Another Pit Dig, George Washington Flask Found!!

[FoxHound0985]

Hello All,

I went back to the mansion where I found the 1870s Cod-Liver Oil bottle and decided to try another suspected pit. The owner told me he knew where the old privy was, but after an hour of probing we still could not locate it. I didn't want to leave without at least trying to find something, so I went to the pit I dug last time and probed around the edges and hit more glass! I thought I had dug the whole pit last time, so this was a very welcome surprise! Anyway, I got to digging and the familiar broken window glass and china started coming out of the hole. This really must have been a trash pit because there was A LOT of broken glass and pottery! It was neat to see that the window glass was still stacked in broken sheets in the hole. After about 20 minutes of careful digging, I saw the nice rounded edge of a flask! I figured it would be broken like all the other pieces in this pit, but the more I dug, the more complete it appeared to be. It was laying flat in the pit, so I had to dig further into the wall to get it out. Once I got enough of the dirt out from around the flask I saw the bust of George Washington staring back at me! I finished digging it out and got a nice surprise when I saw that is was complete with the exception of the top. There is another bust on the other side, but I'm not sure who it is. He appears to be in a military uniform. I had to let my heart rate to go back down before I could continue digging! Unfortunately this flask was the only complete piece that came out of the pit. There was a lot of broken pieces of bottles, but nothing whole. I got home and cleaned up the flask, and found that there is a rather large crack running up the side from the base, but I think it's stable. I think the site deserves a return trip to find the privy he was talking about. He told me that it was still being used in the 30s, so I don't know if it would be worth digging. Any thoughts? Also, does anyone have any idea of the age or value of this flask? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for looking and HH!

 

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[hogge]

That is a beauty!

 

[Mackaydon]

Could it be Zackary Taylor?
http://historical.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=6004&lotNo=48315

 

[Born Free]

I wonder if a glazier could seal the crack, and maybe redo the top so it isn't broken glass anymore. It's so heart breaking that most of them get damaged, but I guess when I throw bottles in the trash today I don't care if they get broken either! Nice looking bottle, regardless of who the man is on the front. Go find more!

Born Free

 

[chkn]

I tell ya, I love lookin' at this stuff!!!

 

[timbobwey]

amazing, those are in great shape. I want to try a bottle dig, never found one yet. I hear it's not easy though

 

[CrazySlasher]

That flask is nice. What's the rarity of something like that?

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

Nice Sorry about the neck !!

 

[jgas]

Hey Pinfire that appears to be GI-55 Washington/ Taylor flask. Smooth base in aquamarine. Nice find right there buddy. They are listed as common but what the heck. Its a keeper in my book. Look up a site called Bottlenut.com. You should be able to get a pdf file of the entire list of flasks. Cool info for us hardcore pit diggers. And yes, I would be back to that spot and hit every square inch with my probes. Hope that info pans out for ya. jgas

 

[FoxHound0985]

Thanks for the info jgas! I had no idea that there were so many different varieties of these flasks. Any idea on the value of this one?

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

[jgas]

Not really sure on the value. They go for anywhere from $100 on up to the thousands. Damaged, not much most likely but maybe there was another at auction or on ebay at some point. I would check into it and for sure keep rooting around that place for more pits. jgas

 

[MKnTenn]

Awesome bottle! Beautiful green, what a find! HH