This is way cool and pretty rare, I have found a few other posts about these things but the sterling types are rarely found.
A Masonic replica shekel coin given to members when they advance to different levels in the organization.
The more common ONE PENNY coins are used and more popular nowadays, but for the last few decades these shekel replicas were still produced and given out but usually they were made of different metals like copper, aluminum, nickel or brass.From research the silver versions appeared to be handed out mostly from the late 1800's to the 1930's and many of the ones I have seen posted from collections on some token sites and EBay usually show a lot of wear because these were carried around daily in members pockets for years after they were acquired.
I learned a ton about the meaning and history of these coins, all markings represent some kind of historical event going back thousands of years. Some have dates on them along with the lodge info...these dates are not when the coin was minted but the year the lodge was started. Sometimes there was a mark etched into the circle inside the letters that represented the member that received this cherished coin, mine was either not marked or wore off.
This was found 7" deep in some very rare black dirt in a park that goes back to the 20's in my neighborhood near an older fire station that was built later on in this park.I assume the fill dirt was brought in from somewhere else during construction and it was a real treat to hunt in this small area that was way different than the usual crazy red dirt mineralized crazy soil I usually have to deal with around here in Birmingham.
Loud, solid stable with perfect VDI and depth info on target type and depth using my F70 and standard coil and very different than the normal nutzy behavior most deeper targets show in my area of the country.
Because of the great condition and the depth I theorize this was probably lost sometime in the 20's-early 40's not long after this member received it. The lodge this came from was started in 1914 and they are still around and I tried to contact the current scribe for more info about this thing but no response and that is too bad because I would be more than happy to donate this back to them if they had a collection or museum.
I have already had offers from a few collectors to buy it because these are highly collectible and sought after by those that appreciate Masonic exumonia but it looks pretty good in my collection so I think I will just keep and cherish this cool find myself.
Odd, unusual, rare and 8.2 grams of silver...
What a great hobby!
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