Any one know a thing or two about old (ish) rosaries???

[mysticallstar]

hello

   It's been a while since I've been on this site, but I have a new purchase that I am a bit curious about... I picked up a somewhat old looking rosary while on vacation just because I liked it ( & because my other rosary broke, and I decided to buy a new one but I was having problems liking some of the new ones I've seen for sale...anyways I found this one while hunting for a birthday gift for my mom in an antique shop).  I know that rosaries are a bit tough to date, as the style doesn't change drastically like some other items do...but I still was wondering if anyone could help me with this.

I've taken pictures...http://www.flickr.com/photos/61439622@N02/

the rosary is about 17 and 3/8 of an inch (i accidentally cut off the one picture), the crucifix is about an inch and a half, the medal is about 1/2", and the beads are about 3/16"-4/16".

The medal has two different depictions.  On the front side it's The Sacred Heart of Jesus, and I can't really make out what was on the back as it is worn down a bit...There is writing above the figure, which I can piece together that it is NS DE Fatima (Our Lady of Fatima).

I'm not good at telling apart metals, etc. the chains to me are a bronze color, and the medal/crucifix looks like it was maybe some sort of silver or whatever (aluminum, tin, i really don't know), but it's really dingy at the moment...and i'm not sure how to clean it.

The back of the crucifix says ROME in the center, but near the bottom ITALY is stamped off to the side.  (which all the ones I've seen lately only say ITALY)

And then the beads are different than what I've seen recently...They aren't all completely smooth...there are some beads where in the middle you can feel where each half of the bead overlaps each other if that makes any sense

So that's all I can really tell you about it at the moment.  I've been trying to look it up myself online, but I'm not finding a whole lot of information that I would really call valuable.  So any help would be appreciated

thanks!!!

ash

[talesofthesevenseas]

Can you tell if the beads are glass or plastic? Try VERY gently tapping one against your front tooth. That should tell you pretty quick, but again do it really super gently. You can see lots of rosaries on Ebay. Search for antique rosary and you'll get a pretty good idea of pricing. It is more desireable to someone in a spiritual sense than it is desirable to a less spiritually inclined person. I see these selling more in the Religion and Spirituality section than in the antiques section.

Religious antiques can be really neat though if you are interested in collecting them. There are beautiful retablos, tiny relics from saints which usually a bit of cloth touched by the saint and encased in a locket, sometimes a little bit of hair. I've always found those fascinating.

[CuriousCollector]

It's a lovely rosary, but its metal and styling looks very similar to some my grandmother had, dating from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.  It would appear to have been made for the Spanish or Latin American market -- NS DE Fatima is "Nuestra Seņora de Fatima" (Our Lady of Fatima, as you say).  For the non-Catholic, this is the visitation of the virgin Mary commonly known as "The Immaculate Heart of Mary", which occurred at Fatima.  It's a very common Marian devotional meditation for prayer and rosary.

I agree that unless it is made of semi-precious or precious stones, it has little worth except to the faithful.  I sold four glow-in-the-dark rosaries (my grandmother's favorites, in her old age) on eBay for about ten dollars for the whole set.  I kept a primitive wood-and-string one because it felt good in my hands.  But I pray only on the one I got to choose at my First Communion, even though it is missing a bead.  These things are sentimental, and perhaps even a little superstitious!

EDITED TO ADD -- the Fatima visitation was less than 100 years ago, so it definitely can't be an antique, although it certainly appears vintage.