What are these? Old NYC tokens?

Hi all,

Someone is selling these, here is my only photo taken from the listing. Any idea of what these are? They have a number of things in the ad, selling all as a lot of antiques. if I'm reading correctly, they are calling these antique NYC transit tokens. (Or antique nail heads, another thing listed in the description.) Hard to match the description to the photos, it's a CL listing. Any ideas what these might be?

 

Photos are limited, but ad says they were "his father's antiques" so thinking these might have some age whatever they are. This photo gives a bit of scale anyway.

 

That's it, INH. Awesome, finding that. So they are nail heads. THANK YOU!!!

 

They don't look like any date nails I ever saw , at least not the ones railroads used when they replaced wooden ties. My late dad was a card core rail nut and we used to walk the tracks looking for date nails that had come loose due to rotting wood.

 

Had no idea this kind of thing even existed. Helpful link, INH. Thank you.

Nice to think about you walking w/your dad looking for these, Evelyb. A real treasure hunt. Sounds like fun.

 

I am glad you like my web site! I answer all questions if you have any.
Scott Weed. aka The Nailhunter

 

Some Date Nails are found on Railroad tracks and some are found on Utility Poles. The pictures of nails in this thread come off of Utility Poles. And yes you can still find them in the wild. With a little research in the city/town you live in will help you find the best place to hunt them. You want to find areas of town that were built from 1918 to around 1942, which is the date range most Utility Date Nails are found.

 

No wonder they're scarce in California! Around here the poles get nailed by storms early and often, but I do seem to recall seeing a few.

 

In Florida, the poles come down every couple of hurricanes, they're all new by now

 

Interesting! Thanks for the information.