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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[Bigcypresshunter]

I sure can! Here are some better pics. It is perfectly round. I originally thought it was a junk meter tag, because I could only read the numbered side. The good side was heavily coral encrusted. It was not until my buddy sanded it down with sandpaper that we knew it said something. I found it with the brass spike from one of the offshore shipwrecks, 3 days after the second hurricane of 2004. I think Jeanne.

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Hiya Jeanne/bigcypresshunter. Thanks for taking the time to reply - especially with photos. : )

Just out of curiosity ...since you said the "good siide" of it (the side with the engraving) was heavily encrusted with coral ...is the back side of it absolutely blank (not even the slightest trace of the original coin's markings? Might need a really good magnifier to spot any. Even a minimal marking-trace could help to establish the item's century-of-origin.

And as a course-of-last-resort... criminologists can sometimes "bring out" filed-off serial numbers on guns. Just a thought. : )

Regards,
TheCannonballGuy

 

[SomeGuy]

The good side was heavily coral encrusted.

How heavily? Is it possible that you can narrow down which century it's from by comparing the amount of coral to the growth rate of coral?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

The good side was heavily coral encrusted.

How heavily? Is it possible that you can narrow down which century it's from by comparing the amount of coral to the growth rate of coral?

It had about the same amount that is on the tip of the 1715 spike in the pic that I found it with. The nail must have been in a timber with only the tip sticking out where it broke off. The tag/token must have been stuck to something where the one side was clean.

CannonBall, my name is not Jeanne. I meant the hurricane Jeanne.
I will try to look with magnifier but it has some corrosion. I remember how disappointed I was because it being thin and the numbers looked just like a galvanized metal meter tag.

 

[Klaatu]

bigcypress,

I had another thought about narrowing down the origin of the coin: Does it have a reeded edge (like a modern quarter) or is is smooth? I don't know about Spanish coins of that era but the US quarters in the 1840s had reeded edges. Perhaps someone else will know what kind of edge the Spanish coins had.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Hey-hey-hey, Klaatu! I gotta say that's a very good insight for deducing a foreign coin's origin! I'm kicking myself for not remembering that clue.

I dug a 1797 Spanish 2-reales silver coin (the forerunner of the American quarter-dollar) at Fredericksburg VA about 20 years ago. If I recall correctly (though I might not), Spanish coins of that size (and up) had edge-designs on them, to dissuade illegal coin-shaving. It's too late at night for me to get that coin out of storage and check it, but I'll do so tomorrow morning.

Regards,
TheCannonballGuy

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It appears to be smooth. There may be something left from the wear but I will need to look closer. I would say that it does NOT appear to be a 1944 quarter by the edge design. Thanks.

BTW It was a late 1700's Spanish coin that i used in the payphone years ago that night i was broke down in the middle of nowhere when the phone ate my only quarter. I wonder what the guy thought who emptied that phone?

 

[Roadquest]

Thats very interesting, I

 

[scoutjim99]

http://wcsdeals.com/tokens_us/love.htm here is a sight for love tokens maybe you can find something similar i dont think it that but i can be wrong

 

[silverswede]

Just some thinking on your find. My Grandmother emigrated from Sweden in the mid 1800's and told stories of the terrible crossing the Atlantic, and of the people that died, especially children. They were buried at sea in improvised coffins. could this possiblely be a marker made for that occasion. If so there could be records.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

silverswede and scoutjim, I originally thought it to be a coffin tag and was told this by amateur archies. But I just don't know for sure. I can find no match of birth and death records even though I have the full name. I think ID of the back side to be the key.
What makes this coffin tag/love token special is where I found it on those Treasure Beaches, with all those shipwrecks. If not for two consecutive hurricanes, this would still remain buried under 5-10 feet of sand. I think its possible to have come from a failed settlement in 1840 driven away in 1850 by Indian hostilities. I did find a Hall on the 1850 Indian River census. But I just don't know. There were many Halls in the British Colonies. But no Joann in 1843-44. There was one born in Virginia with a different spelling.
Thanks for your interest,
BCyHunter

 

[dg39]

From dealing with Victorian jewerly for the past 25 years, It is the engraving style that was used during the 1800's into the early 1900's..
I am 75% sure it is from that time period. Probably a charm that the mother wore in memory of her child. Very interesting item even in the condition it is in. A unique find.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

From dealing with Victorian jewerly for the past 25 years, It is the engraving style that was used during the 1800's into the early 1900's..
I am 75% sure it is from that time period. Probably a charm that the mother wore in memory of her child. Very interesting item even in the condition it is in. A unique find.

dg39, I am posting a better pic of the back side. Do you recognize this engraving style? Maybe someone can zoom in on one letter or blow it up for me to get a closer look. I don't know how. Thanks.

 

[coinshooter]

Hey Bigcypresshunter,
I disagree with the mortician who told you it wasn't a crematory tag.

"A creamationist told me it is not a creamation tag".

You found it on the beach right?

I find these all the time (albeit, modern ones, but just the same, still crematory tags). People come to the beach to throw the ashes into the water or they throw them from offshore in a boat. Winter storms move the sand in an either deposit these on the beach or they are rolled in with the close surf.

 

[coinshooter]

Here's another one I picked up on the beach.
While not as specific as yours, that's probably a reflection of changing times more than anything.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Hey Bigcypresshunter,
I disagree with the mortician who told you it wasn't a crematory tag.

"A creamationist told me it is not a creamation tag".

You found it on the beach right?

I find these all the time (albeit, modern ones, but just the same, still crematory tags). People come to the beach to throw the ashes into the water or they throw them from offshore in a boat. Winter storms move the sand in an either deposit these on the beach or they are rolled in with the close surf.

Thanks for your opinion coinshooter and nice finds. Yours are stainless steel, right. Silver would burn up, and there were no cremations in 1844. We kinda been through all of this on my original post. That was our original thought. It is kinda long, but you can maybe just read the beginning at http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,19394.0.html
There is a certain style to the engraved numbers if I could get it blown up.

 

[DigEmAll]

Big CH, I have stayed out of this one because I have no idea what your tag is. I do have an idea that I thought I would toss out onto the table though.

Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way.

Go with me here...

It is 1943, you are about to be sent off to die in in the war in Europe. You decide to take a final vacation to go see the ocean that you have never seen. You meet the girl of your dreams, but both of you know that it will only be a couple days of bliss. (I checked, these days were a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.) You live it up and she decides to give you a token to remember her by.

Two years later, you finish you duty and return to find this girl you left. You go back to where she lived in Lakecity, only to discover that she has married and has a baby. So you return to the beach where you met... and toss the token that she gave you when she said she'd always remember you!


This story has a thousand different versions, but it can always play out with the token in the surf.

Just an idea for you guys to kick around.

 

[DigEmAll]

By the way...

If this was 1844, the days would have been Firday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Big CH, I have stayed out of this one because I have no idea what your tag is. I do have an idea that I thought I would toss out onto the table though.

Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way.

Go with me here...

It is 1943, you are about to be sent off to die in in the war in Europe. You decide to take a final vacation to go see the ocean that you have never seen. You meet the girl of your dreams, but both of you know that it will only be a couple days of bliss. (I checked, these days were a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.) You live it up and she decides to give you a token to remember her by.

Two years later, you finish you duty and return to find this girl you left. You go back to where she lived in Lakecity, only to discover that she has married and has a baby. So you return to the beach where you met... and toss the token that she gave you when she said she'd always remember you!


This story has a thousand different versions, but it can always play out with the token in the surf.

Just an idea for you guys to kick around.

Good idea. I just can't figure why on this beach? There was a small(about 200 people) settlement in 1843. All gone by 1850.
Even in 1943 these beaches were used for military training with live bombs. Not a beach to take a swim (unless you were a Navy Seal).
I cannot find a match in 1943-44. If you are right there should be a Florida birth record of JoAnn L. Hall around the 1920's. If anyone knows how to check birth records please help. It might be too common a name.
But what do the numbers mean? Maybe a 1944 phone number?
Maybe owner returned after the war to the beach he trained on?
If these dates are not birth and death, then I may never find this Hall.

 

[rabajohn]

I do not have much knowledge about this type of stuff but could the token script actually be: "To: Ann L. Hall" instead of "Jo-Ann L. Hall"? A love gift from someone to her? I can picture a sailor who only had 3 days with her and gave it to her for a momento before heading back out to sea.