Featured Cool find dug this summer.

Sorry if this is the wrong spot to post this, but I have no idea what this could be. I hope someone out there can help me. I think it's from a chest, but that's just a guess. I know it's junk and probably worthless, but I think it's cool and just would like help identifying it.

 

No marks that I can find on it, and it's iron where the rust is at. I think the rest is brass...I think. Dirt I dug through was our entire town burned down in the late 1800s and was immediately rebuilt. We hauled a lot of the dirt out to a place I will not disclose. I've been sifting through it and found a bunch of bottles among many other cool things.

 

Here a bonus that my co-worker found on the jobsite and I restored for him with electrolysis.

1880 Parole cap gun, unfortunately the hammer was to rusted through.

 

Here's one last pic I'm putting in here before I go.

 

Hi,
I think your three smaller bottles are ink bottles. Your blue thing is an insulator and is worth some money. They were usually clear glass or whitish ones. Never saw a blue one. have not dug for many years.
greg

 

Yes, the small bottles are ink wells. The taller one with stopper is a Hutchinson type soda circa 1890.

 

Your first piece almost looks like an old camera case. What size is it?
Patd

 

It's 2" x 3 1/2". After looking at it again, it almost looks like should be round and not lock shaped, and with all the venting holes, I think it may be something for an old lantern.

 

Here's a bell found same area.

 

That's was a great find after all.

 

Here's a few more keepers. Old folding knife, a clay pipe stem (broken) with *RUNT in writing, a perfume bottle cap, a WWI button, a brass button that I can't identify, a thin clip with the letters SB on it, and old sheriff's toy badge, and an old shutoff handle from a water line (I assume).

I am a bit curious as to what this clip is though, any thoughts?

 

I need to build a display for all this stuff.
Little history: Fargo, ND
There were old saloons, horse supply shoppes, among trade shoppes, and blacksmiths. The entire town burned down in 1893 destroying city hall and leaving 6,000 residents without a home.
Fargo not accepting defeat rebuilt bigger and better!
It was in the area that we removed the dirt, replaced utilities, and a good way for me to keep occupied on the weekends. (Bonus I lost 30 lbs from all the exercise and running from an aggressive turkey once.)
Here's some more of the "trash" that I see as treasure!

 

Yeah the snow can't melt fast enough for me to get out there.

 

So I did some electrolysis on those smaller items and that pocket knife was made by Washington Cutlery Co. Here's a picture from under my microscope. As to the date it was manufactured, I'm not sure (1885-1927). It's a nice quality knife and it still opens and closes, unfortunately the second blade is has only a small part left that wasn't rusted through. Here's a link to someone selling a well preserved one that looks very similar.
https://picclick.com/Very-old-Washington-Cutlery-Co-Jack-Knife-Rare-323376008672.html

 

How big? Looks rather like a buckle.

 

The size of a silver dollar give or take.

 

Went back out to my spot today, found an old railroad spike, some more strap buckles for horse tack, a big ring that looks like it's for tying horses to it, and this beauty.