Over Eighty Years in a Bank Vault - The World's Smallest Engravings Are Once Again Revealed to the Public

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) November 11, 2008

It took master engraver Godfrey Lundberg three years (1913-1915) to painstakingly inscribe the twelve lines, 65 words and 254 letters of the Lord's Prayer on the head of a smaller than usual gold pin. To this day, this rare antique hand engraving accomplishment has yet to be surpassed.

Carefully preserved and locked away for decades this rarity has been passed down within the Lundberg Family from generation to generation. A new website has recently been launched to tell the remarkable story of these rare antique collectible engravings. Visit http://www.antique-engravings.com/

The extraordinary miniature engravings collection actually includes two separate items; the Lord's Prayer cut into the head of a gold pin and a two-letter monogram of the abbreviation of the United States "U.S." engraved into the point of a fine gold sewing needle.

After their debut at the San Francisco World's Fair in 1915, the rare engravings went on a national tour accompanied by two of Godfrey's brothers, Carl and Mauritz Lundberg. Over the course of two years and 43 states the traveling exhibit visited clothing stores, expositions, town halls and newspaper offices where curious observers paid 25 cents to view the engravings through mounted microscopes for magnification. The engravings were reported to have been "verified by engravers from coast to coast."

As testimony to the unusual nature of the "smallest piece of engraving in the world" the leading authority on the odd and bizarre, Ripley's Believe It or Not, featured the pin in its popular publications.

According to a February 21, 1915 article in the "Spokesman-Review" Newspaper Lundberg spent three years engraving the Lord's Prayer on the head of a smaller than ordinary pin. The hand engraving artwork was so tedious that he had to forgo coffee and alcohol and undergo a training regime worthy of a professional athlete to tone his body and muscles. Lundberg found that the only time he could work was in the early hours of the morning in his shop at 394 Sprague Avenue in Spokane, WA. The least jar from traffic on the pavement outside could ruin his work. As it was he could not make more than two or three strokes during a night's work.

His dedication and skill to create this rare miniature engraving was was ultimately rewarded with a gold medal at the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.

For more information on these rare antique collectible engravings please contact Tim Warren at 707-824-2904 or visit http://www.antique-engravings.com/.

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