American Coin, what is it?

[Francais]

This is going to be too easy for some, so the rules are: If you know what it is, don't answer just post a few letters or some very cryptic signal that we can tell you know.
I have a funny story to go with it when everyone who wants to has guessed.
I should also add there is a hole in each of the heads, not showing but about the size of a #2 pencil lead.

Maurice

[silverly]

Indian trade silver!

[dragonflywink]

~Cheryl

[dognose]

Hi Maurice,

I haven't a clue what it is. How large is it?

Trev.

[Francais]

It's locked up at the bank, but probably 3-4 inches high. I will give the other side of the water a few more hours, then put everyone out of their misery.
Maurice

[JLDoggett]

P.M.J.O.o.F.M.

[Francais]

I didn’t think I was going to get it past our American experts, but how many knew what it was 40 years ago, the internet has taken us out of our insular shells.
So I bought it a long time ago, I just knew it was Indian Trade silver. But I wanted confirmation. I would wear it around shows. I asked tons of dealers. The funniest, and surprisingly common, guess was salt and pepper shakers even though each head has just one hole. I am sure J.L. will confirm that they are vent holes, and if they weren’t there the two halves of the head couldn’t be soldered together. No one knew what it was. Finally I found some other examples of the same silversmith’s work. A pair of crossed feather pens, and another with an hour glass. Then of course the meaning of the 3 rings dawned on my thick skull It is an Odd Fellows officers pendant.
I didn’t think it would get past Cheryl or J.L. and it didn’t, so you see why they had to be restrained.
This is a good example of how a relatively intelligent dealer, can delude himself into the most preposterous conclusion, I am speaking of the salt and pepper dealer not me or silverly, we just guessed wrong.
Maurice

[Aguest]

If you look at Georg Jensen salt cellars from 1910-1920, you will see that they have one hole pierced in the top. I still can't figure out how this is an effective salt cellar design. Maybe they unscrew and then you use a salt master spoon to scoop out the salt, but why the one hole in the top? The pepper shakers have multiple holes, so that makes more sense to me.

On the subject of preposterous dealer stories, I bought a sterling Webster perfume bottle and funnel that was sitting in a small silver box. The dealer was telling me that the snuff box was actually the original box for the perfume bottle and funnel, only the box doesn't close! The story was so crazy, I had to buy it all. When I researched the box, it was actually a snuff box from Birmingham England. The Webster perfume bottle and funnel obviously didn't belong there, but the dealer seemed absolutely convinced that it was a set. Go figure.

[JLDoggett]

Aguest, it is a Master's jewel for the Ancient order of Odd Fellows.

[agphile]

With reference to Aguest's comment about a single hole for salt, this is not just a Jensen peculiarity but absolutely normal for those of us who grew up in the UK and I guess also in some other parts of Europe. In my youth good form required you to put your salt on the side of your plate whether spooning it from a salt cellar or pouring it from a more more new-fangled salt pot. It was then no problem to add salt to taste to each forkful. If you were not too bothered about etiquette, or if nobody was looking, it was also no problem to scatter salt over your food via the single hole.

This particular version of good manners is clearly not universal and I think is increasingly less observed in the UK. However, in general we Brits know automatically that a single hole is for salt and multiple smaller holes are for pepper. We get confused when faced with two containers, both with multiple holes, and we have to look for some other clue to indicate the contents.

[Aguest]

RIght, i was just reading Francais' story about the dealer's story about the salt shaker with one hole and it reminded me of the Jensen Salt Cellars.