Cache Found of 22 Old Chinese Coin!

jcooking

Sr. Member
Feb 28, 2010
387
11
Montana
Detector(s) used
Explorer SE Pro, Sunray X-1 probe
Garrett AT Gold
I had a couple of hours to kill on Friday so decided to take my detector for a walk. I found a couple of wheats in the first half an hour, and then about an hour into the hunt I got a 5" signal that was sounding pretty much like a quarter. I dug down to 5 inches and nothing, put my sunray probe in the hole and still got a coin signal, but a few inches deeper. Dug another few inches out and still nothing, but the probe kept sounding good. Dug another bit deeper and stuck my hand in the hole. I felt something hard and dumped it out onto my detecting towel. To my surprise I saw 6 coins fall out of my hand!! I quickly put my probe back in the hole and it was screaming. Grabbed another handful of dirt from the bottom of the hole and got another handful of coins! I could not believe it, so another handful into the hole and got a third handful of coins!! :blob8: One last trip into the hole with the probe and got the last two coins out of the dirt. They were all pretty much stacked together with a few of them corroded together. Total take for the hole was 22 coins in an area about two cube inches. This is my very first cache and I am super excited! I figure that this is way too many coins to be a coin spill. I read online that these coins were often kept on a string or tether in an even amount of 50, 100, etc...I didn't find any kind of sting holding them together, but it looks like they had been in the ground quite a while. There was quite a Chinese population in this area in the late 1800's working on the railroads and mines. Don't know if someone buried these or lost them, but am sure glad that they did. The first pic of of the coins when I got them home and a look at dirty one. The others are pics of the fronts and backs of them after cleaning. The last pic of the coin in probably the best condition. I was able to find a site to compare the characters on the coin and the last pic is of a coin from the Ch'ing Dynasty. The emperor was Kao Tsung, and these coins were cast from 1736-1795. :hello2: I never thought that I would find a coin in the 1700's, especially a bunch of them at once! Needless to say I am on cloud nine about it. Happy hunting and you never know what will be in the next hole!!
 

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Upvote 0
U

umrgolf

Guest
Nice looking chinese coins there :icon_thumleft: Still waiting to find one of these guys
 

OP
OP
jcooking

jcooking

Sr. Member
Feb 28, 2010
387
11
Montana
Detector(s) used
Explorer SE Pro, Sunray X-1 probe
Garrett AT Gold
Thanks for the comments folks! And thanks T-net and forum members for posting, seeing all of your treasure helps keep me motivated to get out swinging.
HH!
 

black651

Full Member
May 6, 2009
247
11
Saint Paul, MN
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505, Whites Coinmaster, Bounty Hunter LRP
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I found one of those coins on Tuesday - and had a fun time looking up the date on it. You found so many - and all in one spot!! Awesome recovery!!! :icon_thumright:
 

mamabear

Silver Member
Feb 21, 2008
3,071
869
SE Missouri
Detector(s) used
garage sale oldie
Primary Interest:
Other
would love to know the history behind those coins. did you find them in town? or perhaps close to a railroad? what an awesome find. congrats!
 

jrandy

Full Member
Jan 13, 2010
192
12
San Angelo TX
Detector(s) used
Garrett GPT 1350, Predator
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I vote Banner! Way better than the three I have found in the last three years. I do have one just like the single close up. :icon_thumright:
 

Bruce Ct

Jr. Member
May 7, 2009
41
18
Southern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Minelab SE w/ pro coil
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I really know how you feel !! I was detecting in the backyard of an 18th c house in Ct (large cent,
and some mercs). Near an old defunct decorative "pond" I found about 5 of these coins in the same
general area. After recovering one of them I kept getting readings from the hole. It got to the point where I was hollowing out the hole and scooping out handfulls of dirt and coins. Total recovery was 79 coins - all Chinese except for one Japanese. Same vintage as yours. I'm thinking that they might
have been originally buried in a cloth sack or something that had deteriorated long ago. Not alot of
value but what a thrill !!
NICE find for you !
Bruce in Ct
 

OP
OP
jcooking

jcooking

Sr. Member
Feb 28, 2010
387
11
Montana
Detector(s) used
Explorer SE Pro, Sunray X-1 probe
Garrett AT Gold
Wow Bruce that is impressive. I know the coins are common and not too valuable, but the thrill of finding a cache like that is still just as awesome!
Thanks for the banner votes guys!
HH!
 

BuckleBoy

Gold Member
Jun 12, 2006
18,124
9,688
Moonlight and Magnolias
🥇 Banner finds
4
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That is a great find! A lot of history behind those coins. Congrats!


Best Wishes,


Buckleboy
 

LM

Hero Member
Dec 11, 2007
665
181
South
Detector(s) used
Charts and Maps.
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
Interesting. I remember watching an episode of History Detectives where they talked about a Chinese presence in Montana at the turn of the century... Makes you wonder what the story behind these was...
 

spitfire55

Bronze Member
Sep 17, 2008
1,382
24
Fresno, CA.
Detector(s) used
(Whites) MXT, MXT PRO, SURF PRO/PI and COINMASTER 5500/D, (Fisher) GOLDBUG. AT PRO(Garrett), CTX 3030(Mine Lab).
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
:thumbsup:...That's a real nice find.
 

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