1920's Pocket-Spill

  I paid a visit to a local park I have been wanting to check out and came up with a few items of interest: namely a beautiful Buffalo nickel with a fantastic patina (unfortunately no clear date), a 1912 Barber dime, a devastated 1880 Indian Head penny, two wheat pennies (still in the cleaning process), a nice 19th century buckle, and a pretty little bejeweled brooch from the 1800's. The Barber dime actually came out of the ground wedged between the two wheaties, the result of some unfortunate pocket-spill about a hundred years ago.

Au and Pb

  14k earring (labeled) and a great 2" antique fishing weight, both found in the park.

Catholic Iconography

  I found this great little Catholic cross in the park. I was just wondering, too, why I never find any religious medals.  This one is a beauty.

1904 Barber Dime

A brief stop in Union Common yielded yet another weathered Indian Head penny and a nice 1904 Barber dime. I suspect this park was hit heavily years ago and stripped of all its large silvers and coppers, which is why I seem to only find Indians, deep nickels, and Barber dimes. Not that I am complaining.

Two More Indians

  11 Indian Head pennies so far this year. This one is an 1890, and not in perfect shape, but will clean up alright after a few more days in olive oil.

  Also, an exhausted 1884 Indian head and a nineteenth century bottle stopper...

  All of this , by the way, still coming out of the park in Union.

Another Shield

  I found my second shield nickel in the park, though this one was in much worse shape than the last. Some soaking in vinegar revealed the 5 on the one side and the shield on the other. I will never find a date.

  Found this lovely large lady's button at a depth of about ten inches and nearly broke the thing getting it out. It is quite thin and as big as a silver dollar, with this great trademark logo on the rear. Note the "S" above the design.

  Also my ninth Indian head penny of the year... some kind of weird bottle opener... #1 key... half of a large button... Oskar's tag... a '57 wheatie... and a whatchamathingy...

  And then there's Howard...

  I also stopped by a farm last week to find a dropped ring.  I had no luck, but did dig up this interesting buckle...

Jesus First

  I haven't got out much this week, but I did find this rather battered 1868 Shield Nickel.

  Also, this great little painted metal fire hydrant, sans the man. I just added him because I couldn't resist.

  Tiny spoon for tiny soup... wonderful old brass post-skeleton key... and Jesus First.

Silver Wire Heart Ring

    I found this in the park yesterday. It's a little large for Laura's fingers and it need some straightening, but the attention to detail on the fine wire band is really nice.
    I have not been out much lately, between work and my small Saturday hand injury (see www.penobscotstone.blogspot.com), but I found a few interesting items down in Camden Harbor at low tide.

  I am particularly fond of the chain, the smallest rusty chain I have ever found. I am planning on hanging something small and rusty from it.

Sea Dolls

   I ran into my friend Carole Lambert, our local sea glass expert extraordinaire, the other day and it got me thinking about my sea doll parts, so I thought I would post a photo. Carole turned me on to these wonderful little treasures a few years ago with her beautiful book "The Sea Glass Chronicles".  Apparently, in the 1800's, these ships would sink off the coast freighted with porcelain dolls and pieces still wash up on certain beaches, not to mention the broken dolls that just got deep-sixed with the daily rubbish. Carole has a few great books on the subject of sea glass and has just started up a new website.  http://www.shipwreckink.com/?page_id=8.
  Anyway, I immediately became fixated--as I am wont to do--on the idea of finding doll parts on beaches. Our good friend (and talented musician-http://www.julianegardner.net/) Juliane Gardener told me she finds dolls parts on the beach in Castine and even brought me a doll foot, so I high-tailed it up there with Laura and found a wonderful porcelain sea-ear within minutes of searching. I was hooked.  I have found a few others since and here they are. Except for the foot, which is the one Julie gave me.

Chilian Puzzle

 I have never heard of a Chilian Puzzle before yesterday, but I found a Chilian Puzzle token yesterday in the park. It was so green with age I thought it was large cent. I guess these little tokens hung from the ends of an early 1900's ring puzzle. I found a picture of one on ebay. Looks like it would make a great Chilian fishing lure to me.

  I also found this interesting little decorative laurel piece that must have broken off a medal or buckle or something. It measures about an inch in length.

  And another little buckle, a 1957 Wheatback, 3 great little buttons, some unexploded ammunition, and a few square nails.