1/31/23 Report - Box of Chocolates Post: A Tray Full of Miscellneous Finds Including Everything from Rings to Tokens to Coins to Black Glass and Shards and a Mystery Object.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Tray of Miscellaneous Stuff

While I was finishing yesterday's post, I looked over and noticed a little tray (shown above) holding a group of apparently miscellaneous finds.  I figured there was nothing special there, but I wondered what was there. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at each find but I soon realized there was so much there that it would take too long to photograph and discuss each.

To start with, there were twelve modern ring finds. Some of the rings are silver and some are junk. A couple I remembered posting when I talked about interlocking rings. I distinctly remember where some of them were found.

Some of the best finds are at the end of this post, so I hope you'll stick it out.

There are about nine tokens of various kinds. Some are arcade game tokens. There are a couple Sunoco antique car tokens, a free drink token from a hotel, a couple President tokens (Eisenhower and Jefferson).and a medal bearing the Serenity prayer on one side and a butterfly on the other side.  Here are most of those.

A Variety of Token Finds From the Past Found in a Little Tray

I've found hundreds of tokens, but those are the ones that were in this tray for some reason, I think I've posted most of those at some time in the past, which is why they are not with the other tokens.  There was a time when I found a lot of the arcade game tokens and even sold some of those.  That is another example of changing times and finds.

Watch, Earring, Religious Medallion and Dog Tag.

Inside the little black container were also the raw gemstones of various types shown below.  I know some are corundum, and I found some of them using a black light.  I think I did a post on that once.

Some Raw Garnets, Maybe Rubies, and an Emerald.

Corundum has two primary gem varieties: ruby and sapphire. Rubies are red due to the presence of chromium, and sapphires exhibit a range of colors depending on what transition metal is present.  

I didn't know if that little black container in the tray held these gems or something else until I opened it.

One very small dog charm,
one gold stud earring,
a silver earring with small blue stone.
and a piece of aluminum or titanium.

The blackened silver earring is pretty old.  And I don't remember if the other piece is aluminum or what.

Bag of Silver Bits and Cloisonne Pendant.

               

Don't remember where those silver bits came from.  Very nice cloisonne pendant.

Fossil Tine, Rim Pot Shard, and Black Glass.

Here is an interesting group.  One the left is a fossil tine - maybe from a deer horn.  

Beside that is a rim pot shard.  Probably indigenous.  The nice thing is it has a thicker rim and a couple decorative lines.

And thirdly, a piece of old black sea glass.

Old Thin Square Nail, Brass Pendant (?)
and Modern Metal Arrowhead Pendant.

The square nail is unusually thin, perhaps due to corrosion.  The head definitely shows loss due to corrosion.

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The metal arrowhead, I believe was made as a pendant and is very modern.

Cross, Navy Hat Pin, Boy Scout Pin,
Small Lead Shot, and Bullets.

The cross is junk and modern.  Next are the Navy hat pin and boy scout lapel pins, followed by a couple small lead balls and bullets.

Variety of Artifacts.

Some of this group would probably be 1715 Fleet.

Top left is an old lead screw top collar or part.  Doesn't look like much, but it is more interesting than it looks at first glance.  You might be surprised by how long ago there were lead screw-top bottles.

Below is an example from an old post.  See (The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 6/17/19 Report - 1715 Fleet Lead Screw Top Bottle Find. 37 Words for Treasure and A Bit About Early Piracy. Site for Browsing.)

The item to the right of the lead collar is very much like one shown in Deagan's book on Spanish Colonial artifacts.  Below is an illustration from a previous post in which I discussed that item.

And here is the link.

Treasure Beaches Report: Pt. 2. (2020 and Beyond). : 3/28/23 Report - Browsing Through Arachaeological References and Identifying Treasure Coast Dug Artifacts. (tbr2020.blogspot.com)

Below those items are an enigmatic silver cross and a piece of copper sheathing.

And below that, left to right is a hinged mystery item, another piece of sheathing, and a peculiar corroded thin silver piece.

I'll leave it there today even though there are some pieces in the tray that I missed.  For example, there are a couple chains.  One is silver the other is a base metal.

There were also some coins, including a Susan Anthony dollar and some coins that were corroded and unrecognizable.

Once I started getting into this, I realized that there was more in that little tray than I expected, and the wide variety of types of finds is surprising.   

I thought I could do a series of grab-bag posts like this, but this group of items was too numerous and diverse.  It didn't work as well as I expected.   

Maybe "box of chocolates" describes it better than grab-bag.

The surfguru.com is showing up to a ten-foot surf for next Tuesday.  I'll keep an eye on that.  We'll see if it holds.

Anyhow, good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net