A trip to a Chicago area mystery safety deposit box and pics of the contents

Justacommeman · August 18, 2017 3:29PM

Well the mystery wasn't who's box it was but what was in it. My wife and I were in the Chicago area for my Mother-in-laws 88th birthday. Since we were in town she wanted to make sure her daughter ( only child) was on all the proper bank documents etc. We went to a few banks all routine but the last stop had a safety deposit box involved. My wife changed the signature from her maiden name as that was the purpose for the stop. My mother in law stated, "while we are here you might as well take this stuff now". She had always told me that she had some Gorham sterling silver pieces an some random coins. Leave it to a Norwegian to downplay the contents. She actually had a 12 piece set, candle sticks and other cool pieces. The coins I haven't really gone through yet. Almost 50 silver dollars and 60 Kennedy halves. Mostly 1964. The watches were a sursprise.Now to get it all back to Cali.......

mark

CaptHenway · August 18, 2017 4:14PM

Nice!

BruceS · August 18, 2017 5:28PM

Very cool Mark. That gold monogramed pen/pencil set is nice, From the 30s?

derryb · August 18, 2017 5:34PM

No CAC stickers?

Justacommeman · August 18, 2017 5:41PM

@BruceS said:
Very cool Mark. That gold monogramed pen/pencil set is nice, From the 30s?

In talking to my mother-in-law.......... pre depression era. Likely 1925-27. It predates my mother-In- laws parents wedding in 1928. It was a gift from her dad to her mom. Apparently a Christmas gift. A true romantic. If I ever gave my wife a pen and pencil set for Christmas I would be served divorce papers by New Year's.

mark

goodmoney4badmoney · August 18, 2017 6:45PM

ALL of that fit in just one box?

Seeing the fancy silverware reminds of my grandma who used to bust out the good stuff for the holidays etc. She had this one special gold fork (plated I assume) that was reserved just for me.

Justacommeman · August 18, 2017 6:53PM

@goodmoney4badmoney said:
ALL of that fit in just one box?

Seeing the fancy silverware reminds of my grandma who used to bust out the good stuff for the holidays etc. She had this one special gold fork (plated I assume) that was reserved just for me.

Yes one large box.

You must of been the first born boy to carry on the name. I was and my younger cousins used to call me, " The King". My grandmother used to cut my French toast AND bacon for me

m

goodmoney4badmoney · August 18, 2017 7:02PM

@Justacommeman said:

@goodmoney4badmoney said:
ALL of that fit in just one box?

Seeing the fancy silverware reminds of my grandma who used to bust out the good stuff for the holidays etc. She had this one special gold fork (plated I assume) that was reserved just for me.

Yes one large box.

You must of been the first born boy to carry on the name. I was and my younger cousins used to call me, " The King". My grandmother used to cut my French toast AND bacon for me

m

You're right, I was the first born boy. Her letting me use that fork made me feel quite royal as a little kid.

ChrisH821 · August 18, 2017 9:22PM

Looks like a nice '21 Peace in the mix.

hchcoin · August 18, 2017 9:29PM

Love the pocket watches. That's quite a collection of silver items.

TomB · August 18, 2017 10:07PM

The fountain pen and pencil set features a lever-filler fountain pen and I imagine that the pencil has an eraser underneath the top cap. They likely both have loops on their ends and these are known as ring tops. The fountain pen will unscrew and the nib (writing tip) will be on the side of the pen with the ring. These appear to be pre-depression and the inner ruler sac is likely degraded. However, it will still write as a dip pen. The nib is also most likely a fine flexible nib made of gold. What is the maker? Also, is it gold, gold filled or gold plated?

If you can't yet tell, fountain pens are one of my "things".

mkman123 · August 18, 2017 11:47PM

very cool....must have been so much fun to go through all of that stuff

Coulport · August 19, 2017 6:54AM

Bummer.
All I get on my iPad is question marks instead of pictures.

ricko · August 19, 2017 7:47AM

Wow... must have been a large SDB.... and that '21 Peace looks nice... been searching for one of those...I recommend shipping it back... TSA would have a field day with all that metal... Cheers, RickO

PRECIOUSMENTAL · August 19, 2017 9:48AM

I love the message written on the pencil box.

jmski52 · August 20, 2017 7:25AM

Cool stuff. Is that a teething ring, or a toddler's toy? I remember we had one like that.

Justacommeman · August 20, 2017 1:28PM

Just returned home to LA. Thanks for the comments. I became my mothers-in-laws handyman the past 24 hours. She had me hopping

@TomB Sheaffer's Nov 5 1918 patent pending. Gold filled.

@jmski52 good catch. Teething ring.

@PRECIOUSMENTAL- I agree!

@ricko and @goodmoney4badmoney. The candelabra breaks down into three pieces. It all fit in 14x14x14 Fed Ex box and I had to to pad half of it.

@hrhcoins I was able to get the men's pocket watch working somewhat. I'll have both professionally fixed .

@ChrisH821 and ricko. The 21 Peace Dollar is actually really pretty flashy. I always wanted one and this might as well be the "piece" plus it's keepsake. Has a little crud.

Thanks all for that comments. It was indeed fun. Talking my mother- in- law about each item and back story as we went through everything was indeed a blast. It made me connected. The silverware I knew about and it's high value. We will never use it so that might get sold. She still has a ton of art , sick dishes and Norwegian antiquities we have to go though another trip. She wants to do this while she is alive. I get it.

mark

ricko · August 20, 2017 2:06PM

I sure understand the keepsake concept.. have some stuff from my Dad and Mom....Really nice stuff, thanks for sharing... Cheers, RickO

Justacommeman · August 20, 2017 2:36PM

I finally went trough all the coins. I don't collect circulated coins but I can understand why people do. It was fun going through these. Most were O mint marks. These were my favorites as they had character:

1896-s, 1897-o, 1891-o and 1888-o

mark