More finds for ID by the experts

[Foiled Again]

Hello Everyone:

Pulled more stuff out of the drawer, cleaned them up and had a good look at them. I can only guess at most of them.
The first one is a railroad cap badge. I managed to find this one on the net but not the age of it. Didn't find the side buttons or the gadgets that hold it on the hat. Loops are there though. Found this in the lane at the back of my house. Back says "W. Scully LTD Montreal".

Here is a link to a site with some badges like it.

http://www.antiquemystique.com/pages/4719_jpg.htm

Next thing is an old teaspoon dug up under an old elm tree. I haven't seen that kind of marking on any of the many other spoons I found so I wondered if somebody here can ID it for me. What does "GEM SILVER" mean exactly? What would be the silver content? The corrosion was very thick. Had to take the Dremel tool to it to see the mark even after a month of olive oil.

Next thing has got to be one of the strangest things I have ever found. Obviously was attached to a container of ashes. This was found on a lakeshore thousands of miles from California.

This next item is made of brass, about the size of a penny. My guess is that it is a cuff link of some kind judging by the back.

No idea what this next thing is but it looks old so here it is.

These last 2 objects I think are from the late Fur Trade era (The American Period). The button would have to be very late in the fur trade era to have a locomotive on it. The other thing looks a lot like some of the trade goods given to the native people in exchange for furs. I have seen a lot of them on here but they usually have a hole punched in the top rather than a welded loop. Opinions?

Another view:

Here is a link that shows a button that seems to look exactly like mine. Dug up south of here. This may not work as it is shorter in the preview area but try it anyway.

http://web.mac.com/elleryfrahm/iWeb...ogy/AB2F74F0-DEEB-4BD4-B5BA-A968A008330D.html

Thanks for looking and happy hunting.

Foiled Again

 

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[PBK]

Locomotive button:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,47923.msg343791.html#msg343791



Gem Silver:

There was a Gem Silver Co., but this is not their mark. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, many non-silver alloys of the type now commonly known as nickel silver or German silver were marketed under exotic trade names: Aluminum Silver, Japanese Silver, Silverite, Pelican Silver, Nevada Silver, etc. I suspect that "Gem Silver" may be another.

 

[duggap]

The button with the train came off the coveralls worn by engineers and others. The older ones had iron backs on them and they date to before the civil war and all the way up to modern times. I have dug several off civil war camp sites, particularly when the camp is near a railroad.

 

[DCMatt]

Item #5 is a decorative toe tip for boots. The tabs are nailed to the edge of the sole. I used to have silver ones on my cowboy boots. Not too fashionable these days. though...

DCMatt

 

[PBK]

German silver, or nickel silver, does not contain any silver. The only "silver" is in its name.

http://pages.zoom.co.uk/leveridge/nickel1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_silver

http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/GEO_GNU/GERMAN_SILVER.html

 

[ivan salis]

humm what is the 80% german silver items called --- I've seen the stamp mark "800 silver germany " marked on some of my grandpas old shaving gear as a kid --(an old rather fancy straight razor handle ) --- so all my life I thought "german silver" was 80% silver and 20% nickle --- hummm -- so it seems I've being thinking wrong for a long time ( say 35 years or so) on this subject ---- seems I was confused by gramps "fancy" silver straight razor handle "markings" ---- thanks PBK --- see even I'm still learning stuff around here.

 

[PBK]

humm what is the 80% german silver items called --- I've seen the stamp mark "800 silver germany " marked on some of my grandpas old shaving gear as a kid --(an old rather fancy straight razor handle ) --- so all my life I thought "german silver" was 80% silver and 20% nickle --- hummm -- so it seems I've being thinking wrong for a long time ( say 35 years or so) on this subject ---- seems I was confused by gramps "fancy" silver straight razor handle "markings" ---- thanks PBK --- see even I'm still learning stuff around here.

Okay, now we're on the same page— silver made in Germany, as opposed to "German silver" alloy!

Yes, ".800" silver is definitely 80% pure silver. Depending on the age of your grandfather's razor, the silver handles (or "scales") may also have had a crescent moon & crown mark, struck on all .800 or finer silver made in Germany after 1887.

 

[SgtSki in MI]

That crematory tag's kind of an odd find. Somebody (or their survivors) probably wanted their ashes scattered on that lake. If I found it I'd probaly get the heebie jeebies for a bit depending on where I dug it.

-SgtSki

 

[lonesomebob]

Nothing to get heebie jeebies about. The dead wont and cant hurt you . Bob

 

[Foiled Again]

eeThanks for all of the input. Funny how all of the stuff you just throw in the junk drawer turns out to be interesting after all.

PBK is correct in that German silver has no silver content. However...it may be that this is not German silver. It tarnishes in air in about a month and is easily cleaned with silver polish. It makes a thin, musical sound when you tap it on something hard and it is very light for its size. Doesn't necessarily prove it though as I read that some kinds of German silver also tarnish quickly.
Duggap is probably correct about the railroad button. It was found in a field across from a railway station built in the 1880's. There is no back on the one I found. It was just a rusty blob that fell out when I pulled it out of the hole. Thanks for the info on that.
Had no clue about the ornate curvy thing. DCMatt seems to have a plausible ID for it. I remember seeing those boot decorations a long time ago also, mostly on cowboy boots.
As for the crematory thing: lots of folks would get the heebee jeebees like SgtSki but I, like lonesomebob, don't have any of those superstitions. I do wonder about how the tag got in the sand on the edge of a lake so far away from the crematory. In any case, I think you are supposed to just sprinkle the ashes over the lake, not throw in the whole container. Maybe somebody misinterpreted the last wishes of the deceased.

Anyway, thanks for the input. Still a lot of junk in that drawer to look at. Maybe some real treasures there!! I'll post anything that looks old and interesting when I get some time.

Foiled Again