Idaho Mining Town Finds

[Gerry in Idaho]

Spud Digger invited me to a Private Property hunt last weekend with about 25 other diggers.  The site goes back to the 1860's.  Now I wish all the finds were dated then, but the cabins were used and lived in in the 1900's Depression era too.  Yes we find the occasional wheat cent from the 30's, but that is ok.  We also get hunt the mining piles for gold nuggets, which makes this exact place a fun hunt for those who enjoy a variety.

Anyway, my oldest US coin on this hunt was an 1890 Indian Head cent, as well as a couple Chinese Cache coins, a lead soldier on a horse, a coin size sterling flower piece, a cute little shoe bottom (either a child or a Chinamen?).  Also recovered the normal suspender clasps, buckles and a few eye candy glass buttons.  Even a non metal knife sharpener was spotted in one of my digs.

One of my favorite finds besides the "Idaho City, Idaho" token (I love local history saves), was the tire pressure gauge.

But the best find of the trip by anyone (at least in my opinion) was the 1918 State of Idaho Chauffeur #1159 Badge.  Part of what made this find so unique is the lady digger who found it, was sifting for bottles and not even using a detector.  If anyone can share some light on the badge, please let us know.

 

[beatup]

The chauffeur,s license is a great find.

[Gerry in Idaho]

20 hours ago, beatup said:

The chauffeur,s license is a great find.

I personally thought it was the best find of the hunt by anyone.  What was so much more impressive is the Lady Digger found it without a detector.  I've only dug 2 Chauffeur badges in my 40+ years and both are Idaho too...Glad you liked it as well.

[goldbrick]

Looks like a fun hunt. The chauffeur's badge is awesome. Congrats to the lady.

[Againstmywill]

1918 Idaho Laws 

https://books.google.com/books?id=qZNCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA394&lpg=PA394&dq=Chauffeur+badges+idaho&source=bl&ots=nVD0MwKOlx&sig=ACfU3U0lwS03p_KXYmqDfMkKc38kcBm2kA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifmcDKpObiAhXwc98KHVreAiIQ6AEwF3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Badge&f=false

[Gerry in Idaho]

Thanks for sharing Againstmywill.  Very nice research find.

[Horst]

great finds, Gerry! I have 2 headless lead horsemen you've got the headless horse. If we breed those we'll get some intact ones :-)

[IdahoPeg]

Some great finds!

[alaskaseeker]

Nice variety of finds for sure. Great hunt..