✅ SOLVED I dont think this is "the" KKK, but what might it be?

[TrpnBils]

I don't think this is "the" KKK, but what might it be?

I dug this at a homesite that's on my 1876 map in Pennsylvania but the house has been gone since at least the 40's. Came up as a 12-46/47 on my Etrac, it is not magnetic, is about the same thickness as a quarter, but is between the size of a quarter and a half dollar.

The front side (pictured) has what appears to be three chain links (they definitely overlap like a chain would even though the picture doesn't show it too well) and has the letters KKK clearly stamped underneath. The back is bare and smooth.

I can't see it being a cattle tag or something like that as there's no hole to attach it with, and just for the heck of it I looked up designs of KKK tokens and coins and it didn't match anything I found. Any thoughts? If it's somebody's initials, they don't match any of the land records I have for either of the two homesteads that were there (which are in the middle of nowhere).

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[L.C. BAKER]

I don't see how it could be that based on the size alone, unless I'm missing something here...

Perhaps it is the same thing made of a different style of penny?

L.C.

The Peace Democrats accepted the label, reinterpreting the copper "head" as the likeness of Liberty, which they cut from copper pennies and proudly wore as badges......it does not specify the type of penny exactly in the info. It does explain what they did it for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copperhead_(politics)

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[L.C. BAKER]

I don't see how it could be that based on the size alone, unless I'm missing something here...

I think it is the same thing made from a different cent than I pictured.

L.C.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

I see the liberty face outline, and I have terrible vision. I am voting LC.... if it is the correct weight and diameter. You could always scratch it to see if it is copper.

GL&HH.

The Liberty face would make sence as that was what they wanted to express.

L.C.

 

[DCMatt]

Context of a quote from gollum:

"KKK...never hid from ANYBODY what they stood for.

This may be true for the early, reconstruction era klan, but IMO, does not necessarily apply to the klan of the early 20th C.

Here is an excerpt from - [h=1]Steel Valley Klan: The Ku Klux Klan in Ohio's Mahoning Valley[/h]By William D. Jenkins

 

[TrpnBils]

I think it is the same thing made from a different cent than I pictured.

L.C.

I was at work when I replied to that before so I didn't get time to read through the whole thing, but I see what you're saying. Were they normally cut out like that?

This was one of my all-time favorite threads on this forum.

BTW- Where was this relic found in PA? Western? The KKK had a very significant membership in the mid-west in the 1920's and western PA is pretty darn close...

DCMatt

Western PA, yes

 

[TrpnBils]

Also, I do have about 10 pictures I'm working on uploading. Some of the details stand out more, but they are still clearer in person.... just trying to figure out the best way to do it and still be able to comment individually on each one to point out what I see in person.

 

[TrpnBils]

Okay so here's what I've got.... I'm going to upload this in two parts: The originals, and then the originals with my crude references to what I see in person. These were taken with a microscope/camera I have at work. I tried to get various lighting setups and magnifications in case they matter. The stamps are more noticeable if the coin has been wet down, but the details from the coin are much more visible if it's totally dry.

Photo 1: The coin in question alongside a Matron head and Braided hair variety I had in my collection from when I was a kid. You can see it a little here, but the coin in question is noticeably (but only slightly) larger in diameter than the braided hair cent and is thinner. It matches up perfectly with the matron head variety.


Photo 2: Obverse - head detail barely visible


Photo 3: Obverse - head detail more visible


Photo 4: Obverse - head detail barely visible (high lighting and wet/dried)


Photo 5: Obverse


Photo 6: Obverse (wanted to see if I could get even a hint of a date...I can't)


Photo 7: Reverse (RICA partially visible on the right in the 4:00ish position where it should be for either type of large cent. Note its proximity to the edge of the coin. I think it's more in line with the distance from the rim from the matron head variety).


Photo 8: Extreme close up of the letters visible on the reverse


Photo 9: Letters RICA on the reverse (the R and A only partially visible). Oriented so that the letters are at the top now.

 

[TrpnBils]

The comparisons. For some of the reverse shots, take a step back from your monitor if you can't see it:

 

[jeff of pa]

By size stated & Style visible there is no doubt it is an early Matron Head type Large Cent.

I have noticed in some pics it looks like RKK (see Photo 2 above)
But I'm going with that's environmental damage on the first K
& no matter what some peoples opinion of the Klan is,
it is still a Historical relic, I'd Love to find

 

[TrpnBils]

The first K is definitely the weakest - I thought it was an H at first when I dug it, but take a look at Photo 6 in the first picture post there...you can definitely see the separation in between the lines on the top

 

[jeff of pa]

The first K is definitely the weakest - I thought it was an H at first when I dug it, but take a look at Photo 6 in the first picture post there...you can definitely see the separation in between the lines on the top

Yes I saw the H possibility (on your original pic)& I also saw Photo 6 Proof of a K

 

[L.C. BAKER]

are the symbols stamped into it, because they look like they are raised in the photos?

curious, L.C.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

I was at work when I replied to that before so I didn't get time to read through the whole thing, but I see what you're saying. Were they normally cut out like that?



Western PA, yes

I have seen them both ways. There was a company / jeweler that actually advertised in the paper and sold some he made with a lapel pin on them. I have seen home made ones that had more of a tie tack style pin on them that were not cut out. If the emblems are raised on this coin, it would leave me to believe it is a replica cent made by a jeweler for the K.K.K. / I.O.O.F. There are men that we have identified in both organisations in Nebraska City and there were Knight's Templar and Freemasons also in the I.O.O.F. As far as the K.G.C. goes, Logan Enyart's old town house which is now a mortuary was the meeting place of the first K.K.K. in Nebraska City. The Enyart monument is the one I have pictured with the crescent moon of the K.G.C. below the Masonic emblem.
L.C.

 

[TrpnBils]

are the symbols stamped into it, because they look like they are raised in the photos?

curious, L.C.

stamped in - I noticed that in the photos too but it's just an optical illusion of some sort!

 

[TrpnBils]

Another neat wrinkle to this story - in talking with my grandfather again, I mentioned the IOOF stamp on there and he asked if I had ever seen the IOOF poster he has framed hanging in his house. I remember seeing it, but didn't make the connection until he mentioned it again because I never knew what the IOOF was or what it stood for. When they were cleaning out the house that his father lived in before they tore it down this past summer, they pulled out a bunch of stuff that's still in the family (books, advertisements for his business, etc). My uncle found this poster for the IOOF "Orphans' Picnic" with a date printed on it. I don't remember the exact date, but it was 1928 sometime... either way, it's been framed since then and is hanging in my grandparents' house now. Kinda cool!

I won't be up there again until around Christmas, but I'll try to remember to get a picture of it when I go back.

 

[SeabeeRon]

WOW!! This has been a really interesting thread except for all the "Off Topic" filler!
To the OP, that is an awesome find, full of history!

 

[Turbo21]

I think a nice dip in peroxide will clean it up and bring A lot more details forward. Cool find