nugget108 Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Hey everyone, Made it out yesterday with my father in-law and my oldest boy. We started off at a gold spot that i found a nugget at before and just came up with a hardware store supply of nails and other stuff. Later we moved on to our relic spot, which i guess we should have started out at. My boy found a really cool skeleton key, a huge 2 piece button and he was able to eyefind a cool white ball, which he thought was a marble. I found a nice hunk of silver and 2 more pockets full of lead. My father-in-law found a lot of lead also, so not too much good stuff. Come to find out, what we thought was a marble is actually a ivory roulette wheel ball. Did some research and was pretty happy with that. All and all a pretty good day, it was cold and windy with snow coming in. So probably wont be out for a while. Take care everyone. Dan 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LipCa Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Just curious, how did you determine that was a roulette wheel ball? In your picture, is the "ball" dirty? I've never seen an ivory ball with those markings.... must be dirt or stains. Keep finding the relics... nice to look at. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 From what i found, there are 3 different size roulette balls from the 1800s. One of the sizes is 14mm, which this one is really close to. Also you can see how it was shaped and carved. The brown side and spots was the side down to the dirt. Im definitely not 100 percent positive but everything I've found, really resembles one. Pretty neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooper Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Cool finds. If you don't mind me asking, was the ball around anything that would lead you to believe it was from a roulette wheel ball or an area that it could have come from? That find is a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 Its just a relic spot that we have found that has tons of stuff. And learning the area from research we have done, there were dozens of gambling halls in the area. Like i said, im not 100 percent positive of it, but it resembles what i have researched. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Nice finds Dan, especially the roulette ball.. Somethings you just never expect to find and that's one of them. I found a whole ring of skeleton keys at you know where. I found another ring of old keys in Arizona. Both were found in shallow ravines which I thought was odd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 18 minutes ago, Morlock said: Nice finds Dan, especially the roulette ball.. Somethings you just never expect to find and that's one of them. I found a whole ring of skeleton keys at you know where. I found another ring of old keys in Arizona. Both were found in shallow ravines which I thought was odd. Thats funny you mention that, because Cameron was thinking how funny it would be to find a whole keyring full of skeleton keys. Thats 2 now that we have found in this location. Yeah it is a neat find. Its definitely ivory, but just not 100 percent positive on the roulette ball part of it. Pretty sure it is though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Tom Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 I'm curious to know just why you fellas call that key a skeleton key. It looks just like the keys that I used to let me into my home when I was a youth. We called it a front door key or a back door key. When entering from the outside the key had to go all the way through the door into the iron latch/ lock. They were coded by cutouts and grooves like the keys of today are. I still have my front door key but I don't know why. Old Tom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Any keys older then me are skeleton keys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 2 hours ago, Old Tom said: I'm curious to know just why you fellas call that key a skeleton key. It looks just like the keys that I used to let me into my home when I was a youth. We called it a front door key or a back door key. When entering from the outside the key had to go all the way through the door into the iron latch/ lock. They were coded by cutouts and grooves like the keys of today are. I still have my front door key but I don't know why. Old Tom From what I have read it is said that they get that name because they have been cut down to just the barest portion of the key that is needed to turn the locking mechanism, I've also read that it may get that name because if you look at the key hole or the key from the end it sorta looks like a skull, but who to know for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Thats what I have found also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Tom Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 48 minutes ago, Au Seeker said: From what I have read it is said that they get that name because they have been cut down to just the barest portion of the key that is needed to turn the locking mechanism, Yeah that's right on. You would file that type of key down and it would open almost any lock of same type. That is what we kids would do and then call it a skeleton key. They were real easy locks to get into and it wasn't hard to make a skeleton key out of a normal front door key. Back in the 1930's you didn't have too much worry about someone coming in your door as the mindset was a lot different then. Besides there was a loaded shotgun behind almost every kitchen door. Old Tom 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzNuggetBob Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Nice finds Dan but I have to say are yu sure that is Ivory? the reason I ask is they used to make marbles out of clay before glass. I've found many of them out hunting. but all have been faded to that color. They originally came in cellophane bags of different sizes and where dyed different colors. Ive got a unopened bag of them around here somewhere in my old stuff that I purchased in a antique store years ago. If I find them I'll put up a photo. also Dan anything made of Ivory that I've found out hunting had weathering cracks. Knife scales, dice etc. just sayin. AzNuggetBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 We thought it was a clay marble also when he first showed me. The only thing is, its super hard. Here are some from online and a close up of his. You could be right though Bob. Im just going off of looks and similarity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Dan Do you have a loupe? Went online to find a test for ivory. Most of them are to distinguish between plastic and ivory. But you could check for Schreger Lines. Still might not prove anything but worth a try. https://www.realorrepro.com/article/Ivory-genuine-fake--confusing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Wow very interesting. Thanks for sharing that. Ill let you know what i find when i get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 There may be other ways to determine if it's ivory or not. That one sounded the most promising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 I can see Bobs point too. Over time i see it breaking down or at least splintering. Ill check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Ok, got some closeups with the glass and according to Morlocks info he posted, i believe the roulette ball is now a marble of some sort. It does not look like ivory under the glass like it does by just looking at it in the hand. You can see what looks like silica or quartz. Thanks Bob and thank you Morlock for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NvAuMiner Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 No matter what it is.... in my book it's still a killer "eye-ball" find. Because you know... back in the day.. the Ol'timers had their hands on it.. Nice finds Dan -n- family!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzNuggetBob Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Dan I wasn't trying to rain on your parade just trying to share some info. I'm reasonably confident what you have there is a glazed clay. they are more rare than the dyed un-glazed. Ivory will usually have lines like the grain in wood. and it doesn't weather well. another rare one are the sulfides. only found a few of those. they are clear about the size of a quarter and usually have a white ceramic figurine in the center, animal, cat, dog, bird etc. very cool. I don't think I ever found a Ivory roulette ball but if I did it probably ended up in the marble can? live and learn. Ive found a lot of Ivory dice. amazing how many varieties they made but there a lot like earnings, you never seem to find a pair. AzNuggetBob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 No rain on this parade Bob. Its cool to know what it is exactly. Either way, its cool and Cameron is happy as heck with it. Thanks for giving ideas as to what you thought it was. Dan 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzNuggetBob Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Well done Cameron. it takes a keen eye to spot something like that amid all the rocks. and now he has a great old piece of history to add to his collection. there is a lot of cool old stuff out there just waiting to be found. best of luck on more. AzNuggetBob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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