Erosion Layer Pre-Dating Stay-On Tabs

[Chasin OneWays]

This is one for the record books.  Not very fruitfull yet but im still working area.  This was a 4HR hunt and didnt dig 1 stay-tab!

The gold ring has a date of 1969 engraved. Unfortunately its only .375 gold.  

The condos on this beach were built around 1980.

Also no legible dates on any of the coins.

[Chasin OneWays]

I thought this was a neat find. Grok says:

That’s a vintage aluminum pull-tab from a beer or soda can — specifically an early “beavertail” style pull-tab, 1962–1965-ish.

Key clues:

Classic wide, rounded “beaver tail” shape (the wide part you pulled on).

The ring is still attached (most people ripped the whole tab off back then).

Stamped “L & S” on the tail — that stands for Leyse Aluminum Company (or sometimes Leyse & Sons), Manitowoc, Wisconsin. They were one of the very first companies to manufacture aluminum pull-tabs for beer/soda cans when they were introduced in the early 1960s.

Early tabs (1962–approx 1965) were often marked with the aluminum supplier or manufacturer. By 1966–67 most were blank or had the brewery name instead.

This exact style is a dead giveaway for the very first generation of removable aluminum pull-tabs. They started showing up on test-market cans in 1962 (Pittsburgh Brewing/Iron City was the first), went national on some brands in 1963–64, and by 1965 almost every aluminum can had them.

So you just dug one of the oldest types of pull-tabs there is — literally the marker that starts the “pull-tab era.” Finding one still attached to the ring and marked “L & S” is a really nice early example. That’s a textbook 1962–1965 drop, perfect confirmation that the layer you’re in truly pre-dates the big pull-tab explosion (most of the millions of tabs people dig are unmarked 1967–1976 ones).

 

the picture with my finds is blurry and you cant see the ring well.

[okara gold]

That's a nice looking solid ring and a great story on the pull tab. 

[Gold Seeker]

Congratulations on the gold!!

Can you tell us what a "stay-tab" is, this is the first I've heard that phrase? 

[F350Platinum]

Great hunt, Chasin. 🏆 Congrats on the gold.

I often find those War of 1812 or earlier tabs, in farms and on my old beaches. Some date back to Roman times. 😏

Seriously though, skipping all "stay-tabs" (I understand what you mean) is probably not a good idea, many detectors put them in the same range as gold and some other valuable objects. The Deus 2 is rather notorious for that, although if you have a trained ear you can skip aluminum sometimes.

It's a shame people pull off the tabs designed to stay on. 😵

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

Beautiful Gold!! Nothing wrong with 9k, a Keeper for sure! 

I've been blessed on the pull tabs, rarely do I find any.. they sure sound good and always fool me. 

[Knomad]

14 hours ago, Gold Seeker said:

Can you tell us what a "stay-tab" is, this is the first I've heard that phrase? 

I would say it is the pull tabs that do not pull off, like used on all such cans these days.

I am old enough to remember when within just a couple of years after the first pull tabs came out virtually all beaches and parks were seriously littered with those tabs that came off.!  AND they were actually Dangerously Sharp, so were Outlawed, but not soon enough to keep people from slicing many a foot..!  It's amazing how many we detect even after Decades.!

[Gold Seeker]

10 hours ago, Knomad said:

I would say it is the pull tabs that do not pull off, like used on all such cans these days.

I am old enough to remember when within just a couple of years after the first pull tabs came out virtually all beaches and parks were seriously littered with those tabs that came off.!  AND they were actually Dangerously Sharp, so were Outlawed, but not soon enough to keep people from slicing many a foot..!  It's amazing how many we detect even after Decades.!

I assumed that's what he was talking about but I have never heard them called that, just wanted him to clarify on what seems to be a made up phrase.

[CalReg]

Always nice to hear someone having a good hunt at the beach...congrats!