>>20647789>I have a feeling miners were probably paid in housing, food and maybe some kind of note based currency and then got their actual payment after a contract or somethingexactly right. The places I detect were company towns, the miners were mostly paid with scrip for the company store, a cabin, and then a check once a month. Not a lot of coins of any sort circulating. Lots of tokens, lots of pennies and nickels.
I know silver was far more common after the turn of the century, scrapchad has an amazing pile of gutter coins from the 1900's. But victorian miners sure didn't seem to use coin much at all.
>>20648039Thanks, I'm always thrilled when I find silver! It's just so freakin rare up here.
Thank you for info on the vial also. I had to pull out a lens to see the mold line, and you're right. Goes clear to the lip. The bottom of this one has a weird glass droplet on it which keeps it from standing up. I tried to get a pic. It is from exactly the same batch of garbage as 2 seated dimes. I've previously found about 10 tiny vials of various size and manufacture in this midden. All in the same spot as the dimes.
The midden also contains food trash such as bones, as well as the usual boots and nails. I've found 2 civil war era brass bootheel plates in the pile. The ones with the heart shaped cutouts. There's a bunch of broken dishes and crockery, including beer mugs and shot glasses. This makes me think probably saloon midden. I've found one saloon token on the site, but not from that town.
The town was founded in 1860 and abandoned by 1917. So it's possible the midden is actually the remains of a saloon that burnt down or collapsed around that later date, releasing its contents into the wild. I feel like the vials were probably morphine as there's no indication there was an assay shop at the location. Just bar stuff. I've never found a whole bottle at the spot but I'd love to dig it with you if you want. I fear it may just be full of dimes and tiny vials!
