MaineRelic
Bronze Member
We got the remnants of Irene today but I could not stay home and do nothing ! So I donned a raincoat and did the same for one of my trusty Tessoros and went over to my niece's newly purchased 1850 ish home with spacious lot and gave it a go. My little Tessoro never skipped a beat even in the heavy down pours and I had a very busy 4 hours digging in the storm . This place has never seen a detector so it was a signal clearing day. I had to empty my junk bag twice and found quite an array of finds . I dug quite a hand full of coins mostly clad with no silver coins showing up 
and to my surprise only ended up with 3 Wheaties a 1909 , 1933, and a 1955, I have not cleaned and photographed everything though because I was researching my best find of the day . A silver serving spoon . In the field I assumed it was British since I could see five Hallmarks on the back . When I got home and gave it a look in the Mag glass I did not recognise any of the hallmarks and suspected it was French. After a little on-line research I found out a lot about this spoon . It has a Paris Hallmark of .950/1000 percent silver 
that was only used between 1798 and 1809. I was also able to find the makers mark and it turns out that the silversmith who made it was was Francois Dominique Naudin Of Paris France. Quite an important gold and silversmith in his day circa 1800- 1840. The 1798-1809 hallmark makes this one of his early works . It appears to be the empire pattern, although I have looked at a few specimens of this pattern on-line I have yet to find this exact spoon. Nor another example of this pattern with the what I think is a Goat ? could be a horse ?? etching on the back of the spoon. I wonder if this engraving is the owners mark ?? and if it is I wonder if I can find out who this belonged too. 
The Spoon weighs in at 72.4gms. I also made a few other finds one being the buried ceder jewelry box . Perfectly upright 6 inches down but completely empty 
Why was it buried empty 
. Another gas light fixture similar to one I found this spring. also found a couple of buckle pieces and some 20th century toys . and a few tool relics. I am dead dog tired and must go to bed ! Thanks for looking MaineRelic
and to my surprise only ended up with 3 Wheaties a 1909 , 1933, and a 1955, I have not cleaned and photographed everything though because I was researching my best find of the day . A silver serving spoon . In the field I assumed it was British since I could see five Hallmarks on the back . When I got home and gave it a look in the Mag glass I did not recognise any of the hallmarks and suspected it was French. After a little on-line research I found out a lot about this spoon . It has a Paris Hallmark of .950/1000 percent silver that was only used between 1798 and 1809. I was also able to find the makers mark and it turns out that the silversmith who made it was was Francois Dominique Naudin Of Paris France. Quite an important gold and silversmith in his day circa 1800- 1840. The 1798-1809 hallmark makes this one of his early works . It appears to be the empire pattern, although I have looked at a few specimens of this pattern on-line I have yet to find this exact spoon. Nor another example of this pattern with the what I think is a Goat ? could be a horse ?? etching on the back of the spoon. I wonder if this engraving is the owners mark ?? and if it is I wonder if I can find out who this belonged too. The Spoon weighs in at 72.4gms. I also made a few other finds one being the buried ceder jewelry box . Perfectly upright 6 inches down but completely empty Why was it buried empty . Another gas light fixture similar to one I found this spring. also found a couple of buckle pieces and some 20th century toys . and a few tool relics. I am dead dog tired and must go to bed ! Thanks for looking MaineRelic
Attachments
Upvote
0
I like the buckle too. Great hunt, Breezie
