War Nickel And ? At Local Park

[Againstmywill]

Today I went to the place in a local park where I have recovered many old iron relics. There is likely still a literal ton of iron under the turf. We have had a good amount of rain in FL, so digging down 10-12 inches is not as horrible as it had been about a month back. Because the area is about 100 ft away from the tracks, I believe the area had been used as a railroad scrap pile because of the heavy-duty iron pieces that have come out of the ground. I have included two such pieces in the pics and would be interested to know if anyone knows what they are.

The nickel came out from about 10" so caked with sand that it looked like a button.

As usual: Equinox, 15" coil, Park 1, recovery 5, all metal.

[CPT_GhostLight]

My guess is possibly bearings or the rollers from large wooden sliding doors like on a boxcar or barn.

[Againstmywill]

6 hours ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

My guess is possibly bearings

Thanks for the journey down the rabbit hole looking at PDFs and websites of railroad bearing types and applications... something I had never really thought about before. 🤯

[GB_Amateur]

12 hours ago, Againstmywill said:

The nickel came out from about 10" so caked with sand that it looked like a button.

Is that what your Warnicks typically look like from the dry sand?  Do you think it's been exposed to ocean water for a long period?  Mine often look nicer than any I've ever gotten from circulation.  Soil and water chemistry at play once again.

[schoolofhardNox]

At the beach, war nickels can be caked with black (tar like) corrosion. Generally in regular dirt they come out fairly shiny silver. Yours looks like it was sitting in water for a long period of time, mimicking beach conditions. The other option is that it actual is tar from parking lot construction dirt.

[Againstmywill]

Deep silver often comes out of our sandy, shell-sprinkled soil looking like this. I'm quite sure that there was fill added to the field from either the gulf or bay. So, salt water, no. Salty sand, yes.

[Againstmywill]

Here is a pic of a half dollar found deep as well.