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Post-Strike Damage

Started by mattl1-migration,

21 posts in this topic

mattl1-migration

mattl1-migration

Posted
Posted

Here's an artifact from the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 in San Francisco. The silver coins melted into the corner of a cashbox along with a stray screw, but the nickels remained mostly unscathed due to their higher melting point.

 

Probably won't fit in a holder, but neat nontheless!

 

SF1.jpg

SF2.jpg

 

 

 

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MunkyMan95

MunkyMan95

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Am I the only one who think this is completely awesome?

 

Think about it. Coins in a cash register during the great fire, all the silver coins melted, leaving the nickel coins behind. That is a great piece of American history and Numismatic history.

 

Bravo!

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James_OldeTowne

James_OldeTowne

Posted
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Here's an artifact from the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 in San Francisco. The silver coins melted into the corner of a cashbox along with a stray screw, but the nickels remained mostly unscathed due to their higher melting point.

 

Probably won't fit in a holder, but neat nontheless!

Neat? Neat??

 

That's stupendously AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for sharing, and Welcome to our friendly little neighborhood!

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mattl1-migration

mattl1-migration

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Thanks for all the great feedback guys. I originally purchased this piece of slag from an older gentleman about 8 years ago along with newspaper clippings covering the aftermath of the fire. He had apparently purchased it and other artifacts in the 70's from an heir to the original finder, whoever that was. I would love to track him down.

 

The dates on the coins were the first thing I checked :)

 

I firmly believe the story behind the piece, if only by looking at the patina on the whole thing, but theres no way to really know.. Maybe there would be a way to accurately date it chemically, but I haven't gone that far yet.

 

I love the way it connects numismatic history with a major event in US history. It makes for a nice conversation piece.

 

Matt

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DC Dawg

DC Dawg

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Thanks for all the great feedback guys. I originally purchased this piece of slag from an older gentleman about 8 years ago along with newspaper clippings covering the aftermath of the fire. He had apparently purchased it and other artifacts in the 70's from an heir to the original finder, whoever that was. I would love to track him down.

 

The dates on the coins were the first thing I checked :)

 

I firmly believe the story behind the piece, if only by looking at the patina on the whole thing, but theres no way to really know.. Maybe there would be a way to accurately date it chemically, but I haven't gone that far yet.

 

I love the way it connects numismatic history with a major event in US history. It makes for a nice conversation piece.

 

Matt

What a great find and story!

 

If you want to get some people to do the research for you, you should try the History Detectives. If you don't know, History Detectives is a PBS show that takes an artifact from the past and investigates its provenance. You can find them at http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/, which includes a "Submit Your Mystery" button.

 

Yes, I am a fan of the show!!

 

Scott :hi:

 

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mattl1-migration

mattl1-migration

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Condor, that is the first I've heard about there being more than one. Where did you see another? It might help me research the provenance of this lump. Or did you mean you had seen other melted bunches before, but not necessarily from the same time period?

I've heard that there were similar pieces discovered after the fall of the twin towers.

 

ScottB, that's a good idea. I'll write to the history detectives and post their answer here. It would certainly be a challenge for them!.

 

Matt

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