found a beanfield that had 4 homesites on it from 1865-1909. Spent a few hours with a friend hunting two of the homesites. The MXT in relic mode with the 6x10 was just the ticket for hunting in the soybean stubble. We didn't find any old coins but lots of the usual homesite items, silverware, harmonica reeds, buttons and a couple of tokens. There was also a ton of iron as usual. My best find was this token...
I did a little research on the token. In 1873, the Brunswick company merged with competitor Great Western Billiard Manufactory owned by Julius Balke to become the Brunswick & Balke Company. According to my copy of Tucker's history of Randolph Co (published in 1882) there was a bar or tavern owned by a man named Ashton in Winchester, Indiana when the book was published. The token was found 4 miles south of Winchester in a field that had a homesite shown on the 1874 plat map. I'm guessing the token was lost in the late 1800's since the homesite is gone from plat maps after 1900. Don't have a photo of the token my friend found but it was dated 1884 if I remember right.
I did a little research on the token. In 1873, the Brunswick company merged with competitor Great Western Billiard Manufactory owned by Julius Balke to become the Brunswick & Balke Company. According to my copy of Tucker's history of Randolph Co (published in 1882) there was a bar or tavern owned by a man named Ashton in Winchester, Indiana when the book was published. The token was found 4 miles south of Winchester in a field that had a homesite shown on the 1874 plat map. I'm guessing the token was lost in the late 1800's since the homesite is gone from plat maps after 1900. Don't have a photo of the token my friend found but it was dated 1884 if I remember right.
