Sometimes its the little things... like a half dime

[Obsessive]

Ive got an old friend in town for the holiday and I managed to talk her into going md'ing with me, so this was my shortest hunt day so far. But we took a quick walk on the beach and turned up the usual crusty pennies, pull tabs, bottle caps, a set of crusty keys, and about 6 tent stakes. We left the beach after an hour or less, but as it turns out, I think she may have enjoyed the hunt.



...because without much convincing she agreed to stop at a local park for the last hour of daylight and do a little more. First hole I dug a very rare and one of kind pull tab, at least she laughed at my humor. Then we wandered over to the biggest tree in the park and wouldn't you know, in the next two holes we found these little gems. One is a nik-o-lock restroom token. The other is a half-dime, 1869. I was in disbelief when it came out of the hole. This is truly my first old coin find in the wild. Its a bit crusty though. I thought silver always came out silver? Any tips on cleaning this thing? Or should I just leave it be?




I'm thrilled for several reasons. Aside from actually finding something worth digging, I think I found my good luck charm.


Happy Independence Day!

.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[Kurios1]

Well done on the Seated Half Dime. I'd leave it be until you get a good suggestion on cleaning it. Sorry but, I always do silver the wrong way and scratch them all up. I heard about lemon juice soaks but, not sure if that is for silver, coppers, nickels? She's a beauty anyway you can get one which ain't easy. Still looking for my first one. Glad you got to share your day with a friend. PS, make sure you throw that fidgety spinner in the trash please.

 

[CRUSADER]

Could be slight fire damage, no cleaning will help that silver.

 

[CRUSADER]

Well done on the Seated Half Dime. I'd leave it be until you get a good suggestion on cleaning it. Sorry but, I always do silver the wrong way and scratch them all up. I heard about lemon juice soaks but, not sure if that is for silver, coppers, nickels? She's a beauty anyway you can get one which ain't easy. Still looking for my first one. Glad you got to share your day with a friend. PS, make sure you throw that fidgety spinner in the trash please.

Lemon juice works on silver that is heavily oxidised, & this one isn't. It also works on gilt buttons.

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on the half dime

 

[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on your first old coin. A Half Dime is a great one to dig. Personally, I do not clean any of my silver coins. All I do is water them off to get rid of the dirt or mud. I like to remember them they way they came out of the ground. It may have a nice patina to it also, and if you start cleaning it you will lose that.

 

[dirtlooter]

please leave it as is, beautiful coin, awesome find

 

[Obsessive]

Thanks all. Its a good motivator to keep me diggi g, but a hard come down to go back to finding nuthin but pennies and pull tabs. ��

 

[tomhighland]

Congratulations on your bucket list find. I do not clean my coins other than to remove dirt.

 

[JeffInMass]

Congrats on the sweet half-dime! Those little beauties are very tough to find..

-- Jeff --

 

[CRUSADER]

Congrats on your first old coin. A Half Dime is a great one to dig. Personally, I do not clean any of my silver coins. All I do is water them off to get rid of the dirt or mud. I like to remember them they way they came out of the ground. It may have a nice patina to it also, and if you start cleaning it you will lose that.

It's a case by case basis. Mostly 98% of my silver coins I do the same as you. But if your trying to ID a 2000 year old coin with build up over the letters, its a must. Otherwise the coin can't be cataloged.