| Author |
 Replies: 24 / Views: 4,324 |
Page 2 of 2
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 Canada
2781 Posts |
is it possible the center letter is xi instead of zeta?
making it phi xi sigma (or phi zeta sigma), neither one is getting any google results except for one reference to a modern veterinary frat .
the first G is what is really out of place, also not sure about the third letter (dotted) "j"
|
|
Valued Member
United States
172 Posts |
What a fascinating puzzle. It's not a souvenir. It's definitely something more interesting. Although it could be anything, it looks fraternity related to me. At least three fraternities commonly use skulls in their shields: Phi Kappa Sigma, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Zeta Beta Tau. Another fraternity, Sigma Chi, commonly uses 7 stars in its shield. There's a record of a Confederate soldier, who was a Sigma Chi, fashioning a badge out of a Seated Liberty half dollar, so making fraternity symbols out of coins is not unheard of. The inscription is really strange, mixing Latin and Greek, suggesting intentional obfuscation. The middle character could be a lower case zeta or xi or something else entirely. If I had to guess, I'd go with xi. To make things more complicated, I wouldn't be surprised if the Greek letters in the inscription did not match the name of the fraternity. Fraternities have chapters that have Greek letter names. Presumably, fraternity members would recognize the symbols of their fraternity and only need to identify the name of a chapter. Whatever it is, I bet it would be worth more if the puzzle was solved. Thanks for sharing. |
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
Quote:
I bet it would be worth more if the puzzle was solved to me the worth is in solving the puzzle  I've seen 'trench art' coins and other 'folk-art' type creations but I dont think this is a 'one of a kind'. it's been struck (and struck HARD!) not carved, which lends me to believe that if someone went to the trouble to create a die/punch that more than one would have been created. if more than one was struck then there are more out there and someone knows something! the DYER IND'PLS has to be a solid piece of the puzzle to. cool factor would be civil war or some sort of secret society membership token, but with the greek/latin gibberish I wonder if it could also be a (pre mechanical penny press) carnival "stamp your own pirate coin" souvenir. |
|
Valued Member
United States
156 Posts |
From a Google search:
The C. B. Dyer & Ratliff Co., Inc. Has been in the business of supplying customer's needs for over a centennial. We are in business for Your business. The company was founded in 1890 by Charles B. Dyer. The original name was the Charles B. Dyer Co. Over the years the company has changed with the times and needs of our customers. Originally what started as a retail jewelry store has now become a manufacturer of emblematic and custom jewelry. We specialize in manufacturing emblems, custom pieces and recognition items.
This is the likely source of this recognition item. Contact with the company would quickly ascertain it's purpose/identity.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
thanks judd1552 ,
email and pictures sent, fingers crossed,
i was just going to start down the jeweler connection (someone from another forum suggested it) but looks like you beat me to it!
stay tuned for news as it happens!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
899 Posts |
Nice pickup Wade...What an excellent piece to research..  I can't add any more than then what has already been suggested and I will be following your post to see what this turns out to be...Thanks for sharing.. |
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
here is the reply I got from DYER & RATLIFF: Quote:
Wade , My name is Rick Ratliff and worked for the company for 32 years
. The company closed in 09 due to economic struggles . The looks
familiar but we did alot of those types and it appears to be some type
of Fraternity coat of arms . The company was founded in 1890 and the
bulk of their business for a long time was Fraternity and Sorority
jewelry . Sorry I cant be of more help . Rick i still feel a need to determine which frat/society it belonged to. it's obvious it's not one of the BIG coast to coasters, might be hard to find, but the journey is half the fun! |
|
Valued Member
United States
386 Posts |
It could be from a frat/sorority that died.
Perhaps you can find a website for fraternity/sorority members (there are a few) and try posting it there.
Edited by sjh241
08/20/2012 9:10 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
its been posted (by someone else) on a secret society site (more like conspiracy theory site, but hey, there's people there who know something about the symbols etc) as well as on another coin forum.
and I also just recently put it up on a large 'greek life' site (huge forum specific to fraternities etc), getting some good discussion on translating the shield text
yes it probaly is a defuncto group - I've tried countless searches and scanned hundreds, if not a thousand, frat/society logos - and getting nothing similiar.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
386 Posts |
Would you be able to post the links for those two sites so some of us could follow the discussion?
I am really interested to see what is being discussed. After living quite a few years in Greece, and also being from a college fraternity, I find the story of your token very interesting.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
386 Posts |
I find the first forums poster as interesting because of the source that he has (the book), but I would really like to know how he translates the word on the token.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
172 Posts |
The shield description of the Indiana-based Beta Phi Sigma high school fraternity from that contemporary (1912) reference is a near-perfect match. It says "its coat of arms which alone may be used on jewelry or stationery, consists of a Shield crossed by a band having the Fraternity name written in Greek, in the upper portion of the shield, four stars, and in the lower three. The whole is surmounted by a skull, profile view." Together with the direct connection to Indiana and the correct time period, it's a solved mystery. I agree that it's really difficult to see "BetaPhiSigma" translated to Greek in the inscription but, given the other evidence, it's close enough. It should be something like BήταΦιΣίγμα. Keeping in mind that most folks in the US are Greek-illiterate, ant that the jewelry company may have been working from notes written by a high school student, it's not surprising that the μ in Sigma looks like an η (wrong side of letter extended below baseline) or that the ι in phi is accented and the ι in Sigma is not (should be reversed). You've got to squint to see a beta though. The G could be closed to form a sloppy B. The last letter in beta is a pretty clear alpha. The mark before the alpha looks like an uncrossed tau (uncrossed t's are very common in English). Closing the top of the three remaining marks would form the ή. That's very sloppy but consistent with the errors seen elsewhere in the name.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
The book that was quoted was published in 1912, it is possible this piece is from a fraternity chapter that was added after that date.
The text may be a motto, code, or membership rank etc and not necessarily the fraternity's official original name.
i am going with CASED CLOSED on this one.
Edited by Wade
08/21/2012 8:39 pm
|
|
Valued Member
United States
386 Posts |
This was an interesting token. Good luck with it.
|
|
Page 2 of 2
|
Replies: 24 / Views: 4,324 |
Page 2 of 2
|
First Page
Posted 08/19/2012 01:02 am
