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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Norfolk => Topic started by: Shutterbug2809 on Thursday 14 July 22 20:20 BST (UK)
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I am hoping someone could help me identify the small "medal" seen in the photo .. my grand-aunt had it with her possessions and it was passed on to me after her son's death. The family was from the King's Lynn area (where my grandmother was born) and some of the family emigrated to Nova Scotia in the early 1920's. The family surname is Spooner. Thanks in advance
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second image of the small medal
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Hi.
With a hallmark you should be able to find out who made it which may help.
Jon
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Welcome to rootschat Shutterbug.
What an interesting piece. Sadly, I can’t identify it, but I agree with Jon that the hallmarks would at least tell you where it was made. Can you get a good close up of them? It looks like tarnished silver. Maybe a light clean might make the hallmarks stand out a bit more.
There are so many stamps and numbers that I hope they give some clues. There look to be either thistles or pineapples around the edge. (Must have some meaning)
I hope someone can help you solve the mystery.
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The hallmarks suggest Birmingham assay, 1902. Not particularly helpful.
I'm guessing this is a swimming or sailing club medal, from the S.C. at the end. What could the L be? Lowestoft?
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There are thistles on the diagonal, or saltire, points.
London Scottish Swimming Club perhaps? (Purely a guess!!)
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I will try and get a clearer photo of the hallmark .. the surname of the family is Spooner and my great-grandfather's name was Alfred Eugene Spooner and on the back of the medal the initials "A S" are stamped .. could be a coincidence
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"A S" is the maker's mark
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oh shoot .. I was hoping it was his initials … I’m new to the world of hallmarks and other clues .. haha .. thanks for the information
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Could the last C stand for Champion?
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Was there a family connection to Southern California, you mention emigrating to Nova Scotia, perhaps they moved on, and religious beliefs, was there a reason for emigrating?
For example LSSSC could stand for Lutheran Social Services Southern California just a wild guess but you may have more information to help piece things together.
Cheers
Guy
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Could it be something to do with the National Telephone Company that he appears to be working for in 1901 census.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Telephone_Company
Ian C
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Lutheran Social Services Southern California
Founded in 1944...a little too late for this medal!
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Is it something connected to Scotland...hence the thistle heads?
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Hallmark is Anchor, Lion and C which means made in Birmingham in 1902 Stirling Silver which lines up with the date engraved.
Makers mark is more difficult. Only one I can see on silvercollection.it that is similar is A Sydenham (B).
As to the item itself and what it is, it is a silver fob that is attached to a fob watch chain.
A similar one to yours as well as with similar hallmarks except makers mark can be seen here: https://www.gentlemanjacques.com/shop/antique-silver-gold-mens-accessories/silver-fob-1902-birmingham/
Whether the makers mark of yours is the same person as the one in the above link, I am unsure however both are Sydenham so it could be the same person and changed the maker mark design that year.
The number series on the back is more than likely an issuing number so could suggest a club of some sort.
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No help but an observation...
The example on the link posted by Drayke, rather than the Scottish Thistle it has the Irish Clover, not sure what difference if any it may mean in terms of who may have owned one.
Could there be other examples which may relate to some sort of competition involving Scotland, England, Ireland & Wales :-\
Annie
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there is no connection to California or Scotland in this family .. their last residence in England was at #4 Hampton Court, King's Lynn .. my grandmother, two of her siblings and their parents emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1916 .. the eldest daughter came over about five years later .. two other siblings died at a very young age (before 1900) and the eldest boy stayed in England and lived in Hitchin, Hertfordshire after his marriage during WWI .. I would love to know more about this family and where this medal came from. I am not aware if they belonged to any clubs or organizations
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Looking at the picture again, it appears that the part with thistles etc might possibly be a stock item, with the central disc with the initials attached to it. Is this a trick of the photo, or is it really like that?
The mention of Kings Lynn gives me an idea. How about something like Lynn Seamen's Sickness Savings Club, with the dates showing when he'd paid his subs for? With that on his watch chain, if he was taken ill he might be able to get treated straight away, without any enquiries as to whether he could afford it. Just a thought... (I've no idea if there was such a club, but there were friendly societies and others which covered their members' medical bills.)
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There are plenty of examples of these kind of medal fobs around and most if not all for that period are for awards of a club or sports event/championship, school alumni etc and many made by the same silversmith Albert Sydenham.
You are going to have to look at the area they lived in to try and determine which activities, schools or clubs were around and work from there. Best place would be newspapers etc to find out if there was a club with those letters.
Here are some more examples to show that they were generally awards for sports events/clubs etc.
https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/antique_silver_watch_fobmedal_1893/as600a535
https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/935228693/pocket-watch-fob-medal-large-openwork
Considering that shooting clubs were popular back then I would start there especially given the abbreviation would imply as such unless it was a school club. i.e. L.S.S.S(hooting).C(lub). That said, the acronym could literally be anything.
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thank you for the suggestions .. I will do a bit more research and see what I come up with. This is a mystery that I would love to solve .. I appreciate all the responses on this posting