How Old Is This Broach?

[Erik in NJ]

I think it's junk jewelery or maybe made for a child. It looks pretty ornate though, seems that it was painted in places, and there seems to be some gilt left on it. I was happy to find the "stone" by eye in the dirt, but it seems that the stone is made of plastic or some sort of resin. The backing that it was attached to is ferrous and most of it is still on the broach. Any idea if this is old or a relatively new repro from the 50's or so. It looks older than that to me, but the fake "stone" threw me off. Thanks for looking.

 

[RelicDigger1]

Hey bud, I don't think this is for a child. It's just a theory but it may be depression-era jewelry. If you're certain that's gilt rather than paint, you could try a product called aluminum jelly. Fantastic on gilted items. Caustic for paint.

If you have an Ace Hardware nearby, they carry it.

But then again it looks pretty decent with its "just dug" look.

My two pence..

Richard