Nicest Piece of silver in 35 years - Victorian Silver Match Safe

[don in ny]

I went to check out a new spot yesterday and came up with what I think is my finest silver find in 35 years of detecting. Yes, I did find a sterling knee buckle last year that is more historically significant, but not nearly as beautiful as this piece. I was hunting a pounded school yard looking for what others missed and came up with more nickels (found 28 the day before) including a silver war nickel and the smallest silver medal I've ever seen. It started snowing and I wanted to give this new site a quick look. Only spent 15 minutes there, but it sure was worth it. Came up with this beautiful silver match case/safe. It's in remarkable condition with no dents and when I opened it up it looked almost new inside. Quite unusual for a ground find. My guess is it was made to be water resistant to protect the matches and it did it's job. I found the exact same piece for sale on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-5080-ORNATE-FANCY-WHITING-STERLING-SILVER-VESTA-MATCH-BOX-SAFE-HOLDER-/311194005192?pt=Antiques_Silver&hash=item48749baec8

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[del]

:shocked03: Wow Don what a stunning case :perfect10: , they do keep things pretty much air tight . My old hunting buddy found one with 4 paper trolley tickets still inside , they had to have been in there and in the ground for well over a 100 years. great piece Don !!

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

stunning! I always loved victorian era motiff's and this one is gorgeous!

[Digger Don]

That is a beautiful find. It looks like new. Great recovery :congrats:

[Restoring Your Finds]

I would confidently say it is a keeper... ;) Congrats on this beautiful find !

[Lodge Scent]

Holy ^%$#. That match safe is a stunner :congrats:

[Bell-Two]

What a sweet find, I really think it is gorgeous! :wow:

[OxShoeDrew]

Wow, yours is in better shape than the ebay one! Congrats!

[Pacivilwarluke]

:shocked03: That is incredibly detailed! Beautiful find, that is immaculate!

[MangoAve]

Wish the ebay site was more informative. I knew the match case looked victorian and we all know when the victorian era was, but thats 49 year time frame. Nice case.

[Swing-N-Dig NY]

WoW, beautiful find.

[aloldstuff]

Beautiful match safe and great recovery. Remarkable that you got it with no dents. Very impressive Ebay listing....cha ching

[giant056]

Wow!!!!!!! that is indeed a beauty for sure :congrats: I've always wanted to find a solid sterling one myself but still haven't, I did find a silver plated one with the old matches still inside.