Hi and help with identification

[eddie1970]

Hi all,
I am a detectorist and found these teeth while detecting. I would appreciate any help with identification and age if possible.

 

[MattKW]

Very interesting. Never seen such a thing in my life, but appears to be a kind of partial denture with a gold alloy base. I don't know what material the teeth are made of, or what the number indicates. Maybe someone at a Dental School or even a museum would have a better idea. Where did you find it?

 

[eddie1970]

Hi bud,
It was found on an old mansion grounds so the owner would have been very wealthy.
The metal is definately gold, I would say 22 caret minimum.
The teeth look to be ivory as it is not as smooth as porcelain would be, your nail grips to it a bit.

Cheers Eddie

 

[MattKW]

More likely 18 or 20K to have enough strength, but still a good chunk of gold. Ivory a reasonable guess altho I would expect it to be more stained; could be a feldspathic porcelain. Have you weighed it? Must be minimum 30-40gm. Please let me know if you find out any expert opinion about it.

 

[eddie1970]

It weight 9 grms, 4 grams teeth and 5 gold. Would be a hefty weight in your mouth at 40grms .
I shall let you know

Cheers

 

[MattKW]

Well, I had a patient once who had a bridge weighing 30gm of 20K gold- he loved to show off gold. Looked damn ugly to me but he was happy, and paid cash even though he looked unemployed. Wore gold bling everywhere. Maybe he was a drug dealer...?