July 4,1855 Temperance token and Almanzo Wilder

[Roger Mn.]

Well I decided to go to Spring Valley and see what I could find. I was driving through town and see the street torn up and pull over and start detecting. I get in front of this house and see a women in the yard so I go talk to her and get permission to detect the ditch that is all torn up just to avoid any problems. I told her I wouldn't dig in any grass just were the dirt was scraped and she said it was OK. We talked for awhile and she said that Almanzo Wilder and Laura had lived there in 1890's and the barn was older than that and the house was not the house back then but newer.I told her I would love to detect the whole place but didn't say anything, just smiled.
Well I got to swinging and found 2 1940 wheat's and some copper wire and had to move for awhile so the bulldozer could scrape the ditch. When it was done I went back over it and found the small buckle and then the commemorative token. There is a Wilder Museum in Spring Valley, Mn. and when I got there it was closing.
http://www.springvalleymnmuseum.org/wilderwilder.html
roger

 

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[Roger Mn.]

Re: July 4,1855 and Almanzo Wilder

Almanzo was born in Melon, New York February 13,1857 and his father could have brought this token with him and lost it in the ditch.
Make sure you click this http://www.springvalleymnmuseum.org/wilderwilder.html and look at the barn picture at the bottom.

 

[Swingit]

Re: July 4,1855 and Almanzo Wilder

Thats Cool

 

[Roger Mn.]

Re: July 4,1855 and Almanzo Wilder

That's Cool

Thanks Swingit. I think this place is on the National Register of Historical Places. Guess that's why I didn't get permission to detect the whole farm.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Quick thinking on your part Roger, considering it would have been buried
under 4" of concrete for the next 50 years if you hadn't stopped.
Love the Temperance token, very unique!

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Now that's a great save Roger!

Very nice token

 

[Roger Mn.]

Quick thinking on your part Roger, considering it would have been buried
under 4" of concrete for the next 50 years if you hadn't stopped.
Love the Temperance token, very unique!

Thanks Antiquarian. It was found in the ditch. All the grass was removed and I had to get out of the way for the bulldozer and had to move my detector or it was going to get buried.

 

[drplaztics]

Finding that token to me is better than finding a coin ( so much history and tokens are much more rare also ).
An awesome item to display or collect!!!

 

[Roger Mn.]

Now that's a great save Roger!

Very nice token

Thanks 4-H. If the lady hadn't been there to talk with ,all that would have gotten posted would have been just the token. I wouldn't have known any history.
It's strange how things work out.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Quick thinking on your part Roger, considering it would have been buried
under 4" of concrete for the next 50 years if you hadn't stopped.
Love the Temperance token, very unique!

Thanks Antiquarian. It was found in the ditch. All the grass was removed and I had to get out of the way for the bulldozer and had to move my detector or it was going to get buried.

Still . . . quick thinking on your part and rewarded with a cool find!

 

[Minrelica]

I love the MN finds!!!

Awesome.

P.S. Did you find the gold coins last year in MN as well??

 

[Dman]

The token is a great find.
Congrats.
Dman

 

[Tennessee Treasure Hunter]

Awesome finds Congratulations
TTH

 

[Roger Mn.]

Thanks all

 

[ecole43015]

Thank you so much for sharing this story. I just ran across one of the 1855 New York tokens in some stuff my grand dad left to me. I have only found a couple of threads on different sites about this token I have read a lot about it. I was completely floored when I read the above about Almonzo Wilder and the find on his old property. What are the ods of he and I sharing a Birthday and I have a token just like the one you found.
Do these hold any value at all?

 

[justdon]

That is simply awesome.Congrats.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Great find! The Laura Ingalls Wilder series are the books that made me fall in love with reading.How lucky you are to have searched such a great place.

 

[jewelerguy]

that token makes me want a beer

 

[ecole43015]

Well after a night of heavy research on this thing it does not appear that I will be retiring on my find in grand dads old man box but it certainly is a very cool coin with a cooler history. So into a protective case it goes and into the safe. Maybe my Grand children can retire on it LOL.. Have a great week everyone.