brianc053
Hero Member
- Jan 27, 2015
- 987
- 3,443
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 3
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Equinox 800
XP Deus 2
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Hello everyone! Right up front I want to acknowledge that this bracelet was not found today. I found it a few weeks ago at the dairy farm mentioned here: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...rame-two-ihc-s-new-dairy-farm-permission.html
However, today I returned to the dairy farm and talked with the farm owner about the bracelet because I've been doing some research on the item.
The first thing that's cool about this bracelet is that the chain itself is sterling silver. At first I thought this was just another silver charm bracelet. I was wrong.
The second cool thing is that the bracelet has charms, and the charms have dates. I think we all love items with names/dates because they make the item personal. (More on the dates in a moment)
But for me the coolest thing about the bracelet was what I noticed as I looked more closely at the charms themselves. "Behind" the date inscriptions were some other letters, and as I looked with a magnifying glass the word "SIXPENCE" became visible. It didn't take too long to realize that there was a whole design on the "charm".
And then I realized that the charm was actually a repurposed British sixpence coin (50% silver). The date of the coin on the August charm is even visible: 1944.
How freakin' cool is that?!? Someone made a bracelet by repurposing British coins! (All four charms are made from sixpence coins.)
Apparently coin jewelry is a thing, though I don't know how commonplace it is.
As for this specific piece, I learned from the farm owner that the bracelet came from the jewelry box of his aunt which was accidentally spilled at some point in the past.
And from my research it looks like the dates are related to the parents of the aunt (birth of father in 1913, mother in 1920. We're not 100% sure about the 1940 dates; they're too close together to be child births. We think engagement/marriage).
I've found a lot of very cool items over the past few years with my metal detector, but this has to rank right up there as one of the coolest.
I gave the bracelet back to the farm owner, of course. I made up a Google Doc (screen shot included below) and gave that to the owner along with the bracelet. He and his girlfriend seemed genuinely excited, and they said they were going to talk to the aunt about the piece being recovered.
While it would have been cool to have that bracelet in my collection I felt strongly it needed to be back with the family who originally owned it. For my own collection I bought two 1944 British sixpence coins and put them in a flip with a notation about the bracelet, so that when I'm older it'll trigger the memory.
Thanks for taking a look!
- Brian
However, today I returned to the dairy farm and talked with the farm owner about the bracelet because I've been doing some research on the item.
The first thing that's cool about this bracelet is that the chain itself is sterling silver. At first I thought this was just another silver charm bracelet. I was wrong.
The second cool thing is that the bracelet has charms, and the charms have dates. I think we all love items with names/dates because they make the item personal. (More on the dates in a moment)
But for me the coolest thing about the bracelet was what I noticed as I looked more closely at the charms themselves. "Behind" the date inscriptions were some other letters, and as I looked with a magnifying glass the word "SIXPENCE" became visible. It didn't take too long to realize that there was a whole design on the "charm".
And then I realized that the charm was actually a repurposed British sixpence coin (50% silver). The date of the coin on the August charm is even visible: 1944.
How freakin' cool is that?!? Someone made a bracelet by repurposing British coins! (All four charms are made from sixpence coins.)
Apparently coin jewelry is a thing, though I don't know how commonplace it is.
As for this specific piece, I learned from the farm owner that the bracelet came from the jewelry box of his aunt which was accidentally spilled at some point in the past.
And from my research it looks like the dates are related to the parents of the aunt (birth of father in 1913, mother in 1920. We're not 100% sure about the 1940 dates; they're too close together to be child births. We think engagement/marriage).
I've found a lot of very cool items over the past few years with my metal detector, but this has to rank right up there as one of the coolest.
I gave the bracelet back to the farm owner, of course. I made up a Google Doc (screen shot included below) and gave that to the owner along with the bracelet. He and his girlfriend seemed genuinely excited, and they said they were going to talk to the aunt about the piece being recovered.
While it would have been cool to have that bracelet in my collection I felt strongly it needed to be back with the family who originally owned it. For my own collection I bought two 1944 British sixpence coins and put them in a flip with a notation about the bracelet, so that when I'm older it'll trigger the memory.
Thanks for taking a look!
- Brian
