Heads you win - A tale of two tails and a big whatzit - ID'd

[kimsdad]

It was a gorgeous day to get out for a bit, so Mark & I hit a spot we've done well at. Hard to get targets are here and there with the occasional surprise, like that last silver George. I started low & slow and after digging some junk, I got a repeatable deep signal that sounded like an Indian. I was surprised to find a nickel and a '35 Merc in the hole together. Thought it was a buff until I looked closer at home and saw it was a '40 Jefferson. Probably the oldest one I've dug.





After a while, I moved out to my wheatie zone in the wooded area and started digging more wheats. pretty soon I found two pennies that were together. When I looked at them, I saw that they were super thin. Worn Indians maybe? They were so full of gook that I couldn't tell what they were until I got them home to clean them. Into the container they went. When I got home, I used peroxide on them and discovered that they were two wheat cents.



The obverse wouldn't come clean - there was something stuck on that side of each one.



After studying them, I realized that what I had was two wheats that had the heads side filed down and then were glued together to make a two-tailed coin. Looking at the side view, you can see that together they are the thickness of a regular penny.



If you look at the back of the wheat on the left, it appears that some of the glue got on the one on it and the maker tried to scratch it off.

So, here are my finds for the day:



The little holed round thing made my jaw drop when I first saw it in the hole. I thought I had a half-dime. I think it is part of a fishing lure. The big thing reminded me of me, so I took it home. Looks old, is broken down, and doesn't do anything useful anymore!

Here's the back of it:



Anyone have a clue about what it is?

All in all, it was a good day. The weather was great, each of us got a little silver, and my cent(s) made the post-hunt cleanup interesting!

Thanks for checking out my post and HH next time you get out!

[Dirt fishing Wolf]

Yes it was a nice day to be out detecting Neil. You picked up
some interesting digs. Someone should be digging a half dime
soon, lots of very good coins dug so far here in Illinois in 2011.

[soupie]

Nice post Neil....always enjoy reading them
The wheats are interesting...someone was up to no good
Congrats on the silver merc,and one old jefferson...
No clue on that giant piece,but I like it...
Could the suspected halfdime turned lure piece be part of a rivet?
And for the record,I dont think your useless,the rest,no comment

Soup

[artzstuff1]

Cool trick coin!!!!





wayne co.

il.

[ewcoinhunter]

Nice finds! Yhe large object just guessing not knowing the actual size is a beauty ring for a light fixture, just a guess! Congrats.

[justdigging50]

Nice finds Neil! Congrats on the silver. The pennies are a cool find. My guess is the same as ewcoinhunter, a light fixture

[DPBOB]

cool double wheatie coin...

[marinedad]

nice finds, your description of the whatzit sounded like me too

[Pocket Spill]

Great hunting Neil! Nice Merc!

[Lowbatts]

Did get out yesterday afternoon late for about an hour Neil. Got my first V nick of the year and this, a wall lamp and the wall mount looks very much like your whatzit! But I'm thinking yours might have been a desktop model.

[watercolor]

Wow, that double-tail penny is cool. . . I wonder how many
Merc's that might have won for its owner back then 8)

Nice silver too

[Clad the Impaler]

Neat trick wheatie and old Jefferson!! I like digging the old nickels.

[Gimmie The Loot]

good stuff Neil! that really big thing looks like a bird bath.

[filthyflyer39]

nice coins, whoever filed those 2 wheats down mustve really needed to win a coin flip

[kimsdad]

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone!

Those of you who suggested part of a light fixture are right on, I believe!

Nice intact one, Tim!

[d-dub]

Those wheaties are pretty cool, Neil.