Treasures Great And Small

In The Dark

I figure most folks probably started out like me, wanting to know what was out there, course I was looking for coins, the older the better! Those early days found me going to the local parks and beaches where everyone before me had been a thousand times. These spots were pounded over the years by many folks and the real treasures eluded me, the goodies were few and far between. Course there was the clad and the occasional jewelry item such as a ring someone lost. But every once in a while an older coin or a token would come to light, these finds just fueled the fire to find more! Eventually I found that hunting demo sites in older locations of my home town worked best for me when it came to producing older coins and tokens. I also discovered that there were many times a large amount of brass and lead bits and pieces in the ground. Some turned out to be odds and ends that were more valuable than the coins I was after.

Pondering The Treasure Question

Back in my earlier days of being on an internet forum, I would openly share what was working for me. I figured it’s a big world and I’ll never cover it all anyway, so telling folks to set their machines to dig junk (positive signals) in places such as sidewalk replacement projects or demo sites (such as where older homes once sat), should work for them and they will also find some nice older stuff. Many times those posting, wanting help had cheaper machines. I started out with a real cheap unit and found hundreds of coins from before 1900, the number of other finds that held value was most likely at least that many or even more. It was during these early years of metal detecting that I had to take and rethink what treasure really was. Treasure was more than money, coins, tokens, silver or gold jewelry. Treasure even was what many at one time would over look and toss into the scrap bucket and never give a second thought to. These junk items were treasures to the people who lost them many years before we came along and found them.

Thanks for sharing, we newbies really appreciate it!

I'll be doing up some picutes of some of the finds that turned out to be small treasures that once belonged to people who lost them many years ago. If one checks the daily posted finds by members of this site, they will see that finds are being made everyday that were once cherished items from long ago. Generally more attention is placed on coins and items of silver and gold, but in the old days many everyday people could not afford the fancier stuff, they had to make do with things that costed less. They didn't complain though cause the one that gave it to them did so from the heart.

I'll be watching this thread.
I really enjoy finding old knick-knacks, valuable or not ($$). I just enjoy thinking about the history the find.

I'm imagining hunting an section of an old major highway, in the woods, and finding an old dump sight on the side of the road or something.

Neat old trash

Man, I hope I get lucky

The Wisconsin Badger​

I was hunting a spot near a school where they had shaved down a large area of top soil, least I seen the area, but when I returned with my metal detector most of the area was filled with gravel. The only exposed area was on the outer edges of the circular work site. Later they had put in new play ground equipment thus sealing off any chance for those older finds. Now the school wasn’t all that old and this section of town once had old businesses, homes and saloons. Several interesting finds were made checking it out, one was an odd signal that turned out to be a rusted metal box that had small glass vials and a token for an old saloon inside. The token was the most valuable find from the area, the glass vials I figured held either poison or some old pain killer like morphine, I threw those away. I did find an Indian Head cent but it was among some burnt material and a portion of the coin was melted away, I never could read the date on that one, I remember thinking I bet it was an 1877, just my luck!
One item found remained a mystery to this day, it was a badger. The badger was the state animal, and I often wondered for what purpose it was given out. There appeared to have been a place where a pin was once on the back and a slot where a ribbon once hung from it. It might have been given out because some kid won the spelling bee, or a club organization, or even a political event. I guess the real story behind the find will never be known for certain. The find went into the box that held the better looking junk and ever once in awhile I go thru that box and each time I see the badger, I remember the day and events of its being found.

Here is the old saloon token that was found inside the old metal box. It was difficult to trace even with the name of the owner and city on it. Looking thru city directories from the 1870's, I discovered the owner's name was misspelled on the token. As far as was known at the time the token was a one of a kind according to the token collectors.

Early Good Stuff​

As long as I remembered that a picture existed of the old saloon token I found in the old metal box (previous post), it brought to mind another token that I had found in those early days of my metal detecting. I was using that old Radio Shack machine at a house demo site and received a signal that wasn’t all that promising if one was only hunting coins. But having discovered that many of the lower reading pieces of brass were good finds, I choose to dig the target. What I had found was an octagon token good for a drink, it was from the Governor Guard Association. It took some time to find info on it, later I learned that they were an organization of Civil War Veterans who after the war formed a club to promote good deeds in their community. I took it to the local coin dealer to learn more about it. He had seen their tokens before, but he had never heard of an octagon one before. He basically said he wouldn’t have believed it existed if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. Just a word to those who find tokens, research what you have before ever thinking of parting with it. I was given an offer for mine but did not sell at that time, if someone makes an offer for yours, you can bet it is worth much more, hang on to it! I even had the experience of being out metal detecting and a car pulls over, this is most times not a good sign. But the guy who got out introduced himself and asked if I find any tokens, gave me his card and left. Token collectors are in a scramble to be the first to get a chance to buy a hard to find token.