Page 291 - Treasure, World & U.S. Coin Auction 17

Non-Wreck Artifacts

Note: photos not actual size (reduced or enlarged to show details)

Natural History

1500. Woolly mammoth tooth from the North Sea (approx. 10,000 to 100,000 years old). 5380 grams, roughly 13” x 7” x 4”.
Massive molar with about 16-17 ridges interspersed with brownish strata, bits of encrustation, found and lightly conserved by a commercial
fisherman decades ago. With photo-certificate. Estimate: $400-$600.

1501. Section of petrified wood from New Mexico (approx. 100-200 million years old). 1480 grams, roughly 10” x 3” x 2-1/2”.
Beautiful display piece with lots of orange and white color in addition to the exterior brown, with typical cracks and flaking but totally intact
and stable. Estimate: $125-$200.

1502. South American native axe head made from iron meteorite (approx. 5000-10,000 years old), very rare. 393 grams,
roughly 3-1/2” x 2” x 1-1/4”. A crude axe head with one end sharpened into a (dull) blade and the other end with a groove for inserting into a
wooden handle, clearly well worn from use and with minor pitting and patination as expected, nearly identical to stone specimens found all
over the Americas but quite rare and remarkable as made out of a meteorite fragment. While we do not know the exact origin of this piece, it
is interesting to note that pieces like this were the reason the Spanish found the famous Campo del Cielo meteorite field in Argentina in 1576,
for it was observed that the local natives had iron tools and weapons despite a lack of natural iron resources. Estimate: $2,500-up.

Arms / Armor / Militaria

Armor

1503. European steel closed helmet, 1600s-1700s. 1783
grams, roughly 15” x 13” x 8”. Full head protection, with hinged vi-
sor and chin-guard and neck-guard (the latter two with S-shaped
latches), with hand-cut decoration around nose and eye-slit and on
top medial, excellent condition with minimal rusting and original
rivets. Found in Northern England, with photo-certificate. Estimate:
$2,500-$3,750.

289