handle is very interesting. It has a vine leading to the Fleur-de-Lis design at the end of the handle. The design incorporates some type of reptile or amphibian. My first thought was that the animal is a frog, but the creature in the design has a long neck like the other serpents pictured on the handle. The blade has a clear imprint of "Italy" as the place of origin. The opposite side of the blade has marks that are not legible, but appear to be letters."

Q: Does the tip of the handle look like a frog to you?

Nice find - to me I see snakes, see pic below.
The design and shape of a Fleur-de-Lis has that distinct frog shape to it so anytime you see a Fleur-de-Lis it can and will for the most part ( to me ) look like a frog shape. Or a lilly.. A boycout symbol even.
Surely looks reptilian.. Still looking into the origin of design..

 

[mydejavooo]

Does the item have a parting line? That's a line that goes around the item on the edge, where the front and back of a mold would fit together. From your photos it does look like there is a rough line, meaning that it was cast and not forged like an older item would be. Just a thought.

DeJa

 

[BaronH]

Something else to consider is it may be a childs toy sword. From what I have gathered they were in the habit of making childrens toys out of metal before plastics came along. part of Antique small brass toy sword by Alchemyshop on Etsy

 

[Slowwalker]

have you checked the metal content to make sure it isn't gold? It could have been cast from a mold made from one of those letter openers and that is why it doesn't have the workmanship associated with them... Just a thought.