Antique Fraternal Medal~Abington, Old Colony Encampment~Odd Fellows?, Masonic? | ||
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Posted 13 years ago
Budek
(314 items)
This is a very cool old piece. I don't know anything about it. A friend who's a Mason looked at it and didn't have a clue. I believe it has the Odd Fellows joined links on the back side but I'm not sure if it's an Odd Fellows piece.
If anyone knows what this is and what it's date might be, I'd love to hear from you.
Best Regards,
T
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Hi Budek!
It's a Masonic token.
Symbols abound.
The shape itself might look like a tombstone but in fact it's a 'keystone'.
"A keystone is placed in the center of an arch which preserves the others in their places, and secures firmness and stability to the arch ("The Royal Arch"). It is the custom of Operative Masons to engrave their mark in the center of the keystone; a tradition still carried forward to this day. Mason's tokens are everywhere. You only need to see through different eyes to recognize them."
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ROOTS/2002-02/1014880140
On the reverse is the puzzle in the circle "KSHTWSST".
"York Rite Masons remember the order of the lettering by this cute little verse, "King Solomon Had Twelve Wives Some Say Twenty." It identified a Freemason who was a Knight Templar in the York Rite Degrees of Freemasonry."
ibid.
But on the net they suggest another reading: HTWSSTKS
Apparently, it stands for "Huram of Tyre, Widow's Son, Sent To King Solomon". Huram of Tyre is the only stonemason-architect mentioned by name in the Bible (I Kings 7: 13-14 and elsewhere), and was responsible for overseeing the construction of Solomon's Temple. As such, in Freemasonry he is held in high esteem.
http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=38309
The Crescent Lodge has its history here:
History of this Lodge here: http://freepages.books.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~blackwell/ma/Weymouth1923/wey2lodges.html
The token belonged to PRESCOTT LOTHROP who was Grand Master of the Lodge in 1870-1871.
And then there's the skull and cross bones. and IN HOC SIGNO VINCES.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_hoc_signo_vinces
.... our old mate "CHI" "RO" & IHC.
It's a nice piece of history.
Oh Vetraio! You amaze me. The Wizard of Oz! It seems there is no bottom to you knowing.
I'm thrilled about all of the links you sent, and the history of the piece once so mysterious to me becomes even dearer and more intriguing with it's history discovered,...............Thank You!!!
I love it.Thanks for sharing.Vetraio50 is spot on.
Thank You Garry, it's kind of you to write.
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a07.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Abiff
Thanks for the great posts, Roycroftbooksfromme1!
They'll be interesting reading.
i love that your Mason friend denied any knowledge ...