Friday Relic Hunting

Had a successful day in the bush on Friday . Found my 4th Tassie token , I . Friedman of Argyle St Hobart 1857 , a very good Advance Australia buckle and other relics .


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Awesome mate, that buckle is in mint condition. I’ve found a couple of buttons from the federation movement but that’s next level of awesome. Looks like a great spot.

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Great stuff. When does the advance Australia date from?

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Thats a very nice hunt. What is the coin with ‘cachon’ on it? Also the one with 2 holes in it? Really historic stuff.

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Thanks Dave . Was a very difficult hunt In thick bracken .

Gday Andrew , The Museum of Queensland says the Avance Aust . slogan began being used from about 1830 , belt buckles with motif from about 1880 . The author of the Australian Cricket Buckle Book estimates 1865 to 1875 . Going on other finds here my guess would be 1875 - 80 .

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Hi Karl , the Cachou item is the lid from Cachou dispenser . Cachou’s were breath fresheners in Victorian times as many had terrible breath from tooth decay . The item with two holes is the back off a pocket watch .

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Awesome finds!
Do you think that the fob watch and the watch back belong together?

No Miguel , they are different sizes and were also about 200M apart . The author of The Australian Cricket Buckle Book which has about 1300 cricket and other buckles in it says that my buckle is a new design to him . So apparently the only one in existence ! I am pretty stoked .

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Thanks for that jh. Looks like the belt buckle is rare.
My 2cents worth …keep them as family treasures rather than donating them. If you have ever watched ‘Antiques Roadshow’ on TV the items are handed-down or belong to serious collectors.
Museums often lose items or apparently sell them. A mate donated a complete 19th century diving suit to a Tasmanian museum which was eventually sold to a European collector.

Private museums can do whatever they want with any objects that they own. There is nothing stopping you from setting up your own museum and then selling everything in it to the highest bidder, including stuff people might have donated (donation = gift).

Public museums (Australian War Memorial, Australian Museum, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery) have laws that determine what they can and cannot do, and getting rid of items from their collection is usually a big no-no. They are in the business of preserving heritage for future generations, not selling it.

IMO the trick is to choose wisely, go to a public institution, and get the relevant curator to be honest with you as to whether they really want the object or not. In many cases the answer is probably no.

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Fantatic. Great find mate. Such good condition.

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The fob was the only item i have parted with . The rest of my finds will have to disposed of by my wife and son when the time comes , hopefully not into the rubbish bin !
It would be pretty rotten to see a donation sold off .

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