20/10/12 finds

**jay69hay** · 23-10-2012, 12:30 AM

nothing great but atleast i got out and got a call and got a 1000 acres of farm land so turned out a great day

**minty fresh** · 23-10-2012, 12:43 AM

result, and a bit of silver thrown in, id call that a good day

**astonmt** · 23-10-2012, 01:08 AM

Item next to musket ball looks like an Anlo Saxon zoomorphic strap end!! Clean carefully and look for decoration pointy end is the snout. Nice find

well found

Aston

**shep** · 23-10-2012, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by astonmt

Item next to musket ball looks like an Anlo Saxon zoomorphic strap end!! Clean carefully and look for decoration pointy end is the snout. Nice find

well found

Aston

I think its a broken hook mount with the pointy end where the hook piece was, still not a bad day out mate! Any one of those signals could have been a keeper and the 1000 acres should take a little while to cover

**Iron Mask** · 23-10-2012, 07:58 AM

Great assortment of scrap jay.

just kidding. Well done on the 1000 acres.
Sorry I missed your skype yesterday. Maybe tonight.
Cheers

**dave9** · 23-10-2012, 08:17 AM

Well done nice assortment ,1000 acres is good new's,i have just got more land with a dmv and saxon find's on and around it,so the farmer has said.Like your avatar,is that from Bedford ?

**stewart73** · 23-10-2012, 08:42 AM

1000 acres eh? Wow! Nice pile o' loot too.

**seanmagee1** · 23-10-2012, 08:46 AM

well done jay , nice couple of bits.

**mal** · 23-10-2012, 08:47 AM

Good search Jay.
??? Is there any marks on the peice of silver as to a clue to date.???

**jay69hay** · 23-10-2012, 09:46 AM

yea mal capital letters A,D from left Anchor on side,letter Z and lion with right paw raised if thats any help.
dn[1] (12).jpg

**stewart73** · 23-10-2012, 10:05 AM

Isn't the anchor the symbol of Birmingham and the lion represents .925? Says they cycled 20 letters of the alphabet to signify the year. You can check here and see if you can match it:

http://www.silvercollection.it/engli...lmarksBIR.html

**jay69hay** · 23-10-2012, 11:28 AM

the only one i can find that has the same A.D is
Auguste & Joseph Delacour,
London 1921 hallmark (entered 1909) but cant find the Anchor,lion and Z to match

**stewart73** · 23-10-2012, 11:59 AM

Just read that if the anchor is horizontal then the silver is pre-1900. AD could also be Arthur Downing Ltd. a silver maker in Birmingham in the first quarter of the 1900s.

EDIT: Found that exact "Z" font....1899.

**Garry J** · 23-10-2012, 12:35 PM

Good stuff there Jay, belt mount looks in good order.

**fertler** · 23-10-2012, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by stewart73

Just read that if the anchor is horizontal then the silver is pre-1900. AD could also be Arthur Downing Ltd. a silver maker in Birmingham in the first quarter of the 1900s.

According to my book on hallmarks, since 1772 Birmingham has used a vertical anchor for silver and a horizontal anchor for gold or platinum. Platinum was not available, in Europe, in commercial quantities until the mid 19th century. In the UK there was no legal standard for platinum until 1973 and before that date you may find the inscription "PLAT" as an indication.
Barrie.

**stewart73** · 23-10-2012, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by fertler

According to my book on hallmarks, since 1772 Birmingham has used a vertical anchor for silver and a horizontal anchor for gold or platinum.
Barrie.

I found this: The mark for Birmingham is an anchor. Most hallmarks books indicate an upright anchor for silver and a sideways anchor for gold, but this was not strictly adhered to from this site:

http://www.modernsilver.com/basichallmarks.htm

and this: The hallmarks are the lion passant for the sterling silver standard guarantee, the gothic date letter ‘u’ for the year 1894-95 and the anchor for Birmingham (horizontal anchor for pre-1900 silver) from this site:

http://www.ascasonline.org/articoloAGOS100.html

I personally have no idea though!

My guess for the million dollar prize is: an 1899 .925 silver Birmingham assay with an Arthur Downing maker's mark.

**Steve_T** · 23-10-2012, 01:09 PM

Think ya did ok mate.

**Kyle** · 26-10-2012, 08:19 AM

not bad at all - well done.

1000 acres should keep you going - ive got acess to a farm with a thousand acres - only just got to grips with the first field and its got a ancient brook running through it aswell as whats to be believed a roman auxillary fort - one of the other fields is close to a area where a medieval markets were supposdly held, and another area where monks resided - to date its turned out no roman

- 2 hammereds short cross, long cross- both excellent condition - snake buckle - loads of viccys, georges etc that been said only just scratched the surface of the land