A strange old coin find on the WW2 airbase

[adventureswithjim]

You know how most hunts have that one thing that surprises you....

I was just out putzing around the old 1942-1946 army airbase, looking for new areas when this huge coin pops out of the ground. It was the size of a large cent, but surely couldn't be...after a little rubbing I find myself staring at Queen Victoria, not Lady Liberty! WOW!

Turns out to be 1894 1/12th SHilling from "States of Jersey", a small island and Brit colony in the channel...WHAT? Did some airmen bring home a souvenir and lose it? No clue how it got here...

There is a vid too! Kinda funny cause I'm excited thinking it's a large cent...

Oh last pic there is a large 5 inch cap from a WW2 back pack fire extinguisher...cool, but not out of place or time!

[youtube=425,350]4JrhUQuGJxI[/youtube]

 

[{Sentinel}]

LOL, your videos always give me a good laugh and are great! Congrats

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

A most excellent adventure and the Jersey shilling coin is a weird find for SC airbase of the forties ..maybe English pilots trained there like they did at other airfields in the US . Enjoyed your vid and President should,nt be a problem for you HH

 

[Mackaydon]

Great Jersey find!!
Coin is of relatively low mintage (180k) and for sale here (http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/allswell/jerseycoin.html)
for $18.75.
Yes, it must have an interesting history to land where you found it.
Don.....
PS: You got my vote !!

 

[spitfire55]

 

[steelheadwill]

Great Finds & ID on Extinguisher cap!

 

[Mackaydon]

The product was called an Indian Fire Pump and was created by D.B. Smith of Utica, NY.
Great pic Steelhead.
Don..

 

[adventureswithjim]

Thanks for the support guys!

As far as I know, Walterboro Army Airfield was a final stop for US airmen to complete advanced training before going overseas, but I've never read a word about English pilots coming here to train. I have found a couple of odd objects from Europe...lots of US uniform bits but no Brit uniform parts...yet. So it seems likely these objects came home in the pockets of US flyers...only to be dropped again at WAAF.

 

[Mackaydon]

If you find anything 'German' it might be because the airbase also held hundreds of German POWs.

 

[adventureswithjim]

If you find anything 'German' it might be because the airbase also held hundreds of German POWs.

I actually did a series of hunts trying to locate the German POW "camp", but it was not to be. I have a great vid on it if you'd like a link.

Anyways....the POWs were actually brought over as "labor" to help with harvest since so many young US men sent over seas. They weren't held in barbed wire enclosures like you might think. They arrived with US issue POW uniforms and no Nazi paraphernalia. They were paid in US currency, lived like real people and many even returned here after the war to start new lives! I've been unable to locate the exact place where they were on the airbase, but the search is ongoing.

I have found ONE Nazi item on the base lands, but like this coin...probably just an item carried back in a US soldiers pocket.

 

[WilliamBoyd]

Interesting coin from Jersey.

The British islands of Jersey and Guernsey were occupied by the Germans during WW2,
which probably has nothing to do with your coin.

 

[Mr Tuff]

nice hunt!!!! MR TUFF