Banger of a day (for Illinois)- 1797 British "Cartwheel" penny and an early 1900s 5 Cent Trade Token

[perdidogringo]

Had a banger of a morning metal detecting at an old park in my Illinois town. My 2 noteworthy finds were a 1797 British "Cartwheel" penny (unfortunately, holed twice) and an early 1900s 5 Cent Trade Token. Of course, I found my share of junk to haul out of the park and some modern coinage (and a 1965 Canadian cent). The last photo is how a 1797 British Cartwheel penny looks new.

 

[pepperj]

I saw the image of the cartwheel and the first thought was it reminded me of a powder flask top.
Liking the token as well.
That Cartwheel must of rang up well.
Congratulations on the recoveries.

 

[Sandog]

Cool stuff.
Those two holes have a strange counter sunk appearance on one side, and a melted look on the other.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Great finds - well done !

 

[Mr. Digger]

Nice finds. That cartwheel was obviously repurposed. I have a non-dug cartwheel in my collection and it's crazy how big and THICK they are.

 

[UnderMiner]

When you find a very old worn coin with two holes in it, it often means it was repurposed as a toy, called a buzzer, or wirligig, by a child. The holes were for a pair of strings that the coin twisted on, and when the coin spun fast enough it would make a whirling sound. A bit of experimental archeology for you to consider trying, is to put your coin on a new set of strings and see if you can recreate the sound yourself.

 

[sibbley]

Super finds. Congrats!

 

[perdidogringo]

I saw the image of the cartwheel and the first thought was it reminded me of a powder flask top.
Liking the token as well.
That Cartwheel must of rang up well.
Congratulations on the recoveries.

The Cartwheel was over a foot deep in an old park, using my Nox 900. The numbers from the surface were jumping around with about half settling in the low to mid 90s on the control box. I considered not digging it but for lack of better signals, it decided to go for it. Glad I did!

 

[perdidogringo]

When you find a very old worn coin with two holes in it, it often means it was repurposed as a toy, called a buzzer, or wirligig, by a child. The holes were for a pair of strings that the coin twisted on, and when the coin spun fast enough it would make a whirling sound. A bit of experimental archeology for you to consider trying, is to put your coin on a new set of strings and see if you can recreate the sound yourself.
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Thanks for the information here! Yes, I strongly suspect the Cartwheel was repurposed to be a whizzer toy.

 

[pepperj]

The Cartwheel was over a foot deep in an old park, using my Nox 900. The numbers from the surface were jumping around with about half settling in the low to mid 90s on the control box. I considered not digging it but for lack of better signals, it decided to go for it. Glad I did!

I dug one in 2008 at a 1895 school. It was down 14" on the ditch side along the roadway. Dug while using the Minelab SE.
They're certainly a big coin to be packing around in the pocket.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on that Cartwheel coin. I agree, I'm sure it was holed to use as a whizzer toy.

 

[oldmxrat]

Very nice finds, congrats!

 

[russau]

"HOLEY" cow ! nice Cart wheel find !

 

[Almy]

That cartwheel is on my "bucket list". Good going.

 

[Silvermonkey]

Had a banger of a morning metal detecting at an old park in my Illinois town. My 2 noteworthy finds were a 1797 British "Cartwheel" penny (unfortunately, holed twice) and an early 1900s 5 Cent Trade Token. Of course, I found my share of junk to haul out of the park and some modern coinage (and a 1965 Canadian cent). The last photo is how a 1797 British Cartwheel penny looks new.

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That all adds up to a great hunt. I love your cartwheel penny. I've never found one of those myself. The fact that it has two holes in it just gives it some extra character. The trade token is a real winner. Great condition too. Big congrats!

 

[CRUSADER]

When you find a very old worn coin with two holes in it, it often means it was repurposed as a toy, called a buzzer, or wirligig, by a child. The holes were for a pair of strings that the coin twisted on, and when the coin spun fast enough it would make a whirling sound. A bit of experimental archeology for you to consider trying, is to put your coin on a new set of strings and see if you can recreate the sound yourself.
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Agreed, I was going say that.