🥇 BANNER First cache

[ResurrectedVirginia]

Found at a house built in 1840. I dug this up and heard it rattling around. My imagination set in and I thought there must of been a couple quarters inside or maybe even a ring?? I tried to open it but dirt and corrosion said no. Brought it home. Couldn't get to it for a couple days and then finally it was time to open it. I took a dental pick and scored the seam where the 2 pieces close and then ran it under some water for a minute. It popped right open and then I saw what was inside. 2 stamps and 3 wheat pennies. The pennies are badly corroded but one of them is legible with a 1920 date. I think the other 2 are also from the early 20's. The stamps are George Washington 2 cents stamps. They were made 1922 - 1925!!!! So this make up compact was lost some time around then.

 

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[coinman123]

I think it's great that a find like this can make it to the banner. It isn't worth thousands or even hundreds of dollars, but it was cool. It reminds us all that you never know what you might find while you're detecting.

I agree, IMO value does not matter much in a great find. This find may not be worth millions, but it is certainly one of the coolest things I have seen one here (what isn't cool about finding perfectly preserved stamps and some old coins inside of a compact that has not been opened in 90 years??) Whenever I find a closed container I hope something in it, all I find is dirt though. I was very happy to see this on the banner, it completely deserved it!

Coinman123,

 

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[wv hilljack]

Great find! thanks for sharing the story behind it.

 

[swamp yankee]

Congrats on a great find,may the next one be full of nice yellow/silver coins which ever you like. Best of luck in the new year! HH

 

[MichiganMan]

Personally I think the two GW stamps that are still together would be a great addition to any stamp collection--along with the story of course.

 

[ResurrectedVirginia]

I have finally got around to pulling years of the coins. Here they are.

1913, 1920, 1927

 

[Erik in NJ]

the stamps are NOT cancelled. they were folded inside the compact and the top stamp became stained with the design of the bottom part.the lower stamp is stained by the one cent pieces.awesome find!!!!!!!

As an avid stamp collector I can tell you for certain that the stamps WERE cancelled and are not stained as you say. In fact they were soaked off of an envelope and even pressed to be collected. The oval shaped cancellation mark in those days was quite common and usually bore the name of the city in which it was cancelled. My guess is that a child put a few common cents with a couple common stamps in a used compact and buried it circa the late 1920s or early 1930s.