The Unfiled Spoon at Marston Museum, 2009

An 1864 silver spoon with a Marston Museum tag was found in Case 42 in September 2009, but none of the acquisition records list it. Its tag number jumps directly from the previous artifact in the catalogue, like it was never officially entered. The curators pulled decades of logs and even checked donor contracts-no mention. Yet the spoon’s handle bore a green visitor sticker dated the morning staff opened the case, and no museum security footage showed anyone adding it. The last spoon in that log was catalogued on the same day, but by staff who now insist the record is incomplete.