First Buffalo Nickel, Cool Old Religios Medal, a Few Wheaties & Other Stuff......

[Garrett424]

So I was finally able to get back to my sweet silver spot. Neither of my sons could go so I went by myself. I wasn't lonely for long because every kid between 5 and 10; both boys and girls, followed me around the entire time I was there; about a dozen or so.

Unfortunately, no silver appeared but I did manage to find a couple of cool things.

I FINALLY found my 1st. Buffalo Nickel. It's unreadable and overall, it's in terrible shape and although you may not be able to tell from the pic, it's still a Buff'.

Front:

And Back:

I think I'll take an SOS pad to it to see what I can bring out. I'm not worried about messing it up 'cause it's already pretty much destroyed. I'll post pics when I'm done just to show that the above corroded mess actually IS a Buffalo Nickel. These pics make it look worse than it actually is. You can see the buffalo on the back and a few letters but the front is pretty much toasted at this point.

I also found a cool old St. Gabriel, "Oro Pro Nobis" (pray for us) medal, made in France. I have no idea what kind of metal it is or it's age but it's pretty heavy for it's size and in really great shape:



I looked online but so far have not been able to find one like it. I did find a silver plated one that was similar and was selling for 60 bucks so mine may be a winner.

I found a bunch of the usual clad and Zincoln's (not shown), two Wheaties (1940 & one unreadable at this point), a stainless dog tag style cross, another old federal 12 gauge shell cap, an old tag with the number "142" on it, an Adventure Park USA Token, a 1942 nickel that isn't 35% silver and a junk kid's bracelet:



That's about it. I only had about 2 1/2 hours to hunt and was only able to hit the water where I dug the Buffalo and one Wheatie for maybe 1/2 hour. I have to say I do enjoy water hunting. Unfortunately it was hard because I had no scoop and had to scoop the mud by hand. I plan on rectifying that situation later today when I finish drilling my home made scoop.

I have to say I was a tad disappointed that no silver appeared but overall I had a really great time. The weather was great, the water warm and it was a beautiful day.

Kids (and dogs) always seem to gravitate toward me pretty much everywhere I go and yesterday was no exception. Their moms were all really nice and very thankful that I took the time to talk to them and let them follow me around. I handed out a bunch of clad to each of the kids and they all left happy and wanting metal detectors for their birthdays and Christmas.

That's about it.
Thanks for lookin' & HH.

 

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[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on knocking the Buffalo off your bucket list.

 

[OBN]

You've been killing the old stuff of late. Good Hunt..

 

[weasel606]

Congrats on the finds and having fun with the kids Great hunt

 

[Old Dude]

Nice job with the kids and congrats on all the finds!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Congrats on the Buff and lots if nice finds and new friends!
Job well done Mr. Ambassador!

 

[Loco-Digger]

Congrats on pulling your first Buffalo I found mine about 40 miles away (as the crow flies) at an old defunct Army Ammo Depot. I can you to the exact spot I dug it last summer. Good luck on cleaning it up.

 

[bwirth1999]

Not that I am questioning your judgement, but why would a silver buffalo have that much degradation and corrosion? That doesn't make sense.

Also, it looks as though it is almost the same size as the wheatie you found...

 

[NEPADIGGER7]

Great job man nothing like pulling a buff from the dirte! Keep up the good work let's see some v and shield nickels!

 

[Garrett424]

Not that I am questioning your judgement, but why would a silver buffalo have that much degradation and corrosion? That doesn't make sense.

Also, it looks as though it is almost the same size as the wheatie you found...

It's not silver; it's nickel and it's been buried at the bottom of a muddy lake for decades. Once I scrub it with an SOS pad you'll see what lies beneath.

Those are two Wheaties side by side in that pic; one 1940 and one unreadable; hence the identical size.

Here's a toasted, 1899 V Nickel I dug last year about 8 inches down in disgusting black dirt from the floor of an old cave, before the SOS treatment:



And after (still toasty and badly pitted but a huge difference nonetheless):



Nickel can and does degrade. I promise there's a Buff under all of that lake crud. How it looks I do not know at this point.

Nickel is really hard and using an SOS pad really works well and doesn't destroy it. I wouldn't recommend doing it on a key date coin or anything. Always check first to make sure you don't have a super rare coin. If not, and if the coin is worthless anyway, scrub away and watch the image emerge. It can take a good 10-15 minutes per side on a badly toasted coin.

 

[RJ55]

Nice going on the buff. The kids will probably remember this day forever.

 

[Garrett424]

The kids will probably remember this day forever.

I was thinking the same thing. They were all really nice kids and it was one of those great summer days at the lake.
A few of the girls seemed way more interested than most the boys, which surprised me a bit.

I gave one 9 year old girl a few old .22 shells and you would have thought I gave her the moon. She was so gracious; really smart too. She asked lots of good questions including how much a decent detector costs and where to get the best deals.

 

[Erik in NJ]

The tag is your find of the day there brother It's known as a "tool tag." Probably dates to the latter 1800s.

 

[against the wind]

Congrats on the Buffalo. After your S.O.S
treatment, put that bad boy in a coin folder and mark it 1st Buffalo.

 

[Garrett424]

The tag is your find of the day there brother It's known as a "tool tag." Probably dates to the latter 1800s.

Really?? I had no idea.

Thanks for the info.

I figured it was old but had no clue what it was.
So what was it for exactly??

 

[Erik in NJ]

As the name implies they were used for check tools out and in from a repository. There's a bit more to their use as I believe some were carried upon the person. Try Googling "tool tags" and hopefully there will be some salient information. They are always a very nice historical find.

 

[sutphin]

GARRETT NICE ST.?GABREL MEDALLION YOU HAVE THERE.

 

[Garrett424]

GARRETT NICE ST.?GABREL MEDALLION YOU HAVE THERE.

Yeah, I really like that one. It's in amazing shape too for being buried under that mud and water.
Thanks.