This rang a bell...

DoctorWhy

Full Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
240
Location
Island in Penobscot Bay, Maine
...literally...

Much of the time the excitement of metal detecting comes from discovering some long-buried 'treasure': a Colonial copper, a shoe buckle, big silver, gold ring, etc.

For me there's nearly as much excitement when I can solve the mystery of the identity of, or or story behind a dug relic. Saturday was one of those times of discovery. I had a couple free hours and decided to explore the wooded area within walking distance of my home. According to old maps, including 1770's and 1880's plots, the area had always either been road-less forest or pasture. The ground was very quiet -- not even any iron signals. After an hour or so I heard my first signal -- iron, but decided to dig anyway... About 6" down I found this small, (smaller than a dime) nearly circular bit of plated but corroding iron. Just about to toss it into my junk bag, I saw what appeared to be writing. Put it into a plastic sample bag and brought it home. Curious about what it might be, I tooth-brushed it and saw the word "BEVIN" surrounded by some floral "fancy'... The other side had some additional letters and numbers. I could make out something that looked like "APR.27.97"

Immediately took those clues to 'Google' and discovered the Bevin Bell company. A bit more searching and I found images of what I had found. My 'treasure' was the thumb piece from a 1897 bicycle bell! Success at identification!!! But now the question persists: what was this fragment of a bicycle bell doing in the road-less woods? Attached are photos of the found fragment, an example of the intact bell, and the patent drawings that were assigned by its inventor to the Bevins Company!

OK, maybe this wasn't an amazing trophy find, but it gave me a few happy hours in the woods and a fun evening project, "hunting" on the computer.

Happy Holidays and Happy Hunting to all!
--Bert
 

Attachments

  • BevinBellTab_sm.jpg
    BevinBellTab_sm.jpg
    46.1 KB · Views: 364
  • 1897_BevinBell_A-sm.jpg
    1897_BevinBell_A-sm.jpg
    27.3 KB · Views: 353
  • 1897_BevinBell_B.jpg
    1897_BevinBell_B.jpg
    49.1 KB · Views: 344
  • BevinBellPatent.jpg
    BevinBellPatent.jpg
    7.5 KB · Views: 361
Great job figuring out what it was. I'm like you in that regard, finding something is only half the fun. Coins if readable are typically pretty easy to identify and unless you find a entire cache (I never have) only may passively wonder how it got where it was at. Those old relics can sometimes take days, weeks or years to get identified, if they ever do. (People on here really amaze me with what they ID) Trying to figure out what they are/were is often more rewarding than finding it. May only be a usless piece of rusty scrap metal by the time it gets into our hands but to ponder the story of the hows and whys make them priceless in their own way.
 
Really interesting piece! It wouldn't surprise me if the rest of it was in those woods somewhere. Keep up the good research and finds, HH!
 
For me there's nearly as much excitement when I can solve the mystery of the identity of, or or story behind a dug relic....

...OK, maybe this wasn't an amazing trophy find, but it gave me a few happy hours in the woods and a fun evening project, "hunting" on the computer.

I'm like you in that regard, finding something is only half the fun....Those old relics can sometimes take days, weeks or years to get identified, if they ever do. (People on here really amaze me with what they ID) Trying to figure out what they are/were is often more rewarding than finding it...

Great post, Dr Why! I agree with both you and T-man - for me, this stuff is what makes detecting such a fabulous hobby. The fun of the hunt, the thrill of unearthing a cool find, and the satisfaction of learning the identity and history of an object are all equally enjoyable. Heck, I even enjoy the research and history I learn while investigating new places to hunt! It’s also why I get more jazzed up finding relics and trade tokens - coins are great and a joy to find, but tokens and relics tend to have a more unique character to them that leads to the chance to learn something about the local history of the area.

A neat find, great positive ID, and wonderful research to unearth some history on the bell toggle! Neat to have found the patent drawing as well. Thanks for sharing!
 
Back
Top Bottom