Hawaii Dairy Tokens

[808beginnerdigger]

Found my first Dairy Tokens without a detector just walking around an old plantation camp in Waialua, Oahu, Hawaii. I was actually looking for plantation dump sites to dig for bottles. Just as you see it in the dirt is just as I found it except for two where I was scatching the surface of a berm with broken glass. I guess I was lucky. I guess I have to invest in a metal detector. Both types are aluminum. Any ideas on cleaning aluminum?

WAIALUA AGR.CO. DAIRY (rev.) GOOD FOR 1 QUART MILK (Octagon)

WAIALUA AGR.CO. DAIRY (rev.) GOOD FOR 1 PINT OF MILK (Square)


Aloha from Hawaii!

[idahotokens]

Nice finds! Reiter's Dairy Token book shows half and one pint and one quart varieties, and the quart one is known with a 1 counterstamped on the reverse. All are listed under Honolulu (which may be the headquarters, but I suspect may be in error as Waialua sounds logical to me). He also shows them as "Rare, $125.00", but that was before you found these.

On cleaning - I would advise to not use anything more harsh than water and a toothbrush. You can ruin the collector value by cleaning them.

John in ID

[808beginnerdigger]

Nice finds! Reiter's Dairy Token book shows half and one pint and one quart varieties, and the quart one is known with a 1 counterstamped on the reverse. All are listed under Honolulu (which may be the headquarters, but I suspect may be in error as Waialua sounds logical to me). He also shows them as "Rare, $125.00", but that was before you found these.

On cleaning - I would advise to not use anything more harsh than water and a toothbrush. You can ruin the collector value by cleaning them.

John in ID

These are listed in the Hawaiian Money Standard Catalog by Medcalf & Russell but I haven't really looked at it closely to figuire out what variation. Much Mahalo (Thanks) on the cleaning tips!

Aloha from Hawaii, Nate

[808beginnerdigger]

Found my first W.A.Co. Dairy 1/2 Pint Token, alum., 22mm - MEDCALF 2TD-27, . I think this type is alot more scarce than the others. Found only two so far with this being in the better shape. Not using any detectors... just "free digging".

Does anyone have any idea how to remove rust from these aluminum tokens?

Aloha from Hawaii!

[Mackaydon]

One onliner suggests:

Start by trying a commercial rust remover product such as Whink, CLR, naval jelly, Rust-Oxy or an organic rust remover. Apply with a cloth or a nylon scrubbing pad, rubbing to remove rust stains. These products are best for polished aluminum surfaces because they don’t contain abrasives.


Read more: How to Remove Rust From Aluminum | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4480346_remo...#ixzz11z8iMApx
Don.....

[808beginnerdigger]

Found more tokens including an "Unlisted" GF 1 Quart octagon with beaded borders (similar to Medcalf 2TD-29, but has a different "1"). Also found a nice 1 Quart octagon with the solid inside border (Medcalf 2TD-30) and the 1 Pint variety (2TD-28). All found digging (no detector) for bottles but will accept these bonuses anytime. Now all I need is the milk bottle to go with these. Aloha from Hawaii!

[tokenking]

Great finds---- Cleaning these tokens will be easy. Try this on the worst token first, then if you like it, the rest will clean up nice. First, get S.O.S. cleaning pads. I cut one in half for easier handling, then I wash out most of the blue soap but not all. Then scrub. The steel wool is softer than aluminum and will fall apart quickly. The last thing I clean is the edge of the token, all the way around. I've cleaned a lot of aluminum tokens this way and sold many of them for top dollar. This does not work on brass tokens.

[808beginnerdigger]

Great finds---- Cleaning these tokens will be easy. Try this on the worst token first, then if you like it, the rest will clean up nice. First, get S.O.S. cleaning pads. I cut one in half for easier handling, then I wash out most of the blue soap but not all. Then scrub. The steel wool is softer than aluminum and will fall apart quickly. The last thing I clean is the edge of the token, all the way around. I've cleaned a lot of aluminum tokens this way and sold many of them for top dollar. This does not work on brass tokens.

Thanks tokenking... I'll give it a try! Aloha from Hawaii!