Chapel Sterling?

OkieDigger

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I've never heard of "CHAPEL STER" before, but I'm guessing it's a holier version of sterling silver. Found it tonight about 4" down in an old baseball field. Weighs 4 grams even.
 

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Dale, very nice find. I enjoy finding religious pendants as well. Odd stamp which I've never seen but none the less Silver. Beautiful dig..

Bruce
 
I have a similar one that I found on July 3rd... slightly different shape but same imagery. It too had something other than STERLING stamped in it, but I don't recall what. I dismissed it as the maker's name, so maybe in your case someone named Chapel makes religious silver trinkets?
 
Congrats on the silver Dale! You had me a little scared there about if my lead was going to twindle or not! ;)
 
Okie,

What you have found is a Catholic 4-Way Medal. It is the combining of 4 different medals into one. There is also a variation of this medal called a 5-way medal that looks very similar. Chapel Sterling simply shows that it was purchased from the Church. I believe this at one time was a way of raising funds for the Church. I found one just identical to it a couple of years ago. Based on the Wheat pennies found in the same area and depth I figured mine was from the 1930's. I am not Catholic, but I just recently spoke with a priest and asked him about this medal. Very nice find.

Keep Swing'in
Jack
 
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Thanks for the info Jack. I've seen others find them, but this is my first silver religious medal. Most stuff that's marked STER is usually older than the .925 stamped stuff. The ball field I was hunting goes back to the 1970's for sure, but maybe the late 1960's. I was actually looking for silver coins (the ball field is in our oldest park dating back to 1903). I'll take it though. ;)
 
Very nice find Dale. Jack is correct, it is a 4 way medal and there are several varieties or arrangements. They are all cruciform shaped. Yours has a scapular, the miraculous medal at the bottom and St Joseph and St Christopher on the side arms.
 
Very nice find Dale. Jack is correct, it is a 4 way medal and there are several varieties or arrangements. They are all cruciform shaped. Yours has a scapular, the miraculous medal at the bottom and St Joseph and St Christopher on the side arms.

Rudy, is there a website for these that you're aware of?
 
I find that 'Sterling' is used mainly in the United States, while .925, which is supposed to be the same thing (92.5% silver) usually comes from Mexico or other foreign countries.
 
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