Past Master 1877 - Silver - Solomon 231 Pittsburg PA

This Past Master Jewel was presented to Bro. P.M.  Henry K. E. Arnold of Solomon Lodge #231 on Feb 16th, 1877.

The engraving:

Apparently Solomon Lodge began in 1848 and until 1915 all of the lodge work was performed in German.

Some of the lettering doesn't make sense to me and possibly this explains the strange abbreviations.

This is a massive jewel, the largest I have.  It weighs 3.1 ounces of fine silver.

I think this is a standard catalouge form of the type the local jeweler adjusts to the buyer:

What is mean by that is that the #231 does not seem to be of the same workmanship quality as the engraving.


I'm also unsure exactly how this was worn as the loop (bale) at the top seems to be the wrong direction to hang on a cord.


Anyway, the lodge merged in 2005 and there is some history on their website.

All that I have been able to find out about Henry K.E. Arnold is that he was an insurance broker in Pittsburgh.

This jewel is 8" by 6" and weighs 90 grams.  It is fine silver.

relative amount I paid for this - low

As of 3/22/14 the silver scrap value works out to about $58

However, none of these are for sale.