A useful tool with an interesting provenance. Sometime prior to June of 2008 this item was listed on eBay. One night Tinsmith Jim Kimpell of High Horse Trading woke in the middle of the night with the thought to search eBay using the term Finial Mold and this item had been listed. He was worried that this item would be sold to some collector and would never be used to cast pewter again. He did not have the funds to outbid the other bidders so he called and woke up Bill McMillen to ask for money for an object that he would not disclose but only assured it was worth it. With the funds guaranteed the sale was completed and a partnership was created to share the ownership of the tool. At the tinsmiths Convergence held that year at Fort Atkinson, Nebraska, they began producing finials to be used by those making replica coffee pots, tea pots, sugar bowls, and similar items that would have a finial. At the time Jim Kimpell died McMillen had the tool. Bill McMillen died not long after and the tool was auctioned by Bonham Skinner Auction House in the summer of 2023. Again, the fate was in jeopardy as to whether it would be used to make reproductions again. Fortunately, our museum was able to acquire it and keep it in the community.