Silver Dimes, Buffaloes, and a Neat Token

[Tony Two-Cent]

I had a brief window of opportunity to go metal detecting today in between Thanksgiving festivities. We're headed to my parents tomorrow. I went back to "Silver Park" but the finds are definitely becoming more scarce there.

The digging was very difficult today as the top 1" of soil is frozen solid. I hunted for 4 hours but I intentionally ignored the wheat cent signals because it took so long to recover each target. I concentrated on high-pitched tones and nickel signals.

Today I ended up with the following coins:

3 Wheat Cents 1944, 1944, 1946
1 Memorial Cent
3 Buffalo Nickels 1919, 1921, 1930
2 Jefferson Nickels 1940, 1941
1 Mercury Dime 1943
1 Roosevelt Dime 1948

That makes a total of 48 silvers from this park so far.

Here are today's finds:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Finds-1129_zps72bbc8de.jpg


Keepers:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Keepers-1129_zps345cf688.jpg


The old nickels were popping for me today for some reason:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Buffs-Obv-1129_zps8e424051.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Buffs-Rev-1129_zps586f3220.jpg


This old token is from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. It is about the size of a half dollar. It was fairly deep, about 11 inches. Hopefully the front will clean up better.
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Token-Obv_zps40f626d2.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Token-Rev_zps976679e4.jpg


I found this aluminum item, it rang up like a nickel and was about 6 inches deep. It was folded twice. Typically I would have put it in my junk pocket and discarded it later, but on a whim I unfolded it and I could see that it had writing on it so I decided to take it home and clean it up just for the heck of it. I had no idea what it might be, but when I Googled "Patsy Stoker" I learned that it is an old coal company "scatter tag". The coal companies used to throw these tags in with the coal when they would deliver it to your home. It served as a form of advertising, and let you know where your coal came from. I guess people actually collect these scatter tags. I had never heard of such a thing, so I actually learned something today!
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/Patsy-Stoker_zps3c68ac95.jpg



Thanks for looking and happy hunting! :beerbuddy:

[sfox54]

nice hunt! they should rename that park to silver park! like the tokens as well and the story of patsy stoker. what does the other token say on the wings left side says time but i couldn't make out the right

[Tony Two-Cent]

what does the other token say on the wings left side says time but i couldn't make out the right

On the wings it says "time tells".

Interesting spelling of "gasoline" also.

[Timewarpdigger]

I like the different types of finds you had, it keeps the hunt interesting. I was able to get out today myself the ground here is still soft after all that rain. Congrats!!

[Full Metal Digger]

Nice finds Tony, I have found those coal tags before and wondered about them. I'm going to dig mine out and see what brand they are. Something I noticed on your buffs is those straight-line corrosions. I've noticed them on some of my buffalo nickels also. Never on V or Jeffersons though. Straight lines only occur in nature as part of a crystalline process so I wonder how these lines form on the nickels? Best wishes and HH, Dave.

[coinnut]

Nice bunch of Buffalos Nickels. All of them have dates and it's not often you see a '21 or a '30. Nice couple of tokens too. Even though you try and cherry pick the high tones, it's so hard to not dig some memorials and wheats. It's funny, sometimes the wheats read so high I am sure they are silver, and some Mercs read so low I think I am digging a wheat:lol: Better safe than sorry.

[sfox54]

tony and daddy digger...my one and only buffalo has the same lines, i thought it was a like a file mark or something but its just like in the pics and the same area and angle

[Digger Don]

WOW Tony,
You make it look so easy.
That 1933 token is really cool. I like finding tokens and looking up their history.
The buffalos are nice also

[wisconsin digger]

Great hunt and those Buffaloes look really nice. Wisconsin Digger

[giant056]

Great score on the buffs and silvers there a silver park Tony :thumbsup01:

:congrats:

[jbolf6]

I especially like the gas token. Nice finds Tony!

[Tony Two-Cent]

My theory about the "lines" in the old nickels:

I have always thought that it was caused by defects in the planchets. Nickels are composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel, and I wonder if the striations are caused by the two metals not being blended thoroughly and reacting differently to exposure to the elements. Just my theory.

Pure nickel is like silver, it does not tarnish in the ground. Nickels turn brown due to their high copper content. I have seen the "lines" in V Nickels as well, as noted in the bottom two examples below.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb174/dubbl-t/Metal%20Detecting/V-Nickels-0421_zps092b348c.jpg

[KennyD]

Fantastic finds Tony! Way to go!:congrats:

[zrickkid]

I saw a cool old park in sort of central Illinois when we visited a relative of my wife. It was in Hayworth. Have you ever been there? We plan to visit her next spring. Maybe we can meet up. It would be nice to meet you. :)
Ricky (zrickkid)

[OxShoeDrew]

Tony, your scatter tag reminded me of playing in our coal box as a kid. Dirty, but fun :cheesysmile:
Hopefully you have a mild winter and can continue to break through the frost. Nice job, take care, Drew

[JdsCoins]

Awesome Tony!

I really like that 1921 buffalo. If it wasn't a dug coin it would be worth a good bit in that condition. I like how when cleaned up the horn is cut out. Really cool! I hope you put that one in a case so it preserves it like that. :grin:

[Fire Fighter 43]

Congrats on a nice hunt Tony, WTG

[del]

very nice "herd" your starting there Tony :envious: they are in good shape . I would agree with your theory about the coin's striations as imperfections in the metal's composition or mixture. congrats

[Tony Two-Cent]

I saw a cool old park in sort of central Illinois when we visited a relative of my wife. It was in Hayworth. Have you ever been there? We plan to visit her next spring. Maybe we can meet up. It would be nice to meet you. :)
Ricky (zrickkid)


I have actually never been to Heyworth even though it is only about 45 minutes away from me. I am always up for trying new spots and I would be happy to meet you there in the spring, Ricky. Shoot me a PM when you're going to be in the area!

[tanacat]

Great hunting Tony! Congrats on all that silver there over time!
I've found those coal tags in old basement before, nice to have more info on them.

[aloldstuff]

Thanks for the info on the scatter tags. Nice herd of buffs and of course :congrats: on the silvers.

[Skamaniac]

Interesting spelling of "gasoline" also.


I noticed that too. Looks like the old way of spelling it in the US, and a few English speaking countries still spell it that way. Who knew?

[skribnodsister]

Nice hunt Tony! It's always nice to find that Silver! I've found about three of those tokens up here in Wisconsin... below the 1933 it says A Century of Progress, Chicago. Congrats on all your finds!:groovy: