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Half a Crotal is Better than No Crotal!

AirmetTango

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Joined
Apr 14, 2017
Messages
3,111
Location
NW Ohio
Spent a couple hours at a old home site today - didn't find a whole lot beyond a ton of trash, but I did get a few keepers and a couple "what-is-its". Coolest find is probably the two pieces that fit together to make half of a crotal bell. The "J" at the bottom was enough information for a positive ID on the bell: the other half the bell would have had an "S", completing the maker's mark of Joseph Shipman. Since he died in 1859, it's likely this bell dates from about the mid-19th century, and becomes my oldest verifiable find to date :yes: I spent a ton of time on a slow search all around the immediate area hoping to find the rest of the bell with no luck, though :(

Also found a 12-gauge headstamp - some internet research revealed that this particular headstamp was only produced from about 1900 to 1938, so it has a little verifiable age to it.

Other mildly interesting finds include a flat brass disk that was maybe a button or something, the decorative knurl to a lamp, part of an old cap gun, the beefy part to a random farm implement, and what looks like the windshield wiper arm to some unknown vehicle.

Find images (quarter for scale only):

Crotal1.jpg


Crotal2.jpg


Internet image of a matching bell attributed to Joseph Shipman:

JShipmanCrotal.jpg


Other finds from the hunt (quarter for scale):

OddsEnds.jpg
 
Man, I dug two of those Repeater headstamps in 12 gauge this weekend in my backyard! Mine don't have the "Made in USA" so supposed to be pre-1927.
 
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