🥇 BANNER Dug Up a VERY OLD Gumball Machine - And It Was Filled with Coins!

[UnderMiner]

Certainly one of the more unique treasures I've found this year. A 70+ year old buried gumball machine that's clearly been in the ground for a very VERY long time. Still had a nickle in the slot from the very last customer that tried to use it long ago. Watch the live "cracking open" video of me revealing the cache of coins that was within.

In total there were 17 US nickles, a US Wheat Cent, and a South American "5 Centavo". Most of the coins are buffalo nickles, there are a few Jefferson nickles - a couple appearing to be of the silver "War" variety, the 5 Centavo's date of 1920 is very clear to see. One of the US nickles remains in the coin mechanism slot which I removed from the machine and brought home. I'm planning to leave this nickle in place due to its uniqueness.

Initial find - before opening:


Video of the opening (must watch):






The washed but still "uncleaned" coins, war nickles are the darker ones to the bottom right:


The 1920 5 Centavo can be seen on the upper left and a Buffalo to the right of it:


Will update this post when I'm able to clean the coins more and/or reveal any more details about them.

Update 9:45PM!! Conservation of the coins is going AMAZING!! Not only are the coins cleaning up well - but even the dates on the BUFFALO NICKLES are visible! Not only that but I've found a coin that I have yet to identify that is dated 1876! Not sure what it is yet!! The process is slow but the results are fantastic so far!


Some of the newly conserved coins:


Contrast between the conserved and non-conserved coins:


Just confirmed, this "mystery coin" is infact an 1876 Imperial German 5 Pfennig:


Looks like I found silver in this machine after all!
My suspicions have been confirmed - a 1943 silver war nickle!


Silver War Nickle #2! 1945-P!


No way!! Nearly every Jefferson Nickle from the machine is Silver!!
Yet another 1945-P Silver War Nickle! (Note I am posting these as I clean them)


Okay, the grand total is in - out of the 9 Jefferson Nickles in the machine 6 were Silver War Nickles!


The newest coin in the lot was this 1946 Jefferson Nickle, meaning the machine likely went out of service around this year:


Cleaned coins so far include a 1941 Penny, a 1926 Buffalo, 1920 Cuban 5 Centavo, an 1876 Imperial German 5 Pfennig, three 1943-P silver War Nickle, two 1945-P silver War Nickles, one "S" silver War Nickle date unknown, a 1939 Jefferson Nickle, a 1946 Jefferson Nickle, and a 1925 Buffalo. Conservation is still underway for all the coins so expect more updates soon. I've been using a new technique that I will share to all those interested in cleaning coins considered "toasted".

 

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[mirage83]

I don't see how you can determine when the machine was chucked by date of the coin stuck in it at all. I find 50 year old nickels in my pocket all the time.

Not with complete certainty of course, but it's a not unreasonable conclusion given that the newest (and not the oldest) coin in the box was a 1946. It couldn't have been tossed prior to 1946 or the 1946 nickel wouldn't be there. And if much later than that year, odds are that it probably would have had a more recent coin to indicate use past 1946.

Finding older coins as in your analogy misses the point, as it's the newest coin in the box (or your pocket) which is evidence pertaining to the most recent year of use.

 

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[bc_bushman]

Awesome beach find, nice clean up on your coins, love to hear what your new technique is. I'm in Thailand atm and have pulled tons of rusty and toasted coins from the beaches here (over 100 yesterday alone) that could use a good cleanup method.

 

[RobRieman]

Not with complete certainty of course, but it's a not unreasonable conclusion given that the newest (and not the oldest) coin in the box was a 1946. It couldn't have been tossed prior to 1946 or the 1946 nickel wouldn't be there. And if much later than that year, odds are that it probably would have had a more recent coin to indicate use past 1946.

Finding older coins as in your analogy misses the point, as it's the newest coin in the box (or your pocket) which is evidence pertaining to the most recent year of use.

The only thing it tells you is it wasn't lost/thrown out before 1946. The newest coin in my pocket right now is 1982. If I throw my jeans in the woods and someone finds them I guess it would mean I lost them 34 years ago.

 

[mirage83]

The only thing it tells you is it wasn't lost/thrown out before 1946. The newest coin in my pocket right now is 1982. If I throw my jeans in the woods and someone finds them I guess it would mean I lost them 34 years ago.

And that's something to go on. As I said, not a certainty, but it isn't an unreasonable conclusion given the nature of the find (in the ground for a long period of time, in poor condition, machine takes nickels or nickel-sized coins). All of which points to an older machine, such as was common in the 1940's. A newer machine would take dimes or quarters.

 

[jeff of pa]

Yes, and the newest coin I found inside was a 1946 Jefferson - it was the only post-WWII coin in the machine, the oldest coin being the 1876 5 Pfennig. I was very surprised to discover that so many of the nickles were of the silver-containing variety. This literally turned out to be a buried box of treasure, perhaps stolen long ago and dumped by the thieves as they panicked and ditched the loot. Modern day pirate loot if I don't say so myself, yar!

I'll guess they busted the Glass & thought all they need do as turn it upside down to get the Change.
They also didn't have any Tools with that would break it apart.
and at that point it became useless to them

there is also the possibility the Stuck Nickle was the reason they got mad at it

 

[jeff of pa]

I don't see how you can determine when the machine was chucked by date of the coin stuck in it at all. I find 50 year old nickels in my pocket all the time.

true but the guess was fun
and logical to me

 

[jeff of pa]

The only thing it tells you is it wasn't lost/thrown out before 1946. The newest coin in my pocket right now is 1982. If I throw my jeans in the woods and someone finds them I guess it would mean I lost them 34 years ago.

Yep ! if you didn't soil them before Tossing, I'd sell them on Ebay as Vintage Jeans from 1982. if you did soil them, I'd add that there id DNA for cloning practice in them

 

[ARC]

Bah... screw the coins...

Were there any gumballs still inside ?

 

[Doubter in MD]

Nice find. I'm on the fence on whether it was banner worthy but the general consensus here is that it was so to heck with what I think.

I would have loved to see a video of you digging it up. That would have been too cool.

 

[jeff of pa]

it's not only Banner worthy, It's eventually Best of TreasureNet Worthy,
with the Live video and Uniqueness of the "Treasure" Found inside

 

[Beans]

I didn't take the coin out of the slot, I simply left it in there and removed the entire coin acceptor slot and all. It was made of brass while the rest of the machine was made of cast iron so it was easy to remove. I'm leaving the coin in place because I think it is very unique, much more interesting than if I removed it and had just a nickle.

Like the way you think. Was a nickel at one time, now it is part of the treasure you found.

 

[Beans]

it's not only Banner worthy, It's eventually Best of TreasureNet Worthy,
with the Live video and Uniqueness of the "Treasure" Found inside

I agree. Not every treasure has to be a billion years old and worth a million dollars.

 

[Aquila]

very nice!

 

[can]

nice finds

 

[jewelerguy]

the machine was a Northwestern brand. Here's a link that shows what it looked like complete. Given that yours was set up for nickels, and a time frame of being lost/tossed mid to late 40's, it's more likely it was set up to dispense nuts. Most gumballs at that time were still a penny. Very cool find! Northwestern Gumball Machine | Collectors Weekly

 

[DigIron2]

That is just insane . Guess never know what might be waiting out there. Huge congrats Miner, what a dig man.

 

[UnderMiner]

the machine was a Northwestern brand. Here's a link that shows what it looked like complete. Given that yours was set up for nickels, and a time frame of being lost/tossed mid to late 40's, it's more likely it was set up to dispense nuts. Most gumballs at that time were still a penny. Very cool find! Northwestern Gumball Machine | Collectors Weekly

Excellent information! Thank you very much for providing it.
The machine as it once looked, courtesy of jewelerguy:

 

[TheMastermind]

Wow! Very cool!

 

[Davers]

Certainly one of the more unique treasures I've found this year. A 70+ year old buried gumball machine that's clearly been in the ground for a very VERY long time. Still had a nickle in the slot from the very last customer that tried to use it long ago. Watch the live "cracking open" video of me revealing the cache of coins that was within.

In total there were 17 US nickles, a US Wheat Cent, and a South American "5 Centavo". Most of the coins are buffalo nickles, there are a few Jefferson nickles - a couple appearing to be of the silver "War" variety, the 5 Centavo's date of 1920 is very clear to see. One of the US nickles remains in the coin mechanism slot which I removed from the machine and brought home. I'm planning to leave this nickle in place due to its uniqueness.

Initial find - before opening:


Video of the opening (must watch):



View attachment 1299749 View attachment 1299684
View attachment 1299685 View attachment 1299686

The washed but still "uncleaned" coins, war nickles are the darker ones to the bottom right:
View attachment 1299687 View attachment 1299688

The 1920 5 Centavo can be seen on the upper left and a Buffalo to the right of it:
View attachment 1299689

Will update this post when I'm able to clean the coins more and/or reveal any more details about them.

Update 9:45PM!! Conservation of the coins is going AMAZING!! Not only are the coins cleaning up well - but even the dates on the BUFFALO NICKLES are visible! Not only that but I've found a coin that I have yet to identify that is dated 1876! Not sure what it is yet!! The process is slow but the results are fantastic so far!


Some of the newly conserved coins:
View attachment 1299997

Contrast between the conserved and non-conserved coins:
View attachment 1299998

Just confirmed, this "mystery coin" is infact an 1876 Imperial German 5 Pfennig:
View attachment 1299996

Looks like I found silver in this machine after all!
My suspicions have been confirmed - a 1943 silver war nickle!
View attachment 1300012

Silver War Nickle #2! 1945-P!
View attachment 1300020

No way!! Nearly every Jefferson Nickle from the machine is Silver!!
Yet another 1945-P Silver War Nickle! (Note I am posting these as I clean them)
View attachment 1300033

Okay, the grand total is in - out of the 9 Jefferson Nickles in the machine 6 were Silver War Nickles!
View attachment 1300132

The newest coin in the lot was this 1946 Jefferson Nickle, meaning the machine likely went out of service around this year:
View attachment 1300133

Cleaned coins so far include a 1941 Penny, a 1926 Buffalo, 1920 Cuban 5 Centavo, an 1876 Imperial German 5 Pfennig, three 1943-P silver War Nickle, two 1945-P silver War Nickles, one "S" silver War Nickle date unknown, a 1939 Jefferson Nickle, a 1946 Jefferson Nickle, and a 1925 Buffalo. Conservation is still underway for all the coins so expect more updates soon. I've been using a new technique that I will share to all those interested in cleaning coins considered "toasted".

UM
Congratulations on the Banner.

Imo It's an old unique find that makes on think , ?WHO, When , Where & what was going on in the US at that time.

As Grandma used to say a nickle went a-lot further back in the day.

As for your cleaning job --WHO Cares how you cleaned them , Likely worth a little more since you cleaned them as you said they were toasted already...(What are the odd's of a 3 '3 legger'/).

Heck you likely could have walked a mile or to picking up recyclables and made enough money to buy all those nickles.

If I had the $ and it was worth the Time & Effort , I'd "Try" to have the Machine Restored ,as best it could be.
It would make a cool display IMO, but after 70 ish years in the Ocean ....??

My point is Money & treasure is everywhere & Worth/ Coolness is "In the Eye".
Great Post
Davers

 

[UnderMiner]

UM
Congratulations on the Banner.

Imo It's an old unique find that makes on think , ?WHO, When , Where & what was going on in the US at that time.

As Grandma used to say a nickle went a-lot further back in the day.

As for your cleaning job --WHO Cares how you cleaned them , Likely worth a little more since you cleaned them as you said they were toasted already...(What are the odd's of a 3 '3 legger'/).

Heck you likely could have walked a mile or to picking up recyclables and made enough money to buy all those nickles.

If I had the $ and it was worth the Time & Effort , I'd "Try" to have the Machine Restored ,as best it could be.
It would make a cool display IMO, but after 70 ish years in the Ocean ....??

My point is Money & treasure is everywhere & Worth/ Coolness is "In the Eye".
Great Post
Davers

Agreed. I find old low denomination coins all the time that hardly warrant mentioning, but I never found anything quite like this before. I think the real reason people voted this banner isn't becasue of the coins or even the machine, I think it's becasue of the video of my reaction to finding them.

When I found the machine I assumed it could have been filled with coins, but I didn't know for sure. Instead of opening it and filming the coins after the fact (if there were any), I decided to film the opening live on camera -- so that if there were indeed coins inside everyone could have a first hand account of what I was seeing and feeling as I discovered them.

As luck would have it the machine was indeed filled with coins and my reaction to discovering them was filmed as it happened in real time. This is what every treasure hunter dreams of - a long buried box of coins and that initial reaction of seeing that treasure spill out of that box for the first time. I think this got banner simply becasue I filmed that elusive feeling of discovery that we all crave.