Hello All,
Shangalang had some family obligations and couldn't make it to dig w/me, so I decided to go out on a little solo hunt. Ended up being a BIG solo hunt! Video is below.
I decided to focus on an area which was loaded with shredded aluminum cans, and start there, to clear it out while I was fresh. I got a musketball (.58 cal), then a fired .69, then a couple lead bits and pack rivets amongst the can shreds. Then I got a signal which was a little bouncy like the cans were. Flipped out the first shovelful of dirt and it locked right in in the silver dime range. One more scoop and I was looking at a silver in the dirt!
The coin had a reeded edge and was smaller than a Capped Bust coin, so it had to be Seated or Barber. Most likely Seated for the Reconstruction Era site I was hunting. After blasting the coin with some water, I could see the date of 1876-S, which was the same date as an earlier Seated Dime recovered from this field.
I wonder if this site was occupied by carpetbaggers, due to the fact that the majority of the non-New Orleans minted coins we've dug in the past 3 years have come from this field. Most planters did not have that kind of wealth after the Civil War and subsequent economic collapse in South Louisiana, and it seems strange that this is the only field we've dug San Francisco and Carson City coins on--as well as a high percentage of Philadelphia coins (in comparison, 90% of the Seated coins we dig at all of our sites combined were minted in nearby New Orleans).
I was really pleased with this find, and figured I could go ahead and finish clearing out the can slaw and head home happy. Little did I know what would happen next...
I actually started working out of the can slaw area as I continued gridding, which was great. I picked up a couple glass buttons. There was really little in terms of good solid targets, except for an occasional modern lead bullet or pack rivet. Then I got a banging signal really deep down (Fisher F75 read depth of 8 inches, but the target was actually almost 12 inches down). I took two full scoops out, and the target was still in the hole. One more scoop and it was out. I grabbed a handful of dirt, and a LARGE silver coin slipped through my fingers and fell on top of the dirt pile!!! SILVER HALF DOLLAR!!!
I was wondering if it was a Seated or Barber, or maybe some newer, farmer-dropped silver half (Walker or Franklin). I had a hunch it was older. Crossed my fingers and blasted it with water to sweep the dirt away without damaging the coin. It was a SEATED HALF!! 1872!! Not a bad coin. Not bent by the plow, although it has been nicked by it once or twice.
As many of you know, Seated Halves do not come around often. I was lucky enough to dig one last year as well, but before that I dug one in 2008, and my Seated Half before that one was all the way back in 1993! I seem to be Half Dollar lucky down here. Dug a Walker in 2012, then a Franklin and a Seated in 2013, and now another Walker and Seated already for 2014. Can't complain! I think it rained silver down in the fields here!
I did some more rows, stoked by these great silver finds. Ended up with another couple small caliber musketballs, and on one of my last rows I dug the center from a Boyd's Battery. It's a little daisy shaped center from a late 19th c. quack medical device which created a weak galvanic current for electrotherapy and was meant to be worn against the skin as a pendant. I've dug several of these over the years, as I recall I found 2 in Kentucky or Indiana, and Diggergirl found one here in Louisiana, and I have now dug two down here. These things seem to find me...or maybe I just know what they are and recognize them when I do recover one. 
At any rate, I got home with the silver coins and cleaned them to remove the staining yet preserve the character as dug coins. Below are the before (left hand side) and after (right hand side) photos. I was pleased with how much of the rust staining came off the reverse of the seated dime.
And here is the 1872 Seated Half Dollar:
Best Wishes and Happy Hunting,
Buck
Shangalang had some family obligations and couldn't make it to dig w/me, so I decided to go out on a little solo hunt. Ended up being a BIG solo hunt! Video is below.
I decided to focus on an area which was loaded with shredded aluminum cans, and start there, to clear it out while I was fresh. I got a musketball (.58 cal), then a fired .69, then a couple lead bits and pack rivets amongst the can shreds. Then I got a signal which was a little bouncy like the cans were. Flipped out the first shovelful of dirt and it locked right in in the silver dime range. One more scoop and I was looking at a silver in the dirt!
The coin had a reeded edge and was smaller than a Capped Bust coin, so it had to be Seated or Barber. Most likely Seated for the Reconstruction Era site I was hunting. After blasting the coin with some water, I could see the date of 1876-S, which was the same date as an earlier Seated Dime recovered from this field.
I wonder if this site was occupied by carpetbaggers, due to the fact that the majority of the non-New Orleans minted coins we've dug in the past 3 years have come from this field. Most planters did not have that kind of wealth after the Civil War and subsequent economic collapse in South Louisiana, and it seems strange that this is the only field we've dug San Francisco and Carson City coins on--as well as a high percentage of Philadelphia coins (in comparison, 90% of the Seated coins we dig at all of our sites combined were minted in nearby New Orleans).
I was really pleased with this find, and figured I could go ahead and finish clearing out the can slaw and head home happy. Little did I know what would happen next...
I actually started working out of the can slaw area as I continued gridding, which was great. I picked up a couple glass buttons. There was really little in terms of good solid targets, except for an occasional modern lead bullet or pack rivet. Then I got a banging signal really deep down (Fisher F75 read depth of 8 inches, but the target was actually almost 12 inches down). I took two full scoops out, and the target was still in the hole. One more scoop and it was out. I grabbed a handful of dirt, and a LARGE silver coin slipped through my fingers and fell on top of the dirt pile!!! SILVER HALF DOLLAR!!!
I was wondering if it was a Seated or Barber, or maybe some newer, farmer-dropped silver half (Walker or Franklin). I had a hunch it was older. Crossed my fingers and blasted it with water to sweep the dirt away without damaging the coin. It was a SEATED HALF!! 1872!! Not a bad coin. Not bent by the plow, although it has been nicked by it once or twice.
As many of you know, Seated Halves do not come around often. I was lucky enough to dig one last year as well, but before that I dug one in 2008, and my Seated Half before that one was all the way back in 1993! I seem to be Half Dollar lucky down here. Dug a Walker in 2012, then a Franklin and a Seated in 2013, and now another Walker and Seated already for 2014. Can't complain! I think it rained silver down in the fields here!
I did some more rows, stoked by these great silver finds. Ended up with another couple small caliber musketballs, and on one of my last rows I dug the center from a Boyd's Battery. It's a little daisy shaped center from a late 19th c. quack medical device which created a weak galvanic current for electrotherapy and was meant to be worn against the skin as a pendant.
I've dug several of these over the years, as I recall I found 2 in Kentucky or Indiana, and Diggergirl found one here in Louisiana, and I have now dug two down here. These things seem to find me...or maybe I just know what they are and recognize them when I do recover one. At any rate, I got home with the silver coins and cleaned them to remove the staining yet preserve the character as dug coins. Below are the before (left hand side) and after (right hand side) photos. I was pleased with how much of the rust staining came off the reverse of the seated dime.
And here is the 1872 Seated Half Dollar:
Best Wishes and Happy Hunting,
Buck
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