One Dollar Trade Token and IHP

TNTGross · Sep 10, 2020

Got done with work and headed into the woods next to the property I was working on... I have hunted this propery pretty hard and wasn't expecting to find much.

Put the trusty Nox in park 2 and started swinging. On the first path I cut across the property, I found two zink pennies. This kinda surprised me as no one goes on this property to lose fresh coins. But then I recalled, they had the fence replaced a few years ago. Odds are, thats when the zink pennies got dropped.

As soon as I turned around to go back the direction I came, I got a good 18-19 buzzing in my ear. Took a few swing to zero in on it, must have had some trash near by. Dug an ugly plug, that broke apart as I tried to flip it over, and pulled out a very worn 1906 IHP.

As I said, I have hunted this place pretty hard, so finding anything there now is a thrill. I was a happy detector.

Not thinking I would find much else, I was swinging and half listening as I headed back to my truck, when a fast 25 chirped in my ear. I slowed down to see if I could find it, and sure enough, I got a repeatable 24-25.

At this point, I thought I had a wheat penny in the ground, and the Nox was telling me she was 6 to 8 inches below. I cut anouther sloppy plug, flipped it over, but couldn't find anything. Swung the Nox back over and she told me that it should be right there. Dug a bit deaper, and at about 10 inches, I pulled out this aluminum $1.00 trade token. It's from a lumber company out of Adrian Ga.

This is as clean as I could get it. Didn't want to damage it any further than it was.

Dan B. · Sep 10, 2020

It looks like you had a good day with two great pieces of history saved. Nice IHP and tokens are very unique never get tired of finding them.

TNTGross · Sep 11, 2020

Dan B. said:
It looks like you had a good day with two great pieces of history saved. Nice IHP and tokens are very unique never get tired of finding them.

Thank you Dan B. It was a good day/hunt. I have been hitting this site once a week, for an hour or so, going on 5 years now. I am lucky to get an old shotgun shell if anything at all. So to find an old trade coin from the logging company that was on this site a hundred years ago and a worn-out IHP is a thrill.

KenG · Sep 11, 2020

Congrats on the finds and staying with hunting the area. I have a place that really hasn't given up anything but should due to the activity in the past. You give me hope to continue the hunt. Thanks for sharing the backstory.

Ken

TNTGross · Sep 11, 2020

KenG said:
Congrats on the finds and staying with hunting the area. I have a place that really hasn't given up anything but should due to the activity in the past. You give me hope to continue the hunt. Thanks for sharing the backstory.

Ken

Hey Ken, thanks for the reply. I go hunting most of the time with no expectation of finding anything. Like this morning, I went to a hunted out park just to burn some time and hope for the best. It makes it all the better when I do get a treasure. Like this crusty 1905 penny that I had to fish out from under a root in a park that shouldn't have anything left to give.

AirmetTango · Sep 13, 2020

Awesome finds, TNT! I love that token! It’s actually company scrip for the lumber company...the back should say “payable in merchandise only”. Somebody lost a dollar’s pay, which was probably quite a bit at the time! Here’s a wiki with a little history on lumber company scrip: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_scrip. A lot of advantages for the company to pay their employees in scrip, essentially forcing the employees to shop at company owned stores at big mark ups! Yours is from the Rentz Lumber Company, founded by E.P. Rentz. With a couple of quick Google searches, I found that Edward Pierce Rentz, founder of the company and town of Rentz, died in 1922, so the token likely pre-dates that. That token is dripping with history!

A History Of Rentz, GA

The Rentz Lumber Company and the Ocala Northern RR

Anyways, I’m not sure what you’ve tried so far for cleaning, but with aluminum tokens, you can get excellent results by rubbing moistened baking soda into the token with your fingers or a toothbrush, rinse, and repeat as necessary. Absolutely won’t hurt the token, but should clear off more of the grime and make more of the lettering visible.

Great finds!

TNTGross · Sep 13, 2020

AirmetTango said:
Awesome finds, TNT! I love that token! It’s actually company scrip for the lumber company...the back should say “payable in merchandise only”. Somebody lost a dollar’s pay, which was probably quite a bit at the time! Here’s a wiki with a little history on lumber company scrip: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_scrip. A lot of advantages for the company to pay their employees in scrip, essentially forcing the employees to shop at company owned stores at big mark ups! Yours is from the Rentz Lumber Company, founded by E.P. Rentz. With a couple of quick Google searches, I found that Edward Pierce Rentz, founder of the company and town of Rentz, died in 1922, so the token likely pre-dates that. That token is dripping with history!

A History Of Rentz, GA

The Rentz Lumber Company and the Ocala Northern RR

Anyways, I’m not sure what you’ve tried so far for cleaning, but with aluminum tokens, you can get excellent results by rubbing moistened baking soda into the token with your fingers or a toothbrush, rinse, and repeat as necessary. Absolutely won’t hurt the token, but should clear off more of the grime and make more of the lettering visible.

Great finds!

That is some great info. Thank you. How you found that out is beyond me. The name was so crusty, I figured I would never know. The property I am hunting must have been the main camp site of a lumber company. I have found other lumber company script on that site as well as coins, bottles, tools, and buttons. I wonder why it has Adrian Ga. on it instead of Rentz Ga.

Again, thanks for the great info.

TNTGross · Sep 13, 2020

TNTGross said:
That is some great info. Thank you. How you found that out is beyond me. The name was so crusty, I figured I would never know. The property I am hunting must have been the main camp site of a lumber company. I have found other lumber company script on that site as well as coins, bottles, tools, and buttons. I wonder why it has Adrian Ga. on it instead of Rentz Ga.

Again, thanks for the great info.

Figured it out...

I re-read the info you shared and found that he had his main mill in Adrian Ga. and had it moved to Ft. McCoy

" Mr. Rentz not only bought the Silver Springs Lumber Co. and it’s lands, but he also purchased half of all the land and timber bordered by the Seaboard Airline RR, Orange Lake, Orange Creek, Silver Springs Run and the Oklawaha River, for a price of $360,500. The Silver Springs Mill began cutting the nearby timber, while he formulated plans for moving his Adrian, Ga mill to Ft. McCoy."

AirmetTango · Sep 19, 2020

TNTGross said:
That is some great info. Thank you. How you found that out is beyond me. The name was so crusty, I figured I would never know. The property I am hunting must have been the main camp site of a lumber company. I have found other lumber company script on that site as well as coins, bottles, tools, and buttons. I wonder why it has Adrian Ga. on it instead of Rentz Ga.

Again, thanks for the great info.

Glad I could help, TNT! I’m a huge fan of old trade tokens (I collect them for NW Ohio) and I just love the local history each one represents. Half the fun for me is researching and learning a little about them, regardless where they’re from :cool3:

Great find!

One Dollar Trade Token and IHP

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