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Old Slot Machine Token Saves the Hunt

AirmetTango

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Joined
Apr 14, 2017
Messages
3,109
Location
NW Ohio
Today I paid another visit to a park that I've been spending a good amount of time on lately. The park is quite trashy, so there's a little bit of self-torture involved with continuing to go back so often - for the past several visits, the finds-to-trash ratio really hasn't been very good. But just enough nice old finds trickle in to keep me intrigued - plus the site is close to home, which is important while my kids are out of school and my free time is limited!

By an hour and a half into today's hunt, odds were starting to look pretty bleak for finding any keepers this time around. The best things I had in my pouch at that point were a couple pieces of crushed copper piping and a weird "U" shaped do-dad :roll: At two hours in, the only difference was that the pouch was laden with even more trash, and I was ready to accept the skunking and pack up for the day.

Hunting my way back to the car, I got over a bouncy signal (mostly between 68-74, though occasional 40s jumped in) - it really didn't sound any different than some of the other trash I had already dug, and the depth indicated only 4" which reinforced my suspicions of can slaw/junk. But it was still one of the better signals of the day, so I had to dig it even though my day's luck had me jaded to fully expect another folded up bit of a Mello Yello can. I dug the plug a little deep, and wedged right at the bottom about 5" down was the rim of a coin. Plucking it out of the plug, I immediately saw the center hole, and some lettering through the caked dirt - a token!! Tokens are my favorite find, so suddenly my beat down hunt was a resounding success! :yes:

Clean up at home revealed what other sites ID as an old slot machine token, likely used in the 1920s or 30s. It's exactly the same size as a US quarter, and the number on the back possibly identifies the owner or location of use. Lots of similar tokens all over the internet, just with varying numbers on the back.

The Slaymaker lock key came shortly after the token, adding one more keeper to the hunt. I once had an old Slaymaker combination lock that my Dad had given me back in the 80s after he found it in a box full of his old things. After several moves, I eventually lost that lock. Seeing the "Slaymaker" name pop up on that key brought back the memory immediately!

Pics below show the full hunt, plus before and after cleaning shots of the token and key:
 

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cool,the only reason I commented is because I know how frusterating it is to have 70+ views with no replies.lol
 
cool,the only reason I commented is because I know how frusterating it is to have 70+ views with no replies.lol

Sometimes the reason for this is Guest view the forum also and can't make comments but still show up in the views..
then there is the "If it ain't an old silver coin" crowd lol

either way I love AMT's finds.. they are always pretty darn cool :cool:
 
I think your "U-shaped Do-dad" was the find of the day.....
 

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cool,the only reason I commented is because I know how frusterating it is to have 70+ views with no replies.lol

Thanks, Usa - I appreciate the sympathy! :lol: I knew this one wouldn't draw too many comments - most folks wouldn't consider the finds very splashy or particularly interesting...no silver or bling :shrug: ;)

Sometimes the reason for this is Guest view the forum also and can't make comments but still show up in the views..
then there is the "If it ain't an old silver coin" crowd lol

either way I love AMT's finds.. they are always pretty darn cool :cool:

Thanks, SOMd! I'm glad to hear you enjoy seeing the finds! I enjoy writing about my hunts, super productive or not - it serves as a little bit of a diary of my hunts to help me remember what I was doing, but hopefully it also helps other newer folks like me learn a little more about the hobby by reading some of my experiences/thought processes, good or bad. Plus, I never know what I might learn from other folks' comments - like a piece that I almost didn't separate out from the trash that turns out to be a heel plate! :cool:

Very true on the guest visits and "ain't no silver" crowd - but rare is the thread that gets more than a fraction of the replies compared to views anyway. I certainly don't sweat it either way :grin:

Love that token and key! I’ve yet to find a token other than no cash value modern ones :lol: would love an old token! Congrats!

Thanks GS! Tokens are definitely my favorite finds, but they are hard to come by, at least in my area - I got two old ones last year, but I'm on a faster pace this year with 2 more already :yes: Sometimes the modern "no cash value" ones can be pretty cool too, though; I found a couple modern ones last year that turned out to have interesting histories! Of my 4 older trade tokens, only one rang high - the rest registered in the mid 60s to low 70s which is well under zinc penny range on my machine.

Keys are pretty high on my favorite list too...amazing the variety of keys that are out there. I rarely come across two that have the same design. And I guess that's what I like - unlike coins whose designs are limited, tokens and keys can pretty much be one-of-a-kind :cool:

I like the token, and the partial heel plate is a cool find too!
Thanks zeemang - and I almost didn't separate that heel plate out from the trash! Huge "props" to teotwawki12 for spotting and IDing that one!!

Love the pictures.

Keep posting the finds!

Thanks, DR! Glad you like them!

Great finds! Tokens are the best! It cleaned up real nice too.

Thanks Tundra! All it needed was a wooden toothpick, a very light brushing with superfine (0000) steel wool, and sealed with Renaissance wax polish - I used to use a soft toothbrush with water and Dawn dishsoap, but I like the results of this "new to me" method much better. Takes a bit more time, but worth it IMO :yes:
 
I think your "U-shaped Do-dad" was the find of the day.....

Wow! I'm absolutely amazed that you made the ID on the heel plate, and found a match!! It seems like the partial one I found is identical to the one in the top right of the image you posted. There's so much to learn with this hobby - I had no idea something like a heel plate even existed. In fact, I just had to pull this one back out of my brass scrap bucket where I tossed it as soon as I was done taking the picture. Can you provide a web address for the website you found the image on? I'd love to learn a little bit more about the find, if possible. The image implies that it might be a Civil War item - is that possible??

I honestly almost didn't separate that "do-dad" out from the trash pile for the picture - but I'm sure glad that I did! Heck, if I didn't find the token, I wouldn't even have made the post. Thanks so much for taking the time to point out the plate, teotwawki...I would have completely missed it as an interesting find. It sure makes me wonder what else I may have thrown into the scrap bucket...or in the trash...over the last year as a noob detectorist! :shock:
 
I just googled "civil war heel plate" and grabbed a photo... Don't recall the website.
Funny how that works. I found my heel plate on either my first or second hunt ever (either in an old city park or my dad's 1860's house); can't remember where because I didn't know what it was until I saw a youtube video of somebody else finding one.. I had it in my tub of unknown brass do-dads (which is now multiple tubs of unknown do-dads..) Nowadays I look through that stuff and sometimes find things that I can now identify (or sometimes I pull one out and post it here and the huge knowledge database generally comes through with a good ID).
From what I gather, these heel plates were commonly worn by both civilians and soldiers during the Civil War era... I read stories about mine, with the heart shape, about prostitutes wearing them to leave a trail back to their place of business, but that seems kinda urban legend-y to me.....but who knows??
 

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Love finding tokens !! Congrats on your patience and steadfastness. That looks like it was some tough hunting. Good job.
 
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