First hunt at new permission - flat buttons and token

[Tommy G]

Yesterday I took my first swing at a new permission, a 1796 home built by the descendants of a French Huguenot family that came to America in the late 1600's. The owner showed me a 1758 8 real coin found inside a wall years ago when they were remodeling. The the current owner has been in the home for the past 24 years and told me no one has been on the property metal detecting during that time. It was drizzling rain most of the day, but the 60 degree temp made it bearable and there was no way I was going to sit at home with this new permission calling for me. I was out there about four hours and had no problem finding some goodies - pocket watch parts, pieces of harmonica reeds, a D buckle frame, 5 flat buttons, two brass tacks, a two piece button with a nice design, a small escutcheon/key hole cover, and a token.




The token is rather unique in that it appears to be a sample made by a company that makes tokens. Around the hole punch, you can see the word "COPYRIGHTED", and a partial date at the bottom of 189?. I think the last number is 7, but the token was laying next to some old scrap iron and has rust deposits blurring some of the detail. On the reverse, the company name again is interrupted by the hole punch "A.W. H_NER's". Then the words, "A METHOD OF SOLICITING TRADE FOR BUSINESS FIRMS". I have it soaking in some CLR hoping to get some of the remaining rust spots off of it, but that is the visible detail for now.

The property in on about 30 acres, so needless to say, there are many more hunts ahead! Good luck to all.

 

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[trapperart]

Congrats on your finds and good luck with future hunts

 

[idahotokens]

Nice find! That is Hanmer, as in Alfred W. Hanmer. The token was first listed as being from Chicago, but with no supporting evidence. Subsequently, Rulau's United States Tokens book claimed Detroit. Hanmer is indeed listed in the 1900 Census as being there when the census was taken. He was a "commercial traveler" meaning traveling salesman. Then an ad for his business in an 1897 reference was that pretty well firms up the Richmond, VA attribution, and you having found it in that area makes that more certain.

The way his scheme worked was akin to "S & H Green Stamps" and other such promotions. When a merchant subscribed to his plan, they got a supply of the tokens. When a customer purchased something from the merchant, he/she would get a token corresponding to the amount spent. The customer could save up the tokens and "purchase" items from a selection, probably illustrated in a catalog that the merchant would have.

John in the Great 208

 

[Loco-Digger]

Congrats on those finds. I really like the token. 30 acres, I can see you will be busy for quite some time.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice relic hunt, cool button!

 

[Steve in PA]

Looks like a nice new permission with some great potential. That key hole cover is actually the face of a small "mickey mouse" padlock, so called because of the two ears that resemble Mickey Mouse. These date from about 1780 to 1820 or so.

 

[Scrappy]

Looks promising. You should check the property for remnants of an older house. Good luck

 

[Tommy G]

Nice find! That is Hanmer, as in Alfred W. Hanmer. The token was first listed as being from Chicago, but with no supporting evidence. Subsequently, Rulau's United States Tokens book claimed Detroit. Hanmer is indeed listed in the 1900 Census as being there when the census was taken. He was a "commercial traveler" meaning traveling salesman. Then an ad for his business in an 1897 reference was that pretty well firms up the Richmond, VA attribution, and you having found it in that area makes that more certain.

The way his scheme worked was akin to "S & H Green Stamps" and other such promotions. When a merchant subscribed to his plan, they got a supply of the tokens. When a customer purchased something from the merchant, he/she would get a token corresponding to the amount spent. The customer could save up the tokens and "purchase" items from a selection, probably illustrated in a catalog that the merchant would have.

John in the Great 208

Fantastic, Idaho. Makes perfect sense as this was found about 20 miles west of Richmond. Thanks for the great research!

 

[Tommy G]

Congrats on those finds. I really like the token. 30 acres, I can see you will be busy for quite some time.

Thanks, Loco. I am excited about this permission. Just a few hours so far with good results, so looking forward to more hunts.

 

[Tommy G]

Looks like a nice new permission with some great potential. That key hole cover is actually the face of a small "mickey mouse" padlock, so called because of the two ears that resemble Mickey Mouse. These date from about 1780 to 1820 or so.

Thanks for the ID, Steve. Funny thing - when I first pulled this out of the hole, I thought Mickey Mouse?

 

[Tommy G]

Looks promising. You should check the property for remnants of an older house. Good luck

Definitely part of my plan, Scrappy. The owner has also showed me the main dump area deep in the woods, so plenty of exploring to do here.

 

[Wildcat1750]

Congrats on the unique token and getting permission for many potentially great hunts to come!