Yesterday I went back to the old house that I had found my first walking liberty half, It has rained here and that usually helps the signals come thru better in the bone dry ground.Immediately I found several wheaties and roosie dimes. what I was really hoping for is Mercury dimes, but no luck yet. Checking records it seems that the home was built in 1912 by the first Arizona State veterinarian and occupied by that family til 1935 when the land and home were purchased by the city for a park. In the rear of the home is a structure that was originally a carriage house then garage and office. A few feet to the rear of the carriage house I hit a signal that I believed to be a deep nickel. At about 10 inches I pulled a large disk that was encrusted heavily and took some field cleaning to see what it was. I knew it wasn't a coin. It turned out to be a metal disc that was an early license plate for a motorcycle year 1915! A couple of feet from that I dug another just like it but badly corroded so it could not be read. the first is in good shape and and clear registration number # 600. I have already Contacted our Motor vehicle people to see if records are available for that year and maybe I can actually find out who it was registered to and what kind of motorcycle. I love a find like this that maybe some history can be found. If further info is found I will Post it.
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1915 Licence Plate
- Thread starter Buddysox
- Start date
HH BillTokenDigger
New member
Nice find! Early western licenses are scarce. I would imagine a motorcycle license would be even scarcer. You may want to check the Internet and eBay to find out more of the history and get an idea of the value. Sure beats a Mercury dime! HH
Pretty cool on the video, I was able to find out that Arizona issued 771 of these plates for motorcycles in the state in 1915. E-mails are out to state motor vehicle and a collector of az plates. I did get a response from a seller of vintage plates on Ebay that the value should be $75 to $200 depending on condition. Will post more as I find out.
Actually its a little bigger than a half dollar. I did find out that they were issued for just three years and the 771 motorcycle plates issued that year included goverment plates so it could have been a police bike. Motor vehicle responded and said they have no records for anything that old as that department did not exsist then. Early vehicles were registered with the Secretary of state in those days! I have a request into the state archives for any info.
New Update!
Got a call from the State Archives and they told me that the registration to license # 600 for that year was to a Mr. Norton on a 1914 HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLE SER # 6160 issued on 01-22-15! The kicker on this was I had found the Medallion on 01-22-10! Exactly 95 years after date of issue.The family that built the home was of the same name. Doing a google search on the full name I came across a genealogy site that one of his granddaughters had posted on the family and a son was listed. The son was a better bet as males do not change their names at marriage. Surprisingly the first search revealed a phone number in California. Trying that, the call was answered by a man who confirmed he was the son of my registered owner. As soon as we talked a bit and he realized that I wasn't some wacko calling, we had a wonderful conversation and he told me that his father talked fondly of that motorcycle and had many adventures with it, once riding it from Phoenix across the Mohave desert to southern California to attend college in 1918. Quite a ride back then.
We exchanged contact information and I mailed him the Medallion. Much better to be a family memento than in a collection somewhere. Mr. Norton was happy to get it and sent me a Photo of him with the medallion and picture of his father in the background in uniform. I really love being able to do something like this. I threw in a pic of a 1914 Harley to show what it looks like but its not the one we mention here. Mr. Norton says there may exist one that shows his father on the actual bike and he will send me a copy if he can locate it.
I really had a Blast doing this!
Got a call from the State Archives and they told me that the registration to license # 600 for that year was to a Mr. Norton on a 1914 HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLE SER # 6160 issued on 01-22-15! The kicker on this was I had found the Medallion on 01-22-10! Exactly 95 years after date of issue.The family that built the home was of the same name. Doing a google search on the full name I came across a genealogy site that one of his granddaughters had posted on the family and a son was listed. The son was a better bet as males do not change their names at marriage. Surprisingly the first search revealed a phone number in California. Trying that, the call was answered by a man who confirmed he was the son of my registered owner. As soon as we talked a bit and he realized that I wasn't some wacko calling, we had a wonderful conversation and he told me that his father talked fondly of that motorcycle and had many adventures with it, once riding it from Phoenix across the Mohave desert to southern California to attend college in 1918. Quite a ride back then.
We exchanged contact information and I mailed him the Medallion. Much better to be a family memento than in a collection somewhere. Mr. Norton was happy to get it and sent me a Photo of him with the medallion and picture of his father in the background in uniform. I really love being able to do something like this. I threw in a pic of a 1914 Harley to show what it looks like but its not the one we mention here. Mr. Norton says there may exist one that shows his father on the actual bike and he will send me a copy if he can locate it.
I really had a Blast doing this!
I have often wondered what story some of my finds could tell ..
....
Looks like you found out the cool story behind the license plate Buddysox ..... I admire and respect you greatly for giving it back to a family member ......
I for one, loved this story , and the picture of father and son was icing on the cake .
....... Keep on diggin my friend ..
.... Bill
.... Looks like you found out the cool story behind the license plate Buddysox ..... I admire and respect you greatly for giving it back to a family member ......
I for one, loved this story , and the picture of father and son was icing on the cake .
....... Keep on diggin my friend ...... Billsilverfinder
New member
that rocks
TokenDigger
New member
Great story with a great ending!!!
jeff & Maria
Active member
n/t
NEW UPDATE-PICTURES!
OK, Guys this just keeps getting better. Mr. Norton found some pictures of his Dad on the original Harley that I found the registration to. The photos were taken in 1918 when he and a buddy both took a trip across the desert from Phoenix to southern California to attend their first year of college. the bike with the wooden box mounted on the rear fender is the one that the registration is to. They show him fixing a flat, Riding across the Colorado River on a steam powered ferry, and getting up after dumping the bike. Shure not like the modern day riders with all the comforts of home and designer leathers!
I love it!
OK, Guys this just keeps getting better. Mr. Norton found some pictures of his Dad on the original Harley that I found the registration to. The photos were taken in 1918 when he and a buddy both took a trip across the desert from Phoenix to southern California to attend their first year of college. the bike with the wooden box mounted on the rear fender is the one that the registration is to. They show him fixing a flat, Riding across the Colorado River on a steam powered ferry, and getting up after dumping the bike. Shure not like the modern day riders with all the comforts of home and designer leathers!
I love it!