Featured Old? Native American stamped bracelets

I’m curious about these two bracelets. When I google image them the larger one resembles some Fred Harvey bracelets. The other looks like a possible ingot bracelet. There is one being sold on ebay as an early ingot bracelet that is very similar. However, ebay sellers are not always the most accurate. What are your thoughts? The smaller one I wear time to time, and can’t remember if I polished it a bit when I got it. The larger one I picked up today and buffed it until the stamping was noticeable.

 

Fred Harvey is not a bad call.....for both... & off hand I'd say both were coin silver !

 

I have no good info for you.
But....I adore them both!!!

 

I have silver testing acid. Is there a way to tell coin silver from sterling when using the acid?

Yay! I have been hoping to stumble across some Fred Harvey era jewelry!

 

I don't know why they call it an "ingot" bracelet everything is made from ingots.

 

Thanks! I love stamped bracelets. I was super excited to find the larger one this morning!

 

I think when they call it an ingot bracelet they are referring to the process of melting silver coins into a bar, and then hammering the silver out to make a bracelet. I could be wrong though.

 

I can only think the silver will not test as 925..... but old coins... 80 to 90 %......so maybe it'll look close..??

 

I will have to test tomorrow!

 

Unless it was cast,everything has been made from ingots for centuries.No one saw the smith/commercial business make the piece.It's like saying a piece is "old pawn" without a pawn ticket as proof.

 

The silver test I bought from eBay had a colour key on the listing. Bright blood red shows quite pure silver then maroon for 800 and below moving towards more mud brown.. it's not an exact thing but it gives you an idea. I expect yours will be the same as it is likely to be the same acid and chemical reaction.

 

Love them!

It was certainly around during the Fred Harvey era, maybe even before. Whether sold through Fred Harvey is anyone's guess. It is almost impossible to ascertain, even if it is featured in catalogues, because the same models could have been sold through trading posts etc as well.
Bracelets like this are generally called Fred Harvey era.

Ditto.

 

That is a test to see if something is a high, medium or low fineness, but it will not differentiate between sterling and American coin silver. The first is .925 and the second is often .900.

 

Agree. It is a superfluous term.

 

Ah okay. Yes that's a fine margin.

 

From Kline's 'Navajo Spoons' (2001):




~Cheryl

 

Sweet. I love this! That single coin into a spoon is amazing!
Do you have any Native American spoons in your collection? I don't remember seeing any in your post a week or two ago. I just remember it was a wonderful collection. I had no idea spoons could be that gorgeous!

 

Good to know. I actually have a ring that I found in a Fred Harvey catalog. It is, and was so well loved and worn that I am afraid the silver on the band will wear through soon.

 

Posted that to show the use of actual coins and then left to run errands - agree that 'old pawn' and 'ingot silver' are terms hugely overused in selling NA silver, pointless without a pawn ticket, and other than if a coin is left relatively intact, no way of determining the source of the silver.


I did post my collection of lily of the valley and bell-flower spoons recently, no NA spoons there, but have posted the occasional Navajo or Tlingit spoon.

This was my first Navajo spoon, and my favorite, acquired around 30 years ago, most likely early 20th century:




Some Navajo salt spoons:




My best and favorite Tlingit spoon:




~Cheryl

 

Thank you! I am always so amazed by other people’s collections.