My best Barber ever!

[watercolor]

Today I met up with TreasureFiend & Twistidd at the woods. It was a perfect day for hunting
except for the mosquitos. . . yes, mosquitos. . . they were hiding under the leaves of the new
vegetation and every time you would swing your coil, they'd surface in droves.

Since the first couple of hours yielded only a 1914 Wheat and a harness bell, TF & I moved the hunt
to higher ground since Twistidd had to leave earlier than expected

After about 20-minutes, Kermit struck pay-dirt with his first Shield Nickel
With renewed hope that there were oldies still hiding, I struck silver about 5-minutes later
with a pristine 1912-D Barber Dime. . . by far in the best condition of ANY dime I have
ever found. Soon after, I found a slotted token marked with a "10" at the top and "Goetz"
at the bottom. . . any ideas?

Thanks for looking,
watercolor

 

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[dirtyJohn]

I've never seen one in better condition pulled out of the ground, congrats! That must have been dropped in 1912. You guys are killing that site. HH
John

 

[twistidd]

Barber Hill is where it's at! Read my response to Kermit's post. We need to sift that area. Definitely a hot spot. Congrats on the sharp dime! Too bad that wheat wasn't a "D". Cool little bell, too. That once area, I can't believe hot muddy it was. I still would like to go back there someday, maybe when it gets cooler and drier. Nice job!

Joe

 

[kimsdad]

Superb Barber, Mark! Congrats!!!

How did you let that one slip by you, Joe?

Interesting whatzit, too. No clue here.... But I am clueless a lot.

 

[litefire56]

WOW! That Barber is unbelievable! The token is a phone token...I dug one last year at Jackson.

http://www.gilbertweb.com/article.html

One of the earliest uses of telephone tokens was for making payment at attended pay stations. Attended pay stations were staffed offices where customers could make phone calls and then pay for the calls placed. Since the earliest pay phones had no coin slots, payment would be made to the attendant. Although it is not completely understood why tokens were used at attended pay stations, it is assumed that tokens facilitated payment in some manner.

Telephone tokens were also produced for deposit directly into the pay phone. The uses of these tokens can be classified into three main categories: to prevent the use of slugs, to substitute for local currency, and for official company use.

Security has always been a concern for any public device that requires the user to deposit money. Pay telephones are no exception. People have used anything from lower valued foreign currency to metal washers to cheat the machine. To combat those trying to cheat, security tokens have been used in telephones. The basic concept is that the pay phone had a coin slot, or some special device attached to the coin slot, which accepted only those tokens with the matching groove, punch or slot design. Thus, neither foreign currency, blank metal planchets nor washers would work. Only the appropriate security tokens could be used.

Probably the greatest example of security tokens were those manufactured by Harry Goetz, a Chicago druggist who became owner of the Yale Slot and Slug Company. From 1907 to 1944, Goetz tokens were used in abundance in the Chicago area; with 78 different patterns having been designed

 

[treasurefiend]

Awesome job bud!!!! I knew that Barber was going to be dynamite!!!!!!

 

[outlaw007]

very nice find!

 

[DPBOB]

Wow!!!

Nice condition....

That token..... You want more... I have about 25 or so... all brand new... don't know about them..

 

[d-dub]

Nice Barber Watercolor. Congrats!!

 

[Lookn4Seated]

Now thats a beatutiful dime. The token thinkgy I found one just like that a couple of weeks ago at Garfield prk. Congrats

 

[mikewaz]

That Barber's beautiful Mark.
Mike

 

[Lowbatts]

Awesome diversity of finds!
The token, yep those are them, gotten a few over the years. The bell is excellent looking as is the dime, great digs!

 

[watercolor]

Thanks guys for all the comments!

And Litefire, thanks for the link on those tokens That's the first one from Goetz I've found.

I'm looking forward to getting back out there soon. . . before the triffids take over

 

[Brett]

Mark, that's a wicked crazy nice Merc!!!!! SUPER HUGE BONZO congrats on that one!!! I saw the video too, nice stuff... you definitely made sure there were no brothers or sisters in that hole. Good job