1896 Bryan money

[phs3194]

This morning I took my new F75SE to a spot that I have hit pretty hard in the past with the GTI2500. This was only the 3rd time I've used the F75 and I wanted a place that I knew what to expect. The settings I used were discrimination = 6 sens. = 60 and tones = 4h. I apparently have done a good job of cleaning out this spot. After 2 hours I had 3 keeper targets. A 1981 cent, a lapel pin or tie tack from the 1964 New york worlds fair, and a 3 inch piece of "Bryan money". Bryan money was put out by the McKinley campaign in 1896. Bryan was campaigning to free silver from the 16 to 1 ratio to gold.

The token, or whatever else you could call it, is cast iron. It has lady Liberty on one side with the date 1896. The other side has an eagle with United States of America around it. On one side of the eagle is 16 to 1 and the other side has NIT.

I'm sure that I passed over this item before because of the GTI2500 showing it to be larger than a coin. Well I would rather have this than another wheatie any day!

 

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[liftloop]

yea, that type of detector wouldn't fly up here,
it could be a piece of float copper and it reads a buck but is bigger than a dollar the chance of passing it up would be greater. the detector would get confuses and lose direction and wonder around awhile,until the proper target appear rite size, shape, continuity and then peace,and unity would be restored to all it's programs though out the hole housing.

 

[CRUSADER]

'I'm sure that I passed over this item before because of the GTI2500 showing it to be larger than a coin'

It's sad to see another person trusting the machine, I hope you don't look at the VDI. Trust your ears!

 

[ticm]

Did you clean it with something?

 

[phs3194]

Yes I cleaned it. I used an ultrasonic cleaner to remove the caked on dirt, then rubbed it with gun oil to protect the surface. There was no rust on the surface, but there is a small amount of pitting.

 

[nuggy]

Funny looking cast iron! Unusual find, probably quite collectable, but in the photos it doesn't look like any kind of cast iron I ever saw. Nuggy

 

[phs3194]

You are probably correct. I made an assumption about the composition and you know how that usually ends. I looked up Bryan money on Political Collectors.com and they say that they were made from " lead type metal, zinc, babbitt metal, tin, bronze, aluminum, iron and other combinations". This one is non-magnetic but seems to be harder than lead type metal.

 

[TNGUNS]

Great relic....neat piece of history.

 

[idahotokens]

The Token and Medal Society just issued (July/August 2012) the Bryan Money Supplement and Price Guide by Fred Schornstein. Both the supplement and the original book are available on the TAMS site. I've not investigated this subject a lot, but do think that I need to order a copy of the Schornstein book and read up on the subject.
John in the Great 208

 

[leprechaun]

First one of those I've ever seen, nice find.

 

[rabajohn]

Never heard of "Bryan money" before. Awesome find!

 

[jewelerguy]

both of those finds are really cool.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Very nice find referencing William Jennings Bryan....I'd heard of this before and perhaps seen one....this one is in beautiful condition. Congrats!

 

[Diggin Dude]

That is a really interesting find ! Thanks for the information and post. What a cool piece of history. Congrats and HH