The detecting trail beckoned yesterday, so I headed out with Hal Daves, my old dirt fishing buddy. He had learned of some "Sho-Nuff Secret Spots" in and around Augusta, GA, so there was nuttin' to do but hit 'em! Since it is just across the river from home, it makes for a nice half day junk-et. Look up Aiken, SC on google and you'll see what I mean.
These secret "hot spots" of Hals turned out to be some reclamation lots that were littered with trash, as most such lots are. The scraping of the surface soil won't be done in earnest until later, so we were just a little too early. When was the last time you could say that you were first on a spot - and too soon to be there?! Dang!
The pickings were pretty slim, universally, what with all the trash. But that is nothing new for any determined detectorist.
Here are the total gleanings on the day:
The Keepers -
[attachment 138267 DSCF0106.JPG]
This is an amalgam of the usual sort of stuff one finds in these "secret spots.". Some few interesting things are here, like the little threaded tool handle down in front. I suspect it was a machinists pick handle or a dental tool - something like that. Marbles are always welcome and there were a few, along with some clock gears. A nice hollow button surfaced and several strap buckles, too, along with the large spherical "thingie" in back.
After examining it, I'm stumped. It's made of lead, with an inset hole in one end, like it as mounted on a shaft of some sort. But I really haven't a clue.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After hitting the first trashy lot, we decided to head to lot #2. That's when we saw yet another, different lot still in the midst of being freshly scraped. I mean, the bulldozer was still moving dirt around! Man, you gotta love the sight of that big yellow earth moving equipment in motion.
Well, Hal jumped from the truck almost before I had it stopped, to talk to the job foremen. The guy said to come on back in an hour, they'd be done and we could have at it. Since we were going to have to wait, what else would two dedicated dirt grubbers do but head on to the originally planned spot, good ol' #2?
Now calling this new one "#3," we headed off as fast as my old truck would go (which 'aint none too fast, these days).
"Ol' #2" was also a scraped lot, rumored to have once been the site of an old home. Well, we did find some brick work nearby, leading us to think there was maybe ANOTHER old site, separate from the one we came to investigate. Or maybe the rumors had gotten the exact location wrong. Regardless, we weren't thrilled with the look of this lot.
We didn't eyeball any of the usual signs as we were "walking the the dirt"... no brick, no glass or china, etc. But hey, where else we got to go, right? And there is potential, as evidenced by this found tag:
The Tag
[attachment 138269 DSCF0114.JPG]
It's made of bronze and midranges, like a zinc cent. I find these often on early sites around the area. Tags like this often have holes, to be used as I.D. markers, the idea being to tack them on to a box or barrel with a small brad nail and so mark it in some way. Sometimes they have hanger loops for wiring them on to things, too, but usually it is a hole. During the time of their use, they might fall off of the box or barrel itself, or it would fall into disuse and rot away - leaving the tag behind. The lack of any sort of fixture devices suggests this was not an I.D. tag, but most likely a claim tag, or perhaps a wage token.
Both such tags are normally larger than this one, in my experience, this example being about the size of a quarter. But neither one is out of the question. I personally like the wage token idea, so I'm sticking with that. But again, who knows?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With little at lot #2 to hold us, we shot back to the #3 sight. Now, folks, this was a different sort of challenge.
It was obvious as soon as we set foot on #3 that it was once a coal yard. The ground was literally a mass of coal - not slag, but raw coal. Some places simply turned to crumbled coal beneath the dirt, when the shovel dug in. In other places you got as much coal as soil, or lumps of coil mixed with rocks... some of them the dreaded "hot rocks!"
It was also infested with iron trash, which should come as no surprise in a place like an industrial/commercial coal yard.
Poor old Hal was using a Whites Classic ID which, sadly, was falsing like mad in what this site was throwing at us. He ended up using my backup detector, which was able to deal with the conditions better. I tried his Classic myself, just to learn what it was doing, and I was "feeling his pain" after about 10 minutes of use!
I normally like the Classic series from Whites, and especially the features of the ID models. But, this was the first time I've ever felt out of sorts with any Whites detector.
But mixed in with the crap and tough conditions were these little goodies:
The Tokens
[attachment 138270 DSCF0112.JPG]
[attachment 138271 DSCF0113.JPG]
These are aluminum redemption tokens; like the collecting coupons of today. Each time you bought some coal, you would be given these, and when you had enough of them you could get something for free. I'm guessing more coal? (What else would you get from a coal company?!)
I stumbled up on the first one, and it was a free-for-all after that. I found no less than 17 of them and Hal nearly that many. And we didn't grid the entire area.
There were two sizes: the first size, like this one, is about as big as a quarter. The other is half dollar size and carries the denomination of "25". They are marked with the legends:
"Good for XX in merchandise" on one side, and...
"Lucky-Dykes Coal Co," on the other.
Being aluminum, they are eaten up pretty good. This metal didn't come into use until the early 1900's and trade tokens of this type pretty much dried up about the time coal use did. In the center of the non-denominational side, there is also a swastika-like symbol. In case you didn't know, the swastika was a good luck symbol, until the Nazi's ruined that whole notion during WWII. After that war, international laws forbidding it's commercial use were enacted.
So, I would say that they do not post date that time - most likely they were used during the 20's and 30's.
So far I have been unable to find any reference to them, or the company. But it was a lot of fun finding them. It was as if a box of them had been scattered around the area. Maybe they were simply tossed out into the yard when they were no longer useful.
If anyone has specific knowledge of these items, please share it with us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And as always, there was the trash...
The Usual Suspects
[attachment 138272 DSCF0107.JPG]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I haven't done any detecting since last April, so today's time in the sun, wind and bugs took a good bit of steam out of me. But, I'm going back tomorrow! I had fun, and want more!
These secret "hot spots" of Hals turned out to be some reclamation lots that were littered with trash, as most such lots are. The scraping of the surface soil won't be done in earnest until later, so we were just a little too early. When was the last time you could say that you were first on a spot - and too soon to be there?! Dang!
The pickings were pretty slim, universally, what with all the trash. But that is nothing new for any determined detectorist.
Here are the total gleanings on the day:
The Keepers -
[attachment 138267 DSCF0106.JPG]
This is an amalgam of the usual sort of stuff one finds in these "secret spots.". Some few interesting things are here, like the little threaded tool handle down in front. I suspect it was a machinists pick handle or a dental tool - something like that. Marbles are always welcome and there were a few, along with some clock gears. A nice hollow button surfaced and several strap buckles, too, along with the large spherical "thingie" in back.
After examining it, I'm stumped. It's made of lead, with an inset hole in one end, like it as mounted on a shaft of some sort. But I really haven't a clue.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After hitting the first trashy lot, we decided to head to lot #2. That's when we saw yet another, different lot still in the midst of being freshly scraped. I mean, the bulldozer was still moving dirt around! Man, you gotta love the sight of that big yellow earth moving equipment in motion.
Well, Hal jumped from the truck almost before I had it stopped, to talk to the job foremen. The guy said to come on back in an hour, they'd be done and we could have at it. Since we were going to have to wait, what else would two dedicated dirt grubbers do but head on to the originally planned spot, good ol' #2?
Now calling this new one "#3," we headed off as fast as my old truck would go (which 'aint none too fast, these days).
"Ol' #2" was also a scraped lot, rumored to have once been the site of an old home. Well, we did find some brick work nearby, leading us to think there was maybe ANOTHER old site, separate from the one we came to investigate. Or maybe the rumors had gotten the exact location wrong. Regardless, we weren't thrilled with the look of this lot.
We didn't eyeball any of the usual signs as we were "walking the the dirt"... no brick, no glass or china, etc. But hey, where else we got to go, right? And there is potential, as evidenced by this found tag:
The Tag
[attachment 138269 DSCF0114.JPG]
It's made of bronze and midranges, like a zinc cent. I find these often on early sites around the area. Tags like this often have holes, to be used as I.D. markers, the idea being to tack them on to a box or barrel with a small brad nail and so mark it in some way. Sometimes they have hanger loops for wiring them on to things, too, but usually it is a hole. During the time of their use, they might fall off of the box or barrel itself, or it would fall into disuse and rot away - leaving the tag behind. The lack of any sort of fixture devices suggests this was not an I.D. tag, but most likely a claim tag, or perhaps a wage token.
Both such tags are normally larger than this one, in my experience, this example being about the size of a quarter. But neither one is out of the question. I personally like the wage token idea, so I'm sticking with that. But again, who knows?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With little at lot #2 to hold us, we shot back to the #3 sight. Now, folks, this was a different sort of challenge.
It was obvious as soon as we set foot on #3 that it was once a coal yard. The ground was literally a mass of coal - not slag, but raw coal. Some places simply turned to crumbled coal beneath the dirt, when the shovel dug in. In other places you got as much coal as soil, or lumps of coil mixed with rocks... some of them the dreaded "hot rocks!"
It was also infested with iron trash, which should come as no surprise in a place like an industrial/commercial coal yard.
Poor old Hal was using a Whites Classic ID which, sadly, was falsing like mad in what this site was throwing at us. He ended up using my backup detector, which was able to deal with the conditions better. I tried his Classic myself, just to learn what it was doing, and I was "feeling his pain" after about 10 minutes of use!
I normally like the Classic series from Whites, and especially the features of the ID models. But, this was the first time I've ever felt out of sorts with any Whites detector.
But mixed in with the crap and tough conditions were these little goodies:
The Tokens
[attachment 138270 DSCF0112.JPG]
[attachment 138271 DSCF0113.JPG]
These are aluminum redemption tokens; like the collecting coupons of today. Each time you bought some coal, you would be given these, and when you had enough of them you could get something for free. I'm guessing more coal? (What else would you get from a coal company?!)
I stumbled up on the first one, and it was a free-for-all after that. I found no less than 17 of them and Hal nearly that many. And we didn't grid the entire area.
There were two sizes: the first size, like this one, is about as big as a quarter. The other is half dollar size and carries the denomination of "25". They are marked with the legends:
"Good for XX in merchandise" on one side, and...
"Lucky-Dykes Coal Co," on the other.
Being aluminum, they are eaten up pretty good. This metal didn't come into use until the early 1900's and trade tokens of this type pretty much dried up about the time coal use did. In the center of the non-denominational side, there is also a swastika-like symbol. In case you didn't know, the swastika was a good luck symbol, until the Nazi's ruined that whole notion during WWII. After that war, international laws forbidding it's commercial use were enacted.
So, I would say that they do not post date that time - most likely they were used during the 20's and 30's.
So far I have been unable to find any reference to them, or the company. But it was a lot of fun finding them. It was as if a box of them had been scattered around the area. Maybe they were simply tossed out into the yard when they were no longer useful.
If anyone has specific knowledge of these items, please share it with us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And as always, there was the trash...
The Usual Suspects
[attachment 138272 DSCF0107.JPG]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I haven't done any detecting since last April, so today's time in the sun, wind and bugs took a good bit of steam out of me. But, I'm going back tomorrow! I had fun, and want more!