She was only 3 days old.

[Bigcypresshunter]

I posted this here last year, but have yet to positively ID. We have some new members and I could get some new thoughts. It is silver and very THIN like a tag and the size of a quarter. Its hand engraved on the front in Old English copperplate script:

Jo-Ann L. Hall
12-30-43--1-2-44

There are some official looking numbers on the back: G-1506.

The back is also hand engraved. The numbers may coincide with a US military grave plot but what cemetery?... What century?

Plot G- Row 15- Grave 06?

 

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[crashbandicoot]

It was probably mentioned over the years and at first sounds like a very good possibility. But a cremation would make it 1944. I was unable to find any record of this birth or death that matches. I would think a baby named Jo-Ann L. Hall born in the US in 1943/died 1944 would be on record. Its been years so if anybody wants to continue the search, go at it. I think we even tried variations in the spelling Joan, Joanne, Jo-Anna etc. but no match on those dates. The engraving style is old copper-script. I even matched each letter with the copperplate-script alphabet to be certain. There are some variations. I remember the L. matched perfectly and there is a dot after it. It took me a while to even realize the correct spelling. Its a known shipwreck site (both Spanish and English shipwrecks) and this may even be an English colonial burial at sea with no known records, washed up on the beach with the rest of the shipwreck debris. There was a US Army fort here for a short period in the 1840's, abandoned by Indian hostilities and there was a Hall stationed there in the census records. During WW2 it was a US Navy beach training site. Lots of possibilities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copperplate_script

I,d love to see it solved.Just for the ability to remember who she was and how she came to be here.I,m sentimental that way.

 

[Klaatu]

It may be a variation of a Love Token made from a quarter instead of a dime.

It could also be a name tag of sorts to nail to a coffin for identification.

These are just guesses.

Very interesting find.

 

[diggummup]

Maybe it's a memorial keepsake fashioned from an old coin and the numbers on the back are a grave number (G-1506) the G standing for grave? Don't know but I remember your post about it.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bigcypresshunter, I might have an answer for one of your questions. We are all presuming the item was made from a silver coin - and I think that is correct. Then you wondered about the unusual size-to-thickness ratio.

The two points I'd like to mention to you are:
When I was really young my parents took me to the State Fair. A booth there would take an ordinary US copper penny (this was prior to the copper-plated zinc ones) and feed into a small HAND-CRANKED "machine" that compressed the penny under great pressure between two metal wheels. The penny came out oval-shaped and thin - with the Lord's Prayer impressed into it.

I'd guess that a similar mechanism was used to create the "love tokens" of past eras. Except, of course, most of them don't have impressed lettering on them, but were instead engraved.

Now, regarding the size-to-weight-&-thickness issue. You assumed your love-token was made from a US coin. But if the date on it means 1843 instead of 1943, there's a high possibility the silver token was not made from US coin.

We civil-war relic hunters find a LOT of foreign coins in mid-1800s (and earlier) sites. This is because the US mints produced "comparatively" quite small amounts of coinage prior to about 1845. (Frankly, the US Treasury was still too "poor" to afford enough gold & silver bullion to make large quantities of coinage.) Therefore, people would use - and gladly accept - whatever countries' coins were available. These facts are mentioned in most US coin-collecting guidebooks.

In particular, there were still a lot of Spanish silver coins in circulation in the US in the first half of the 19th century. (Notice how many of them turn up in the "Finds" section of this forum.) And a lot of them had been worn down quite thin by many decades of circulation by the time they were lost.

Therefore, it's quite probable that your love-token was made from an old Spanish silver coin back in 1843, not a US coin.

Regards,
TheCannonballGuy

 

[Doubter in MD]

What about a cremation tag ?

Bigcypresshunter ruled out a cremation tag back in February 2006 on the first page of this thread.

 

[Sandy1devotee369]

I posted this here last year, but have yet to positively ID. We have some new members and I could get some new thoughts. It is silver and very THIN like a tag and the size of a quarter. Its hand engraved on the front in Old English copperplate script:

Jo-Ann L. Hall
12-30-43--1-2-44

There are some official looking numbers on the back: G-1506.

The back is also hand engraved. The numbers may coincide with a US military grave plot but what cemetery?... What century?

Plot G- Row 15- Grave 06?

The only thing similar that I have personally come across was related to the Masons it looked similar but different. It was a very old property marker with a G in the center also with numbers but related to its location.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Just an idea here . Have you tried any searches on one of the genealogy sites? You would be amazed at some of the information you can track down. There is one In particular I have had good luck with and it's free wikitree. Good luck.

Yea some of us tried searching and we cant find a match.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Sorry I have not posted in a while. Yes I think its possible a remembrance tag lost on the beach but the numbers on the backside seem odd for that unless its a cemetery grave number.

Great to see you back here again Big C.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I love it... a 16 year old posted mystery, that by the sounds of it still hasn't been solved.
Best of luck with finally getting your mystery disc find I.D.'d BigC.

Dave

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

I love it... a 16 year old posted mystery, that by the sounds of it still hasn't been solved.
Best of luck with finally getting your mystery disc find I.D.'d BigC.

Dave

I put it away in a safe deposit box and forgot about it until I noticed some interest of late... Its of special interest to me because I found it on the Treasure Coast. The Treasure Coast must have the cleanest beaches in the world. I was only able to find it after 2 back to back hurricanes stripped the beaches. My guess it lay buried a very long time. My guess 1844 but could be 1744 or possibly 1944. I just don't know. Its the exact size of a Spanish Reale and seems to have similar edge markings and not a reeded edge

but its also the size of a thinly shaved US silver quarter..
Jo-Ann L. Hall
12-30-43--1-2-44

 

[crashbandicoot]

I put it away in a safe deposit box and forgot about it until I noticed some interest of late... Its of special interest to me because I found it on the Treasure Coast. The Treasure Coast must have the cleanest beaches in the world. I was only able to find it after 2 back to back hurricanes stripped the beaches. My guess it lay buried a very long time. My guess 1844 but could be 1744 or possibly 1944. I just don't know. Its the exact size of a Spanish Reale and seems to have similar edge markings and not a reeded edge View attachment 2040073 View attachment 2040074 but its also the size of a thinly shaved US silver quarter..
Jo-Ann L. Hall
12-30-43--1-2-44
View attachment 2040071

I don,t know if this has been posted but how about a ID tag attached to the urn or container that held the ashes? Affixed after the cremation.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I don,t know if this has been posted but how about a ID tag attached to the urn or container that held the ashes? Affixed after the cremation.

It was probably mentioned over the years and at first sounds like a very good possibility. But a cremation would make it 1944. I was unable to find any record of this birth or death that matches. I would think a baby named Jo-Ann L. Hall born in the US in 1943/died 1944 would be on record. Its been years so if anybody wants to continue the search, go at it. I think we even tried variations in the spelling Joan, Joanne, Jo-Anna etc. but no match on those dates. The engraving style is old copper-script. I even matched each letter with the copperplate-script alphabet to be certain. There are some variations. I remember the L. matched perfectly and there is a dot after it. It took me a while to even realize the correct spelling. Its a known shipwreck site (both Spanish and English shipwrecks) and this may even be an English colonial burial at sea with no known records, washed up on the beach with the rest of the shipwreck debris. There was a US Army fort near here for a short period in the 1840's, abandoned by Indian hostilities and there was a Hall stationed there in the census records. During WW2 the beach was a US Naval Air Station, bombing and training site. Lots of possibilities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copperplate_script

 

[nagant]

the flip side seem 20th century but being silver is weird. Like a tool tag or early dog tag on one side and a memorial on the other. can you tell if it was stamped before or after the the engraving was done?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

the flip side seem 20th century but being silver is weird. Like a tool tag or early dog tag on one side and a memorial on the other. can you tell if it was stamped before or after the the engraving was done?

I thought it was a modern stamped utility tag of some sort when I first dug it from the hurricane stripped beach. Thinking it was junk, I actually gave it away. My friend sanded off the encrustation with sandpaper(yikes) revealing the name and dates. I actually had to buy it back from him. Nothing on the silver tog is stamped. Closer inspection reveals both sides are definitely hand engraved. I posted an example of this type of engraving on the previous page (refer to post #390). I should pull it out of the safe deposit box some day and take better scans and photos.


The engraved number must have meaning. My friend actually mailed it to an Archie who mailed it back believing it means Plot G- Row 15- Grave 06.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

This post is very old and my memory not the best. But I seem to remember TN researchers actually discovered a military graveyard with matching numbers Plot G- Row 15- Grave 06 . But we couldn't match the name Jo-Ann Hall. But I just thought of something. My Dad was buried in a military cemetery and my Mom's ashes were placed on top of him. Maybe this baby was buried with someone else? That would make the numbers extremely important. I would have to search back and I have 2 different threads on this subject and they are both very long and possibly too boring to read thru. https://www.treasurenet.com/threads/treasure-beach-find.10760/page-3 I did find a Sergeant Hall listed in the census at the 1840s US Army fort near the location of the find.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It may be a variation of a Love Token made from a quarter instead of a dime.

It could also be a name tag of sorts to nail to a coffin for identification.

These are just guesses.

Very interesting find.

These are good ideas that didn't come up before. It is the exact size of a quarter, but half the thickness. It seems too thin for a medallion. But if I can test the silver and it is the same composition, you would be right. And the G could stand for grave. I found it on Vero beach. Few people lived there in '44, and those beaches were used for military training. A creamationist told me it is not a creamation tag.
Are these Love Tokens you are talking about thinner than a quarter? Do they shave them down?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I have thought it to be an 18th or 19th century coffin tag until I googled "love token." It said that "ordinary coins were taken out of circulation, engraved and used to record personal events such as birth, marriage, or enforced separation. Many are momentos of affection which predate the Valentine card of the last 100 years. In historical context this habit peaked in the 18th century when the old habit of exchanging a bent or broken coin as a token of affection gave way to a new trend for giving away reworked and engraved pieces. Despite the illegality, what had been coins were indiscriminately employed for the purpose of personalized embellishment. Once worked in this way, there would be no intention of returning them to circulation. After all they had now become personal treasures".
I know there is an old Spanish silver coin with the exact dimensions of a modern quarter because I spent one in a payphone years ago.
If I can find a relative, I would like to return this to them or their decendants.

 

[stoney56]

I'm thinking it's a memorial of a baby since 12/30/43 to 1/2/44 makes it only 3 days in age.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Yes, but I cannot find out what century it is. I cannot find birth or death records in 1944 Florida records that match.