1854 Seated Half Dime

[Sooper Dave]

With record high temps for the end of December and after all the rain we've got lately, I thought I would sneak out for a quick hunt before dark. I didn't have much time but I drove out to a spot I have been wanting to try. The owner of the house told me of some Civil War history of the area and that a canonball actually went through an old school that was on the property during the War. I was granted permission and off I went quickly trying to get any kind of keeper before dark. First good signal I got was a Merc and was happy with that. I got back to it but there wasn't very many signals. I got a Wheatie next and soon after I got a nice deep 9-36 9-34 on the Etrac and was hoping for a nice old Indian. I cut my plug and pinpointed the signal down in the dark and was surprised to see that tiny silver flash out of the dirt. I knew right away that this was more than an Indain. I got enough of the coin exposed to see the 1854 date. I tried to get a good pic in the dark and got back to hunting. I couldn't stop thinking about that cool little coin and trying to come up with stories of how it got lost. I didn't stay much longer and I know I will get back there soon! I wonder if the two holes were put in it to be a button or a jewelry piece? Just adds more to the cool history behind it. HH David

 

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[toasted]

Nice find. Ive found one myself this year but it doesn't have as much character as yours

 

[Sooper Dave]

Nice find. Ive found one myself this year but it doesn't have as much character as yours

Thanks Toasted. Yeah this one is pretty worn and beat up but always nice to find one. Was yours in good shape?

 

[toasted]

Thanks Toasted. Yeah this one is pretty worn and beat up but always nice to find one. Was yours in good shape?

No it was pretty worn too and I managed to hit it with my digger too. How do you hit something that small? I like old holed coins. Only found one myself

 

[Sooper Dave]

No it was pretty worn too and I managed to hit it with my digger too. How do you hit something that small? I like old holed coins. Only found one myself

I hear ya on hiting these tiny coins with the digger. You can dig a ton of clad and never put a scratch on one and then get a nice old coin and put a nice big shiny ding across it. Yeah the holed coins are fun to find. Seems like most of my really older coins are holed. This is the first I've dug with two holes.

 

[mikefromIllinois]

Very nice. Those half-dimes are not easy to come by.

 

[Sooper Dave]

Very nice. Those half-dimes are not easy to come by.

Thanks! Yeah they are pretty elusive.

 

[Nepa-Will]

Very nice coin! I love finding Seateds

 

[Joe hunter]

Nice coin two holes that's different glad you got out

 

[trapperart]

Nice find congrats

 

[Trezurehunter]

Hey Sooper, Your coin may have 2 holes in it because it could be a "whizzer toy". What they did was loop lightweight string or fishing line thru the 2 holes, take an end of string in each hand & spin it in front of them to tighten the string up. Once the string was tight, they pulled each end to make the coin spin & it made a whizzing or whistle sound. So simple, but things like that were their entertainment back then. (they didn't have I Phones to play with !).

 

[Loco-Digger]

Sweet seated. There are 8 different varieties and I have only dug 0ne in 19month.

 

[treblehunter]

I was thinking the same thing, wizzer toy.
Very cool find, great pix!

 

[cjon455]

That's a nice old seated, I've never found one that old, oldest for me is 1889, I bet yours was used as a button, or one of those noise maker things, very cool!

 

[Sooper Dave]

Hey Sooper, Your coin may have 2 holes in it because it could be a "whizzer toy". What they did was loop lightweight string or fishing line thru the 2 holes, take an end of string in each hand & spin it in front of them to tighten the string up. Once the string was tight, they pulled each end to make the coin spin & it made a whizzing or whistle sound. So simple, but things like that were their entertainment back then. (they didn't have I Phones to play with !).

You're right about that. I was thinking the same thing but was thinking it might not work as well on such a tiny coin, but I bet if you could spin it fast enough it would make a noise. That would be a way to lose it for sure. Thanks Trezurehunter!

 

[Sooper Dave]

That's a nice old seated, I've never found one that old, oldest for me is 1889, I bet yours was used as a button, or one of those noise maker things, very cool!

Thanks Cjon. Sure makes you wonder what it was used for.

 

[CRUSADER]

Jewelry - Bracelet.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on the half dime! It's a very cool coin to find.

 

[Sooper Dave]

Congratulations on the half dime! It's a very cool coin to find.

Thanks Professor! My favorite coin find for this year.