Home Metal Detecting

Some silver and gold...

Been trying out a "new" detector this month and have had some success...
six silver coins, a couple silver rings, and a gold boyscout pin.

Here's a pic from one hunt about a week ago. 1914 George the 5th silver
sixpence, 1923 merc, 1947 Roosevelt, gold boyscout pin, and some wheat-
back cents.

Anyone have any info. on the gold boyscout pin (age, what it was for, etc?)

Happy hunting and Happy Thanksgiving!

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Comments

  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What is it with you and John, and these silver sixpence? Cool!

    If I recall correctly, his was a 1916. Yours being a 1914 makes me wonder if these coins came back home with returning WW1 doughboys.

    The only British silver I have dug was a 1940-something shilling. (.500 fine).

    WTG!

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  • When did John dig his?

    I think I read that these are "925" until the 1920's (or some time after that).
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I need to look back. It was in the last few months. He took the Best Non-US Coin award for the month with it.

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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>When did John dig his? >>



    Wow, found it on my first try.

    He dug it in June. There was only one other non-US entry in competition with it, but I still say it was a pretty cool find.



    << <i>I think I read that these are "925" until the 1920's (or some time after that). >>



    That's correct. They were sterling (.925 fine) until 1926, when they dropped 'em down to .500 fine. In 1947, they dropped the silver altogether and went copper-nickel. My shilling from the 1940s is .500 fine and only missed the silver cutoff date by a few years.

    PS- I don't know the age on the Boy Scout pin, but "Star" is one of the higher ranks in the BSA (two below Eagle, I think... Star-Life-Eagle?). Maybe it's a Star rank badge. Then again, maybe not. It could just be an ornamental star. Gotta do some webcrawling on that one.


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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    AHA. I was right- Star Scout is the third-highest rank in the BSA, just below Life Scout, which is in turn below Eagle Scout.

    But note this:



    << <i>Historically, Star was actually higher than Life. It was changed when it was decided that the five-pointed star of Star Scout better represented the five merit badges required for Life Scout, and the two were switched. >>



    So once upon a time, apparently the Star Scout was the rank just below the top rank of Eagle Scout. Since it is an upper rank, it is not unreasonable to think that gold pins might have been awarded for attaining this level in scouting.

    I personally was in Scouts only a bit less than two years, since I joined at 16 and your time expires at age 18. I was one merit badge shy of First Class, which is the rank below Star Scout.


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  • >>a "new" detector <<

    ? ? ?

    Jerry
    CROCK of COINS
    imageimage
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That almost certainly has to be a Star rank badge specifically, and not just an ornamental star with the BSA logo on it. The other pins seem to just have the logo on them, with no star. No luck in my Googling, aside from that.

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  • WTG...Nice finds.
    The stain on the silver is purty bad. Were they found at demo site?
    image
  • LM-
    Wow! Thanks for the research! That makes the boyscout pin even more of an interesting
    find to me. I had some boyscouts stop by my place a week ago for a food drive but they
    were not sure about the details of the pin (got a few guesses from them... and I figure
    they wouldn't know for sure since it was actually the younger group/club that's right
    before boyscouts = "weeblo's?"). This gold pin was actually several inches deep in the
    turf and came out with that nice gold shine that we love to see. A friend of mine that knows
    the area guessd that it would've been from the 40's or 50's.

    CoC (Jerry)-
    I picked up a used Minelab Explorer XS.

    HK-
    Thanks. It came from the turf in a park. I just haven't bothered cleaning it. For some
    reason that silver coin tarnished more than the others. (probably in the ground longer,
    maybe rougher soil around it for all those years, who knows) I'll need to give it a bath...
    The details are pretty sharp but I guess you can't really see that from the pic I posted.
    P.S. If you want to see how "rough" demo coins can be in my area, you should check out some of the
    coins on Demodigger's web page! SJTreasureHunters
    If you check out his note on the first page, go to the link called "All the good stuff"
  • Nice job Rick!

    It's kinda weird pulling a six pence out of the ground, isn't it?!
    I pulled mine from the woodchips at a local school, obviously some kid had access to dad's collection or the like and lost it.

    The Scout pin is a beaut! Cool history as well.


    image
    Analog Rules! Knobs and Switches are cool!
    imageimage
  • Thanks John, your sixpence looks great. The one I found was probably in the ground
    for several decades (would've taken your Sov to get down to the depth where this one
    was resting image)
  • Musky1011Musky1011 Posts: 3,899 ✭✭✭✭
    The Star Rank pin is actually a mother's pin
    given to the mother of the scout when attaining the Star Rank

    Yours in Scouting
    Advisor Jim
    Pilgrim Clock and Gift Shop.. Expert clock repair since 1844

    Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA

    http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thanks, Jim. A mother's pin makes sense. Kinda hard to imagine them givin' a bunch of boys (even high ranking scouts) real gold pins, somehow. image

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  • Riccar-

    I've been at the site couple times in the past. There are some amazing finds there.

    I started a webpage myself but was too busy (sometimes lazy) to keep up.

    Nice digs, as always! Thanks for posting.
    image
  • Jim,
    Thanks for the info. One of the scouts leaders that stopped by my house mentioned
    that it may be a parent's pin... that the scout pins it on his father or mother. Also, to
    confirm, is it the 2nd rank before Eagle scout? Thanks again.

    HKnJ,
    Thanks, and let's see your web page!
    I love seeing web sites from fellow detecorists! image
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The current BSA ranks, from lowest to highest, are:

    Scout
    Tenderfoot
    Second Class
    First Class
    Star
    Life
    Eagle

    So Star would be the third-highest rank, below Life and Eagle.

    But note the earlier information I found, which indicated that in the past, Star was once the second-highest rank, just below Eagle.

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • phutphut Posts: 1,087
    Cool finds Rick!!
    How do you like the Minelab so far?
  • ZotZot Posts: 825 ✭✭✭
    Silver sixpence....
    Hum!
    I've been hunting in places where those actually should pop up, but I've never found one myself. imageimage

    Very nice finds as always! That gold scout star is a fascinating find as well. image
    Minelab: GPX 5000, Excalibur II, Explorer SE. White's: MXT, PI Pro
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