***UPDATED INFO***
Well, I got the call from my jeweler this morning. He managed to get the back off. It took two days of soaking. The inner workings are, most regrettably, “toast.” The buildup of rust had leeched into the threads, thus the difficulty in removing the back.
The good news is that it is, indeed, an authentic Illinois Watch Works “Santa Fe Special.” Here’s a pic with the back off.
This is what it should look like …
I was able to get the serial number … 2885910,
and based upon pocketwatchsite.com (http://www.pocketwatchsite.com/illinoisserials.html), this number dates the manufacture in the year 1916! I remain amazed that I found a watch in the ground, that old, in such amazing condition.
It sure looks like pure gold. But … the bad news is that is is 10k gold filled. crybaby2
So, there are probably 5 or 6 grams of actual gold in the watch, but that’s about it. And I don’t know if it could be extracted, or if anyone would fool with it.
All that to say … basically, what I have is a really shiny conversation piece.
But I’m still counting it as a “Gold find” for 2012. laughing7
Oh, well. Solid AU was a little too much to hope for, I suppose. Guess I’ll go cry by meself for a while.
Thanks for keeping up with my little saga. notworthy
I braved the cold this afternoon to hunt an old school grounds that I recently received permission to hunt. The school existed from around the late 1940′s until just a few years ago. I was hoping that it would be a prime spot for some junk silver coinage.
I even dreamed about it last night … I think I dug over 100 silver coins in one day in that dream.
Anyhow … five minutes after I chose my starting spot and began to walk my very first line, I got a very strong “half-dollar/dollar” VDI on my MXT. I automatically assumed that it was a can or lid, but when I checked the depth it was reading in the 4-5 inch range. Intrigued, I kicked my relic shovel into the sod and turned over a plug. And shining forth from that plug was this piece of sweetness … it looked exactly like this. Not a blemish on it. All I did was rinse off the dirt!
Here’s a close-up of the decorative edge …
You can’t read it on the face, but I can see with a magnifying glass (and the watch held at an angle in bright light) the words “Santa Fe Special” and “Illinois.”
Turns out this is a size 14, open-face Santa Fe Special railroad watch made by the Illinois Watch Company in Springfield, IL. As best I can tell, this company was in operation under this name from 1869 until 1927.
I’m having trouble identifying the specific type and year of manufacture. And I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how to get the back off and check the serial number for a positive ID.
Any suggestions would be helpful …
From the look of the finish it appears to be 18k gold (most likely filled). Most likely not solid, but still a measurable amount of gold.
I’m stoked. This one find saved the day … all the rest was clad.
I managed about an hour and a half of hunting right before dark yesterday. And that’s not easy, considering that the Winter Solstice day (Dec. 21) is the shortest day of the year. I am soooo tired of it getting dark at 4:30 here in beautiful Kentucky!
Anyhow … I hit another section of the very large schoolyard that I have been hunting this past couple of weeks. Right now I’m just “cherry-picking” the higher VDI signals, trying to clear out the silver. And so far my methodology has worked out just fine!
I added two more silver dimes, both (interestingly) 1964-D’s. Here they be:
That makes a total of 11 silver dimes from this school yard! I just wish I knew where the quarters are hiding!! Once again, I dug a pouch full of high VDI copper Lincolns. Every one of them read 78-80 VDI, and some even gave a whisper of 81-82. Must be the soil in this particular yard. I dug close to $3 in clad, including a very fresh drop of four shiny quarters, right on top of the ground. (Not sure where those came from … this place has been abandoned for over 40 years.)
But my “banner find” for the day was one of my very last digs, right before it got too dark for me to see. I got another 79 VDI and, expecting another 1960 Lincoln, was thrilled to roll over this gorgeous sterling Catholic four-way pendant medal. It’s a little bigger than a quarter, with roughly the same mass (weight) as two dimes. Here are front and back views:
It’s cool finding this piece of history, which has been in this ground for at least 40 … most likely for 50 … years.
And I might just be able to hit 100 silver/gold finds this year. These account for finds #92-94. If I can just pull out six more before next weekend!
I’ve been out on several short hunts lately. No stellar finds in recent weeks, but I have gotten onto a few decent digs.
Here is my latest video, with story and pics below.
I hit up an old school in my community that was only used for about 10 years. It was just after the “age of silver,” around 1965-1975 or so. I didn’t hold out much hope for finding anything good. But I managed to dig 57 coins, including 7 wheats and these two “bonus” silvers!
I also dug this old “Senior Key” from 1988. My heart skipped a beat when I rolled it over in my plug. I thought it was gold at first. It is initialed on the back, and with just a little detective work I managed to find out the name of the owner. She still lives here in this community. I’m waiting to get her number from a friend and reunite her with her lost jewelry this week.
Finally, yesterday I hunted a trusty cornfield with my buddy, Western KY Digger. I pulled several flat buttons, pieces of buckshot and various small lead pieces, as well as a brass o-ring and j-shaped hook. Hard digging, but lots of fun. Digger dug a rather large flat button and the biggest zouave button I’ve ever seen.
Thanks for reading and looking! I hope to have more for you next week. I’m working on permission for a couple of new spots.
I managed to get out for a quick 2-hour hunt Monday afternoon. I hit an area in the back of a church where I have permission to hunt. There was SO MUCH trash that hunting was very difficult.
But, wouldn’t you know it … my very first target was silver! A 1944 Washington quarter. I was stoked, and ready to hit the spot with gusto.
Then I dug a most curious find … a weird 1900 medallion / badge from Memphis, Tennessee, commemorating the city’s population in 1900. A strange find, indeed, for rural western Kentucky. Obviously, it must be a relic from the original home on the site, since the church building was not constructed until 1957/58.
Here’s a pic … any info on its origin or purpose will be appreciated.
Then one last strange find. It is a piece of lead, about 3 1/2 inches in length. And it actually looks like someone heated and poured lead through a harmonica reed! Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Here are a front and top view?
I went back to the church I hunted earier this week and changed my direction 90 degrees to search the same piece of ground where I dug the three silver coins. I didn’t find much before the misty rain set in today … $1.31 in clad, an old bridle rosette, and this …
It’s stamped “925 Italy” on the clasp. So it’s sterling silver! It appears to be a tennis bracelet. Yet another silver find to add to my total for the year.
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to detect. I just returned from a week-long teaching mission in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Then, when I got home, I was greeted by flooding rains and tornadoes. It might be a while before the ground thaws enough to dig.
But I did manage to find a little piece of peruvian silver.
Right after I cleared security for a domestic flight in Peru, as I was slipping my shoes back on, I saw something shiny on the floor. I bent over, made a beeping sound (aka … my verbal metal detector) quickly and picked up a small charm. I looked around, but there were no ladies in sight. Since there was no way to know who dropped it, and the workers would most definitely pocket it if I turned it in, I elected to stick it in my pocket. Finders keepers. Once I got to my gate, I got it out and was delighted to see the numbers “950″ (a standard 95% mixture Peruvian sterling) stamped in it. It looks like a monkey or bear, I can’t tell.
Of course, I immediately sent out a Tweet, proclaiming my ability to find treasure anywhere. lol
Since it is silver, and even though it was a sight find, I am counting it toward my goal of 52 silver/gold finds for 2011.
Here’s a picture … enjoy. And keep your eyes open, there’s treasure all around!
I had to run a couple of errands the other day, and was scheduled to pick up my wife after school. I had about an hour to kill, so I went to one of the old parks in the town where she works, hoping to dig some old silver.
I started getting dime VDI’s at 3 to 4 inches, but I was completely devastated as I dug one deep clad dime after another. Go figure …
But then I got another solid 79 VDI at four inches, and this time I pulled this beauty …
And here’s a close-up on the stamp:
The ring simply looks old to me. I don’t know how to describe the style, but it doesn’t seem to match what is produced and sold today … it is too ornate and heavy, with too much attention to artistic detail.
I’ve done a little research on the ISC mark … the best I can figure out it was the International Silver Corporation. I found one note online that it went out of business in the 1950′s. If you have any other info, I would love to hear it.
It was pretty much my only decent find. I dug a pouch full of clad and a couple of Wheaties (one of them holed with a loop through it … a first for me with a Wheat Penny).
My wife loves the ring … and it looks great on her!
Scored me a few points … oh, yeah!
**Size Update – Ring weighed in at 14.1 grams, or 10.575 grams of pure gold … .339994441295 Troy Ounces (just over 1/3 ounce). The jewelry place offered me $220 for it. Yeah … right …
I’m keeping this baby … it has too great an old story!
So, as usual, I made my way back to my old mineral springs hotel site yesterday afternoon. I only had three hours to hunt, but I wanted to get some dirtfishing time in because bad weather is moving in tonight.
I decided to hunt near the top of the hill where the building sat. I actually focused on an area slightly behind where the “later” part (built in 1885) stood. I worked near a small cluster of trees.
I had only been at it for about fifteen minutes when I got a solid, repeating VDI of 74 on my MXT. Looked like a solid penny, so I dug, expecting an old wheatie. I cut a nice, big plug … and my head almost exploded when I saw this staring at me out of the bottom of the plug …
Holy Shamoley! That’s gold! And not just any gold. It’s BIG Gold. Here’s a shot fresh out of the dirt that I captured from the video.
It is so HEAVY! I mean, it’s the biggest gold ring that I have ever, personally, seen. Just a little under a full half-inch in width …
Here it is in my lovely wife’s hand …
It is 18k, and bears the mark of, “Mermod & Jaccard Jewelry Co.”
I did some research on the mark, and found this information on a site describing some art deco silver pieces made by this company:
Quote:
The “Mermod, Jaccard” mark is that of a company that was founded in St. Louis in 1829 by Louis Jacquard. He was joined by A.S. Mermod in 1845 and Goodman King in 1865, and the company became Mermod, Jaccard & King Jewelry Co.
So … the company existed under the names of “Mermod & Jaccard” only between the years 1845 and 1865. That means this ring was manufactured just before or during the Civil War!!
The ring has a fancy script-inscribed name inside, but I cannot make it out due to what appears to be heat damage. Indeed, even if the ring were an inch or two deep in the ground when the building burned, it was close enough to incur some damage from the intense heat.
Needless to say, I am seriously stoked about this find. I hope to be able to find someone nearby with a scale tomorrow so I can get an accurate weight and calculate the exact gold content. I weighed it on a small scale at the hospital where I work a part-time job, and it totaled it at exactly 0.5 ounce, but I don’t trust that measurement … seems a wee bit hefty (but close!).
Honestly, I’m not sure if this ring will have more value in its gold, or in the fact that it is a 160 year-old antique. From that perspective, I’m not even sure how to get it checked out.
I also found some other whatzits and a 23mm flat button that had me thinking “half cent” for a while … but only left me broken-hearted.
Thanks for looking, and enjoy the video. And give some thought to hitting up my Youtube channel and subscribing.
