What Our Salt Water Does To Coins

[Les West Central Fl]

Ken and I went out near Anna Maria today to try our luck in the Gulf and bay waters. I found several coins , one being a half dollar which I was sure that it was silver. The coin was thick and crusted. Ken did good finding a 14KT. ladies ring with small diamonds.
I came home and started electrolysis on the half dollar. Guess I should have taken a before cleaning photo while you could still see the reed edges. Not much left after cleaning. I wonder what a Spanish Coin would look like after 400 years in the water when this coin was only in the salt water less than 70 years.
Anyway I got the silver and Ken got the gold and my dollar. Ouch!!!

 

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[hamiddetecting]

Very nice finds

 

[FLauthor]

Good find Les. That coin must have been in the surf a long time to get eaten up like that.

 

[JJohnson]

Ben is looking ruff

 

[SonnyFl]

Bet Ken frames that dollar bill! Took a little while to clean this one up? At least it's silver.

 

[lorraine]

Congrats on the silver coin find , Les.

I've found some of those coins, but luckily they were in pretty good condition.

It is still a great silver coin find

Great pics of the coin, too.

Lorraine

 

[Harold in Fla.]

Nice find les, finding that old silver is not easy, HH

 

[Jdett411]

So the salt ate that coin up? It wasn't from electro it for a long time.

 

[John (west central FL)]

I've found a few like that too. Sometimes the crust comes off as an intact disc with a reverse image on one side.

 

[CSMPEREZ]

Great find cousin!!

 

[tnt-k9]

That sucker must have been tumbled around in the surf for quite some time.

 

[baywalker]

Les I think it has a lot to do with what a coin is close to or touching like brass, copper, iron, dissimilar metals and salt water creates electrolysis

 

[Les West Central Fl]

Les I think it has a lot to do with what a coin is close to or touching like brass, copper, iron, dissimilar metals and salt water creates electrolysis

All silver coins found in that area always look that way. When I get them out of the water they have a thick black crust that does not flake off.

 

[dewcon4414]

One for the scrap can Les. That thing might now of even been in the water that long. Ive found a couple of modern dime recently that were down to the copper. I still love finding big silver always gets my heart going. Ha.... i know how hard it is to get that dollar from you. Congrats to Ken. Enjoy being around you two .... wealth on information and just a very personable pair of good guys. Maybe Monday you can get the dollar back....

Dew

 

[cntrydncr1]

wow that one really got churned up! congrats