I was happy to discover this old clover shaped saloon token in a local park. The brass token is about 25mm wide.

Charles H. Wolfe is listed in the 1906 Columbus City Directory as a bartender.

In the 1913 and 1915 Directories, Wolfe & Rowland is listed at 339 South High Street. In 1913 Wolfe lived at 335 South Monroe Avenue. In 1915 he resided at 247 South Monroe Avenue. William H. Rowland is listed as early as 1893 Directory as a bartender. In 1903 he is a partner with James H. House in the saloon located at 129 East Main Street, House & Rowland. ​In 1911, Rowland is listed as the manager (sole proprietor) of the Red Lion Cafe at 335 South High Street. 

In 1916 Wolfe & Rowland is listed at 336 South High Street. Wolfe then lived at 328-1/2 South High Street. By 1917, Wolfe appears to have become sole proprietor of the saloon. In 1919 the listing is the same, except the business is listed as a restaurant, which coincides with the Wartime Prohibition Act which went into effect on June 30, 1919 immediately preceding the Eighteenth Amendment. 

I found this at a park construction project. When first dug I thought it looked like some similarly shaped Civil War items due to the shield shape, perhaps it was a badge? I quickly dismissed both those as possibilities, with the bent corners and very sharp edges decided it was probably copper scrap.

I forgot all about it until I dumped my junk bucket at the end of the week. I gave it a little scrub and was excited to see some writing on it. More cleaning and it appears to be a plaque that was attached to an award presented in 1909.

My research doesn't find any information on the Gitit Tennis Club which could be in Kentucky or Columbus or even somewhere else, but I found out a little about John S. McFarland.

John Sargent McFarland was born December 31, 1883 in Owensboro, Kentucky, son of William Ewing and Sallie May (Ewing) McFarland. McFarland and his brother Ridley Ewing McFarland came to Columbus about 1908-1910. John was the purchasing agent and assistant superintendent of the Ohio Carriage Company. He married Margaret Louise Krebs in Franklin County, Ohio on October 15, 1913. Margaret was born April 2, 1890 in Dubois, Pennsylvania, daughter of Philip and Annie M. Krebs. In 1914 they lived at 172 S. Ohio Avenue in Columbus. In January 1915, McFarland took a job with an automobile dealer, the Cole Sales Company in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1918 the company become The Lathrop-McFarland Company. He seems to have been quite successful, owning a fine home in Indianapolis. John died there February 26, 1927. Margaret eventually returned to Columbus, living at 3389 East Broad Street in 1947. She died at the Cleveland Clinic on October 3, 1947. 

I'm curious how this piece ended up where it finally landed, what it might have been attached to (probably a tennis racket, is my guess) and more about the Gitit Tennis Club. This predates the area of the park by quite a bit. The mysteries of the objects we find...

Many detectorists keep score by counting the number of silver coins they find in a year. Primarily being a coinshooter (a detectorist who looks for coins), silver coins are what I tend to seek most of the time. Not too easy, but also not impossible to find at the sites I search most frequently, they provide an attainable challenge. The trouble (for me) with keeping count of my silver finds is the the feeling of being "stuck" when I'm one away from a milestone number.

I still remember all too clearly being out on a cold, wet, snowy late December day in 2009, desperately searching for silver coin 300 for the year. It wasn't meant to be, so that spectacular year ended with 299 silver coins. But I still feel like I fell short of the mark. 

The past two weeks I've been stuck at 49 silver coins. Factoring in the limited amount of time I've spent detecting this year, that's a quite good number. Last weekend's detecting trips were frustrating as I watched my friend Dave dig four modern silver coins, and then the next day a shield nickel and an 1875 Seated dime while I couldn't seem to get my detector over an old coin of any kind.
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While running errands two days this week, I stopped by two well searched old spots for brief hunts. These sites have produced for me in the past, and as good as I think I am, it's never hunted out. Yesterday I dug a wheat cent and a dateless buffalo nickel, not bad for a quick stop, but the curse of 49 held. Today I had another short window in the afternoon and stopped at a park that has been very good to me over the years. I hadn't been there detecting in at least two years. 

A very slow start with a zinc Lincoln cent, a bottle cap, a key, another bottle cap, another key... and then a nice shallow high tone signal on the E-Trac. I saw a circular silver edge and immediately thought I had another bottle cap, but just as quickly realized a bottle cap would not have given me a high tone signal. I look again, flip it over and Charles Barber's head of Liberty confirmsI've found a silver half! Camera comes out for the necessary picture in the dirt before I pick it up. No longer stuck, the curse lifted for now, silver coin #50 for 2015 is a really decent 1903-S Barber half dollar.

Over the summer and now again in the past week, I've been revisiting areas that were part of Camp Chase, a Civil War era site in Columbus, Ohio. The majority of the 160 acre camp was turned into residential lots starting after 1905. 

I first wrote about some finds from Camp Chase about this time of year in 2013, that post has more information about the camp. At that time I had been lucky enough to discover an 1857 Flying Eagle cent along with some bullets.

It's always a thrill to find something here that dates to the Civil War era when the camp was in use. This year I've been able to find some more round lead musket balls and the "three ringer" Minié balls.

A new find for me this year was a .69 caliber Minié, the diameter of a dime. This projectile was a large, heavy and no doubt very lethal chunk of lead in the right circumstances. (above, bottom row, far right)

Another novel find was a pulled or "wormed" Minié. This bullet had probably become jammed in the barrel of the rifle and was extracted using a puller and shows a "worm hole." (above, bottom row, middle)

Found in a local park, this nickel-sized five cent saloon token for A.G. Rogers dates from 1908-1913. 

From 1908 to 1910 the business was located at 155 North 3rd St. Rogers seems to have been most successful in 1910, with a prominent directory ad for his wine, liquor and cigar store. In 1911 his saloon was at 58-1/2 East Long Street. In 1912 and 1913 the saloon was at 64 East Spring St. (The directory erroneously lists his name as Albert.) 

Allen G. Rogers was born about 1868 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, son of Henry and Mary Agnes (Huggins) Rogers. In 1870 and 1880 the Rogers lived in Akron, Ohio. Before coming to Columbus, Rogers lived in Buffalo, New York. In 1914 Allen was working as a bricklayer and lived at 239 E. Lafayette St. In 1915 Rogers was working as a barber. 

The 1910 Census lists the Rogers in Columbus at 239 E. Lafayette St. The Rogers are enumerated as mulatto in the census, and the directory listings for saloons indicate that Rogers was "colored." Allen married Margaret Berry in Cuyahoga County, Ohio on December 4, 1901. Margaret was born about 1870 in Canada, daughter of Charles W. and Matilda (Gornia) Berry. The Rogers had three children, only one of whom was living in 1910, Allen Jr. born about 1907.

About 1915 the Rogers divorced. In 1916 Allen was a mattress worker, boarding at 258 S. Davis St. In 1920, Margaret and Allen Jr. were living at 275 N. Lafayette St. Margaret was working as a dressmaker. By 1930 Margaret had remarried and Margaret Bryant and Allen Jr. were living in Akron, Ohio at 723 Hazel St. Allen Jr. was then a janitor at a rubber mill. They were still living in Akron in 1940, and Margaret was again divorced. Allen Jr. was working as a hotel porter. 

A very slow year for detecting. No big sidewalk tearout projects, though the few projects I was able to search produced some great finds including a Seated dime, Barber dime and Barber half dollar.

No new field sites, though we did try revisiting the same sites as last year, trying our best to squeak some more out of the hard to work corn stubble.

Another trip to Bangor, Maine provided time for a short hunt in the rain that produced a few finds including a "fatty" Indian Head cent.

A visit to a local park that was otherwise unproductive led to finding my first coin ring, probably made from a silver quarter. One 1950s house yard search gave up two silver quarters and a couple of wheat cents. 

Only 22 silver coins for the year.

This token was found in the back yard of a demolished Victorian home in Columbus. 

The token is about the size of a half dollar (39 mm). It is made of bronze and when new, had a gold wash.

Joseph Schontal (Schonthal) was born on August 15, 1854 in Hungary. He was known as "Pop" and "Dad" Schonthal, a nationally respected philanthropist and a prominent Jewish leader in Columbus. The Jewish Community Center of Columbus has a more extensive story about Schonthal on their website, as he was instrumental in founding what would become the JCC of today. 

Schonthal was President of the Joseph Schonthal Iron Company. In 1910 the company was located at the corner of Buttles and Factory. Schonthal then lived at 242 West 8th Avenue. His wife Hermine died that same year. 

The Ohio Jewish Chronicle of July 9, 1926 reported, "Mr. Joseph Schonthal of the Southern Hotel entertained Friday evening with a dinner at the Southern Hotel. Three hundred and fifty guests were present."

In 1926, Schonthal had purchased land at Magnetic Springs outside of Columbus to start "fresh-air camp for children and women, mothers and career women who were given the chance to spend at least a week during the hot, humid Columbus summer at the beautiful, coolness of the waters of Magnetic Springs." The dinner that this July 9, 1926 token commemorates may have had something to do with the camp that opened on August 15, 1926. 

Schonthal died on December 15, 1929 at his residence at the Southern Hotel.

The spring continued much as the previous year, time allowing for just one mini-hunt. In March, I detected where I had taken out a large pine tree in my front yard and found a enameledWWII sterling silver vermeil pin from a well-known local firm, The Jeffrey Company, made by another Columbus manufacturer, The D.L. Auld Company.

My next hunt wasn't until September, when I spotted an area that had a good history being excavated for sidewalks. I knew I had to make time to get in there before the new sidewalks went in. After doing much better than I ever expected, I started revisiting some sites near the house in the evenings and things just kept turning up. Nothing like success to keep you going. I got in touch with Tony Mantia and Dave Lowy and we made some plans to do some detecting as well. Meanwhile, another sidewalk tearout had started within walking distance of the house - another limited time opportunity to keep me going. At this point I was really "back in the saddle" again.

In October I was able to spend a few days detecting in Bangor, Maine, which was a great experience. Again, interesting things kept turning up. After that trip I had found my Seated coin for the year, a large cent, and then had a total of 33 silver coins. It wasn't quite like the glory days of 2009 and 2010, but a respectable showing for about seven weeks of detecting and it was great fun. The sidewalk project by the house was still open and regularly changing as well.

I made it to the October Dayton Diggers meeting and it was great to reconnect with people. The Dayton Diggers Fall Hunt in November was another opportunity to see some old friends and do some detecting.

A hunt of some sites that had been part of Camp Chase during the Civil War turned up my first Flying Eagle cent along with some Minie balls.

Only 60 silver coins for the year, but not bad for a late start. A really good assortment of finds with some firsts and some good relics.  

A long drive, a long walk, cold, winds, and snow squalls. No coins, no old buttons, just scraps and a bent old tag. I was too cold to consider it much at the moment, but thought maybe it could be a railroad baggage check. Optimism was low, and into the pouch it went.

After finally calling it quits and getting home, it took a few hours for me to defrost and even think about my finds. I dug out the tag and knocked off the dirt and then rinsed it off. Wow! A baggage check, and a super interesting early Ohio one at that.

Railroad baggage checks were typically brass and came in pairs. Tags like these were first used by railroads in the 1850s. These metal checks were replaced by paper tags starting in the 1880s and by World War I the metal checks were generally out of use. One tag would be affixed to a passenger's luggage with a leather strap and the other tag was retained by the passenger. The star on this tag indicates it was the check the passenger retained.

Railroad history is a confusing business, between mergers and leases, it's hard to figure out who ran what and when. Sometimes lines went by their "old" names, even after a merger. Fortunately there aren't many cities in Ohio that start with X, so tracking down the cities the initials stood for wasn't too challenging. The initials on the tag, C&X&D&X&BRR, stand for the Columbus and Xenia Railroad and the Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad. The C&X opened in 1850, the DX&B opened in 1858 and was leased by the C&X starting in January 1859. The C&X purchased the DX&B in February 1865. The C&X became part of the Little Miami Railroad in 1868. In 1869 it was leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, and finally through that lease the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Knowing this particular site, and with the railroad information, I'm sure the tag dates to probably the earlier half of 1860-1870. A really cool relic and piece of railroad history.

It's dusk as I get to the site, and quickly it's too dark to see a darn thing. I'm just putting the clods of dirt in my bag as I go. Some are obvious pulltabs and screwcaps. One looked (and sounded) like a silver ring (no such luck). Thirty minutes and I managed to cover the site well enough that I was satisfied. Pleased to find when I got home I had a 1927 Mercury dime, a corroded 50s era Wheat cent and a few pieces of clad in with the trash.

Met up with Dave today to search some farm fields. We first searched a farm house that only gave up two wheat cents and then stumbled upon a good site almost by accident. Dave made the best find of the day there, an 1809 half cent. I picked up a good old buckle, half a giant crotal bell, a few buttons - two flat and one eagle, an 1850-65 General Service button. We then moved on to the next site we had lined up. I found a 1902 Indian Head cent and parts of an old oil lamp right off, but we had a big area to cover and no precise information on the locations of the home sites on that parcel and spent most of our time doing "research" on foot. While this "research" wasn't very useful at the time, it helped me once I got home to pinpoint the sites on some different old maps.

These finds came from a small lawn area that was part of Camp Chase during the Civil War. The first visit yielded one three-ringer Minie ball. The second visit was much better, I found my first Flying Eagle cent, dated 1857, another Minie ball and a large musketball. I'm no expert on Civil War sites, but finding coins from the era does not seem to be especially common in these types of sites.

Camp Chase was opened in May 1861 and was closed in 1865. The camp covered 160 acres on the west side of Columbus. The camp was named for former Ohio Governor and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. It was a training camp for Ohio volunteer army soldiers, a parole camp, a muster outpost for 150,000 Union troops and a 25,000 Confederates passed through the prisoner-of-war camp.

The former camp land has all been converted to other uses, with the exception of the cemetery. The majority of the land is now single family homes. The Westgate neighborhood was built on the site between the 1910s and 1950s. Camp relics can turn up anywhere in the neighborhood. I searched another site that was part of the camp a few years ago and came up with some flat buttons.

Dave and I searched a few homes today. There were few coins found but they were some better ones, Dave located a nice 1825 large cent right off the bat and also found a 1907 V nickel and some wheats. I had fewer finds and while not as old as Dave's finds, I was happy to have this cool 1920s Worcester Salt token with a good luck swastika back and my second key date, 1921 Mercury dime for the year, this one much less worn than the first one. Worcester Salt was founded in Warsaw, New York in 1894 and and was bought out by Morton Salt in 1943.

The Dayton Diggers secured permission to hunt the historic Ross farm on Honey Creek in Christiansburg, Jackson Township, Champaign County. The farm was the site of two homes, a small tile factory and several barns. The houses had been razed but at least one had been still standing in 1959.

Levi and Mary Ross came to Champaign County from Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia) between 1827 and 1832 and settled on this farm.

Levi Ross was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia on February 16, 1792, son of Jonathan and Martha Brown Ross. He married Mary Ruffner between 1820 and 1827. Mary was born in Virginia on February 20, 1802. The Rosses had at least nine children and possibly as many as thirteen. Their most famous son, Marion was born on the farm.

Marion Andrew Ross was born October 9, 1832. He was a student at Antioch College and was a musician. He enlisted in the Union Army on April 15, 1861. He was a Sergeant Major in Company B of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Ross participated in the ill fated Andrews Raid. The raid brought the first Union soldiers into north Georgia, lasted just seven hours and involved the only locomotive chase of the Civil War. These links have more information about Andrews Raid and Ross' part in the Great Locomotive Chase. (Some may have seen the 1956 Disney movie "The Great Locomotive Chase" based on these events.) 

From the State Library of Ohio website, "Ross enlisted with a group of other Ohioans volunteered to be part of a secret mission deep into Confederate territory to disrupt transportation and communication lines in 1862. The group purchased tickets and boarded a train just north of Marietta, Georgia on the morning of April 12, 1862. When the train stopped at the town of Big Shanty for breakfast, the soldiers separated the engine, called The General, the coal tender, and three boxcars from the rest of the train. With the Confederate crew in pursuit, Andrew's Raiders headed toward Chattanooga, tearing up track and cutting telegraph lines. The Confederates picked up a new engine, The Texas, at the next railroad station and continued to pursue the Raiders. Although they released two of the boxcars and tried to set fire to a bridge, it soon became clear that the Raiders would never make it to Chattanooga. They abandoned The General about half way to Chattanooga. Andrew's Raiders fled on foot, but all 21 were captured within a week. Eight of them were hanged and the rest sent to Confederate prison camps." Ross was executed in mid June 1862 for his part in the raid. He is buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Tennessee.

Levi Ross died on November 25, 1863. Mary died March 10, 1865. The Rosses are buried at Honey Creek Cemetery in Christiansburg. The farm was inherited by their son, Marine Ruffner Ross (1835-1886), whose name appears on the property in the 1875 Champaign County Atlas.

The Hunt
A large group of Diggers arrived for the 9:00 am start, and everyone was excited to see what finds might come to light. As we hit the fields we had to contend with tall pasture grass, corn stubble, a few cows and their...pies. The group exploring the tile factory site gathered around Jared Shank who dug an 1881 Indian Head cent stuck in some asphalt. Others were finding Wheat cents and other relics around the old home site.

A small group went to explore another potential home site that Steve Greene had pointed out. Pottery, glass and brick amongst the corn stubble showed that it was the right place, though the only coin to come to light was an 1882 Indian Head cent found by Mark Ferguson. I had joined this group and after not finding much worth digging, set off back across the field.

At first, I was just carrying my detector while walking back to the main site, but then decided I should be swinging, even in the narrow corn stubble rows. Most of the time I was just getting false signals from the grommets on my boots or it was dead silent, but then I got a higher pitched signal worth investigating. I turned over some soil and pinpointed the item in a clod of dirt. I saw what looked like a thin silver coin sticking out of the side. I thought maybe I had a half dime. None of the other Diggers were near enough to share the find with. Thinking others might like might like to see before I broke the clod open, I wrapped the clod in a paper towel I had in my pocket. When I got back to the main group, people asked if I had found anything and I got to show off the coin in the clod which fueled a lot of speculation as to what it could be. Guesses included pulltab, silver three cent, half dime, aluminum play money and a half reale.

The next event was the seeded token hunt. There were 45 green painted cents that were prize tokens as well as a handful of Buffalo nickels scattered over the surface of a portion of the cornfield where the stubble was flattened. Almost everyone darted around the field looking for the targets. People left the field as it got harder and harder to find the planted coins. Amazingly, all the prize tokens were found! The most tokens found by any one person was six. Diggers then exchanged their tokens for prize boxes which contained old coins, many of them silver, including an 1877-S Seated Liberty half, Barber quarters and dimes, newer silver quarters and dimes and other old coins.

The Diggers then enjoyed a great lunch of fried chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and baked beans as well as other snacks and treats brought by members. Following lunch was the raffle. Raffle prizes included a Garrett ProPointer, a small fireproof safe, a Lesche digger, a Morgan silver dollar, two Walking Liberty Halves, a finds pouch, a metal water bottle, a Roman coin, some assorted foreign coins and even some peppers!

Jared then asked who had found coins or anything else interesting that morning. Several members reported finding Wheat cents, a pocket spill of a 1939 Walking Liberty half, 1940 Jefferson nickel, two Wheats and two 1943 steel cents was discovered near the tile factory site. By this point almost everyone was itching to discover what the coin was, in my pocket, still in the clod of dirt. We did a reveal and it turned out to be an 1810s silver Spanish half reale!

After that excitement, some folks decided to call it a day, while others returned to the fields to see what else might turn up. I did not hear of any other coin finds from the afternoon though Doug Schilling found an old brass stirrup and Gary Fishman and I both found small lead "musketballs."

While nothing turned up that we could attribute as belonging to the Ross family, it was still a fun day full of great people and friends, detecting and history seeking.

Slow going, but in review, a good week. An Excelsior Boy Scout Shoe token [Version I, Type II, Variety A2] four Mercury dimes, a silver ring, an 1899 Indian Head cent and a streetcar smashed 1910 cent. Sites included two 1920s schools, a newer school on an old site and some park construction.

Met up with an old friend and did some searching. Ended up with 22 wheat cents, a 1945 Mercury dime, 1926 Buffalo nickel and a neat token that was part of a pocket spill with four wheat cents. The funny thing was the "tails" side of the token was facing up when I flipped the plug open

The token is fairly common and is a "heads and tails" coin - literally! It says Gus' Good Food Matching Coin on the front and the address and phone number on the back. Gus' Good Food was a restaurant in Chicago. They served Italian food and were "famous for steaks and green noodles." Someone online reminisced that the restaurant had a nautical theme and the bartender would ring a ship's bell when people walked in to signal the host how many people were in the party, hence the "Bing Bong" in their advertising.

Checked out a site that has had a few school buildings on it over the past 80 years, the last built just a few years ago, hoping against hope to find some of dirt around the oldest site intact. Picked up a few wheat cents and searching along the edges turned up a 1951 dime and a 1953 quarter. I did locate part of the old pea gravel playground area, and that was tough digging for a few wheats. Stopped at another school on the way home and found a couple more wheats, a 1944 dime and wheat in one hole and a nice big brass skeleton key.

Drove by a small sidewalk project I had spotted in the dark last night downtown. Might be worth a go but it'll be a challenge. If we get rain it will be impossibly muddy. Instead today I went back to the school that gave up two Mercury dimes last week and I picked up two more along with some wheats and clad. That takes me to 40 silver coins for the "year" though I only picked the detector back up at the start of September!

Significant finds:
1918-D Mercury dime
1940 Mercury dime
1913 Wheat cent
1921 Wheat cent

Back at the sidewalk project. Less than two hours searching over two days. The copper slug was a fooler at first, the diameter and thickness are nearly exactly that of a large cent. Best finds were a 1906 Indian Head cent and a 1918 Buffalo nickel. All these coins were virtually laying on the surface.

Detected again at the sidewalk construction project, seems like I find something every time I go back. Also spent some time at an old school and a park in the neighborhood.

Significant finds:
1903 Indian Head cent
1918 Buffalo nickel
1943-P War nickel
1935 Mercury dime
1944 Mercury dime
1947 Roosevelt dime
Sterling silver ring

Well, some old dirt was moved around on the sidewalk project in my neighborhood today. As a welcome home from Maine, I found this heavily gilded Ohio medallion. I noticed the interlocking three circles at the base of the wreath and I had a clue what it was from. I believe it is part of an I.O.O.F. badge. I found a similar one for Wisconsin online (pictured below) that includes the top bar and the ribbon. My broad guess based on the design and quality would be that it dates from 1870-1910. The 1923 Mercury dime and the Canadian dime came from another park I stopped at briefly to receheck a spot I had hunted well two years ago.

Last day in Bangor. Checked out two more parks and revisited another.

Significant Finds:
1871 Prince Edward Island large cent
1905 Indian Head cent
1905 V nickel
1914 Buffalo nickel
1885 Seated Liberty dime
1935 Mercury dime
1943 Mercury dime
Small sterling silver ring
Skeleton key
A few wheat cents

Spotty rain wasn't going to keep me away from the hillside park I had discovered on Sunday. I also sampled two other parks.

Significant Finds:
1847 Large cent
1902 Indian Head cent
1943-P War nickel
1892 Barber quarter
Silver WWII era Marine Corps sweetheart bracelet
Round gilt button
A few wheat cents

Returned to the same park as the previous day and also visited part of another park.

Significant finds:
1899 Indian Head cent
dateless Indian Head cent
1916 Mercury dime
1942 Mercury dime
1936 Washington quarter
A few wheat cents

Started out in an old city park found on an 1870s map.

Significant finds:
1898 Indian Head cent
1860s Shield nickel
1908-D Barber dime
1917 Mercury dime
A few wheat cents