DrJoePrime
Bronze Member
- Sep 9, 2007
- 1,535
- 948
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 2
- Detector(s) used
- XP Deus, White's Surfmaster Dual Field, Tesoro Sand Shark, Garrett ATX
- Primary Interest:
- Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I recently rediscovered (house cleaning) this artifact from close to home here in California. I originally found it in 2008 and posted in the North American Indian Artifacts section. I got some opinions and ideas but non of my research panned out. Here are some new large photos that I took recently.
I'm including a link to my original post as well as a reprint of my first post.
The item is copper, too soft to be a real knife, to elaborate and crude to be a letter opener. The design is intriguing and there's a fair amount of thick patina (notice especially near the tip on the reverse side).
Any help will be much appreciated.
Thanks, Joe
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/n...83952-copper-artifact-california-updated.html
"It was down about 8 inches deep in a huge lawn (tended grassy area actually). This place is close to wetlands and an area used for the 1932 Olympics rowing competition (Long Beach, California).
I brought it home and began cleaning it with a stainless steel brush...BUT I stopped and gasped when I saw it had a design on the front. Hopefully I didn't do any real harm ...it was very corroded and I only removed the corrosion. I've stopped the cleaning.
My first thought was that it's a decorative item from the 1932 Olympics ... but the decoration looks to be hand made and my second thought is that it's a Native American artifact.
Now I actually do have quite a bit of knowledge of Mesoamerican artifacts but have never encountered a copper item. A Google search shows some Amerindian copper artifacts but mostly resembling animals.
ANY HELP or opinions are very gladly received.
This first photo shows the cleaned part in my hand.
Next is the closeup of the Design.
And in the final photo I've outlined (roughly) the design in my photo program.
Thanks for looking and HH, Joe
Update as of 10 July 2008,
I've sent photos to the chairman of Anthropology Department specializing in local Indian cultures and he could not identify as anything local. He said he's pass the photos I e-mailed him around to other specialties. To date I haven't received any replies. The apparent rust is actually only from contact in the soil with rusty object. The reverse side is slightly concave and fits very well with my thumb while holding it.
My speculation is that:
o the item is at least folk art and not manufactured
o It may relate to the 1932 Olympics and rowing somehow
o The "checkmark" LOGO seems unique and I'd like to I.D. that ... any ideas how?
o It appears to be more decorative than utilitarian
I'll be glad to post more photos and I'd like to get some opinions. (I'm pretty sure it's NOT a letter opener)"
I'm including a link to my original post as well as a reprint of my first post.
The item is copper, too soft to be a real knife, to elaborate and crude to be a letter opener. The design is intriguing and there's a fair amount of thick patina (notice especially near the tip on the reverse side).
Any help will be much appreciated.
Thanks, Joe
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/n...83952-copper-artifact-california-updated.html
"It was down about 8 inches deep in a huge lawn (tended grassy area actually). This place is close to wetlands and an area used for the 1932 Olympics rowing competition (Long Beach, California).
I brought it home and began cleaning it with a stainless steel brush...BUT I stopped and gasped when I saw it had a design on the front. Hopefully I didn't do any real harm ...it was very corroded and I only removed the corrosion. I've stopped the cleaning.
My first thought was that it's a decorative item from the 1932 Olympics ... but the decoration looks to be hand made and my second thought is that it's a Native American artifact.
Now I actually do have quite a bit of knowledge of Mesoamerican artifacts but have never encountered a copper item. A Google search shows some Amerindian copper artifacts but mostly resembling animals.
ANY HELP or opinions are very gladly received.
This first photo shows the cleaned part in my hand.
Next is the closeup of the Design.
And in the final photo I've outlined (roughly) the design in my photo program.
Thanks for looking and HH, Joe
Update as of 10 July 2008,
I've sent photos to the chairman of Anthropology Department specializing in local Indian cultures and he could not identify as anything local. He said he's pass the photos I e-mailed him around to other specialties. To date I haven't received any replies. The apparent rust is actually only from contact in the soil with rusty object. The reverse side is slightly concave and fits very well with my thumb while holding it.
My speculation is that:
o the item is at least folk art and not manufactured
o It may relate to the 1932 Olympics and rowing somehow
o The "checkmark" LOGO seems unique and I'd like to I.D. that ... any ideas how?
o It appears to be more decorative than utilitarian
I'll be glad to post more photos and I'd like to get some opinions. (I'm pretty sure it's NOT a letter opener)"
