Double MONTANA token & "V" Nickel hunt!

LovestheShiny!

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First time out in a week or so, headed out hoping to get the OK at one yard here in town. I think I tried about 4-5 homes, no one home, so headed a bit south of Hamilton and was pleased to get the go ahead at a large stone foundation country home, I would estimate built ca 1900.

The yard was huge, with some nice shade trees, and a well kept and mowed lawn area. The hunt started out slowly, and over the course of three hours of detecting, there were not that many targets, giving me the idea that the property may have been hunted in the past. I found some shotgun shell bases, early, along with a couple of older rifle cartridges, and finally a wheat cent, 1919. That gave me a bit of hope that there was still something there, and based on the age of the house, I altered my "acceptable" targets with the AT Pro to chase more mid tones than usual. Just south of the main sidewalk going up to the house, I got a typical IHP signal and was delighted to pull out a "QUEEN HOTEL BAR / R. A. ESTEY / POTOMAC, MONTANA" brass trade token, good for 2 1/2 Cents in Trade! Potomac is pretty much a ghost town with a few residents, and is located north and east of Missoula. I found a pic online, courtesy of the Montana Memory Project, which I have posted for educational purposes only, which shows the hotel and saloon.

About 10 minutes later, I got a 80-81 on the Pro, and pulled out an aluminum "HIGMAN BAKERY // GOOD FOR 5 LOAVES OF BREAD" trade token (this one is from Hamilton Montana ca 1905). I did get a couple more wheaties, a 1916 S and a 1934 D and that was it for pennies. There were very few modern coins, I dug one Copper Memorial and 4 Clad Quarters.

On the opposite side of the front sidewalk, I hit a 10' x 10' area that produced a nice 1905 V Nickel, and a short time later a 1897 V nickel. Near the sidewalk I pulled a pretty rough looking 1964-D Silver Rosie. That was about it for the yard, I did cover it carefully, and enjoyed some historic finds, thanks for your interest!
 

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Great photo layout. And congratz on the trade tokens. I'd rather find tokens over old coins any day of the week !
 
I'm yet to find my first token, if you don't count Chucky cheese ones... :lol:. I agree with Tom, awesome photos!

Josh
 
Wow LTS that 1905 V nickel looks to be in better shape than the 64 Rosie. Still shiny, congrats on a great hunt. Love the shot of the old saloon, brought to memory that movie about flyfishing and gambling in old Montana. Nice write up. Mark
 
Impressive!

Thank you John!

Wow LTS that 1905 V nickel looks to be in better shape than the 64 Rosie. Still shiny, congrats on a great hunt. Love the shot of the old saloon, brought to memory that movie about flyfishing and gambling in old Montana. Nice write up. Mark

Thank you Mark, glad you like the old pic! Yeah... I'll take silver in any condition! And you are right, that '05 V Nickel is one of the nicer ones I've found.
 
A Nice "Token" Kinda Hunt for you David..surprised you didn't find your normal triple SLQs :lol:

Too bad that 1900s era property didn't bring up more treasures of the shiny variety.

Great job as always.
 
Awesome finds, congrats on the assortment of goodies!

Thanks cellr!

A Nice "Token" Kinda Hunt for you David..surprised you didn't find your normal triple SLQs :lol:

Too bad that 1900s era property didn't bring up more treasures of the shiny variety.

Great job as always.

Thanks Paul! I was hoping for some good shiny stuff, but based on only three wheaties and a few clad quarters, the high tones had already been sniffed out. At least I did pull some tokens, those are always welcome!

Awesome finds Shiny!

Thank you Coinboy!

Cool finds David. Tokens are awesome. I like them better than another general silver coin any day.
Look forward to detecting with you soon.

Thanks Josh! I will be gone a fair amount in later June but definitely want to get together to detect as soon as I can!
 
Richard Allison Estey was born in Canada. I found him in various sources in the Missoula area from 1900 on. I found him as a boarding house keeper in 1910, probably the Queen and in various gold and quartz mining endeavors before and after that. But, his stint at the Queen Hotel must have been about when the token was produced.
 
Richard Allison Estey was born in Canada. I found him in various sources in the Missoula area from 1900 on. I found him as a boarding house keeper in 1910, probably the Queen and in various gold and quartz mining endeavors before and after that. But, his stint at the Queen Hotel must have been about when the token was produced.

Very neat and useful information, thank you KeyaPaha! That time frame sounds like a good fit for operating the Queen Hotel and Bar.
 
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