Silver, Gold and Solved Mystery

[TexasLurker]

I've looked about and can't find a stopper like it. I believe you only have part of the stopper. Best guess is it's part the bottom of a wire stopper. Here are some patent pics.

 

[BBsGal]

That LeGant ring is awesome, the Artcarved one is amazing too! Beautiful work on both.

I really had to scratch my head on the bottle seal setup until you posted the pic of one in the bottle. My big burning question is what the heck did they use to remove them? Looks like an awkward procedure to me... I can imagine pushing the seal down in the bottle like what you do when the cork in a wine bottle breaks.

 

[ScubaDetective]

Texas-Lurker, I couldn't find a stopper like that either and neither could anyone else when I first started finding them. Everyone thought the rubber band was put on after. But not one person knew what they were and neither did I.

BBsGal, I also have no idea how they got them out. This whole cap has been a mystery since I first started finding them. Now that I know what they were for maybe I can get some information from a person that knows more about bottles than I do.

Part of the mystery is solved. Now to find the rest of the story.

Thanks all for the replies. I wish I would have found a full bottle!

I just contacted Bottle Mike in Detroit after finding his number again. The seal was called a Baltimore Loop Seal and was popular in some areas and not others. 18885 - 1905. So these are definitely old. You can google it and see the seal yourself. Now that I know they came out of blob tops it makes perfect sense. We all learned something.

I have a lot of things to find in marina's tomorrow and then back to hunt somewhere. Lets see what other crazy things I can dig up out of the water.

 

[Numil]

I'd chalk that hunt up as a succcess. Congrats!

 

[DougF]

I just contacted Bottle Mike in Detroit after finding his number again. The seal was called a Baltimore Loop Seal and was popular in some areas and not others. 18885 - 1905. So these are definitely old. You can google it and see the seal yourself. Now that I know they came out of blob tops it makes perfect sense. We all learned something.

Thanks for the info. I googled it and William Painter came up with the design. He eventually came up with the crown cap. If at first you don't succeed...

 

[metaladdict]

I've never seen a bottle cap like that! Looks like a late 1800's bottle.