This month an anonymous shopper approached our staff about a mysterious cast-iron object he bought at Kobey's from a garage seller. What do you think the object to the left was used for?

    According to our shopper, he bought the THING six months ago from Charlie of Charlie and Darlene's Collectibles in space I-46. They had acquired it at an estate auction. It was buried at the bottom of a box of old junk. The THING itself was completely covered with deep, ugly rust. It cried out to the buyer, "What am I?".
    The object has four stubby legs, two holes where a detachable handle would go and four rows of four circular indentations embossed with the numbers 1 through 16.
The buyer suspected he knew where it came from and what it was used for. He purchased it with a fistful of dollars, then commenced to do some research.

    He's offered us the following choices.
    The THING is:

    The answer is: #4. The THING is a cupel tray from the California Gold Fields.
    California gold miners needed to know how much of which precious metal was in their ore. This is where cupel trays come in. They were used to extract precious metals from ore.
    According to our shopper, the assayer would make up a tray of aged bone-ash, magnesium or cement cupels into which crushed ore along with a button of lead was added. Then the tray would be fired at a high temperature, leaving only the gold, silver or platinum behind.
    The smaller nuggets shown here, from our shopper's collection, are similar to those which would be left in the cupel tray. Nuggets could be melted down and made into coins such as the one shown here, a 10.4 grain gold coin from 1850. The 144 grain nugget shown is worth as much as $300.
    What is something like our cupel tray worth?
    Like many collectibles, value and worth is often in the eye of the beholder. Our shopper suggested that a historical find like this is worth more than its weight in gold. He is a modern day prospector and a collector of gold nuggets and gold rush ephemera. He searches for valuable metal objects with a metal detector instead of staking a claim.
    Did you know there are still people prospecting for gold in San Diego's eastern mountains? Miner's cabins are still in use on Banner Grade heading down from Julian to the desert. Claims are in still in effect. No trespassing!
    Our collector would like to thank Cindi Funk, Bart & Rich, former P. W. John and Joe Johanek for their research assistance.
    If you would like to search your private property for metallic objects or metal call Bill at (858) 292-5882.

Do you have a treasure finding story to share with us? Call (619) 523-2700 x318 or write: Kobey's Magazine, Attn: Editor, P. O. Box 81492, San Diego CA 92138 or email: liz@kobeys.com