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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;MysticDragon64, post: 1427667, member: 37750&quot;]In response to the Pawn stars and the VOC ships bell. We only just saw this show here. I think that their expert isn&#039;t much of an expert. Working for a maritime museum, we have many ships bells, and especially those of the VOC. What the expert said, that all the ships bells had the date 1602 on is incorrect. 1602 was the year the VOC was formed based on the 6 chambers in the Netherlands. It was custom for each chamber to order the making of their ships. When an order was put in, the Chambers colours and coat of Arms would of been on that ship. For example the ship Batavia, flew the flag and emblem of the Chamber of Amsterdam. It was also custom that the bell was cast at the time the ship was being completed. The bell would of had two important facts on it. 1st. the ships name, and secondly the year of its completion. Going back to the ship Batavia, the bell would of had 1628 on it and its name Batavia. This was also for the ship Zuytdorp of 1712. The first thing marine archaeologists look for when finding a wreck of one of these wonderful ships is the ships bell. It is also a known fact, that the VOC were meticulous when it came to registering all the cargo, crew etc for their ships. The bronze cannons is another example of the Coat of arms being put on them. The bronze cannon found on the Ship Batavia has the coat of arms of Rotterdam along with the year of casting. I do think the bell that was brought into Pawn Stars may be real but its not off a ship. The other thing with ships bells of that time, they did not hang, they were placed in frame which allowed the bell to rock back and forth, so the bell for a ship would not have a circle anchoring point. They would of had a T anchoring point. This bell could of been cast and was being sent to Castle Batavia which was the strong hold and fortress of the VOC citadel.&nbsp;&nbsp; That bell most definitely wasn&#039;t from the year the expert claimed of 1785. Another point, of all the artefacts I have seen on the VOC, I haven&#039;t seen any with stars on them like on that bell, which leads me to believe this bell was cast for someone in the VOC at Batavia.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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