Well, at least a souvenir pressed penny depicting Mount Rushmore…

I headed back to a site I have hunted once. There was an old school here, and the owner gave me permission to hunt down the road too. There was a nice nail bed at the second property which got my attention, but I think it has been hunted before, as the non-ferrous targets were few and far between. I only found two coins and they were both modern. I did find one or two concertina reeds along with the buckle and ornate brass cover. I do not see any hinge point or inscription on it, but I’m wondering if this is some sort of compact cover?

Since I found several early 1900s coins back at the school during my last trip, I headed back there. Right away I pulled a couple wheats, then pulled a buffalo. I have not found too many buffaloes, so I was pleased with that. I found more concertina reeds along with the Mount Rushmore penny here. I am going to ask the owner if he lost it. With light starting to fade, I found the 1939 mercury and one more buffalo!

I gave the pennies a few days to dry. Four are from the 1930s and 1940s. The last one appears to be a 1917 P. However the 17 appears to be wider numbers than the 19. It would be really nice if this were the double die error, but this penny is so flat it would probably be impossible to confirm.

Nice variety of finds. Always good to see buffalos and mercs. Those pressed penny souvenirs are always interesting to find also.
That '17 penny year does seem to be a little thick. Hard to tell if it is part of corrosion or some stamping error.
Dave

Interesting finds you made there.
I believe the ornate piece is the back cover for a pocket watch.
Nice merc and buffalos!!

Looks like a fun hunt. Nice job.

A pocket watch back was one of my first thoughts. But, wouldn’t that have some sort of hinge or snap cover indentation or the like? The rim on this just appears to be smooth and even all the way around with no weld or solder point.

I do believe it is the back to a pocket watch as they were not the fancy one that had the hinge on the back. Most were just plain with some a little fancy and they snapped on the back of the watch. One of the ones I have got is real fancy looking.

Rick

Geologyhound said:

A pocket watch back was one of my first thoughts. But, wouldn’t that have some sort of hinge or snap cover indentation or the like? The rim on this just appears to be smooth and even all the way around with no weld or solder point.

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I have found a couple that had designs on them, but no sign of a hinge.
Like Rick stated, they simply snapped on the back.
Check inside for any writing or stamping.

Although this one is more ornate and in better shape than any other pocket watch I have found, I do not see any writing or marks of any sort on either side. I suspect the “shield” in the middle was meant to have an engraving (or at least initials), but there’s nothing there.