1916 Merc with a mint mark Holy S$S$S

DPBOB

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Apr 12, 2006
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DES PLAINES IL
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I took my Son to college on Sat. to IOWA CITY , ( University of Iowa )
On Sunday I took a short side trip on the way back.. The back roads of IOWA.. GRAVEL ROADS for miles.
Stopped at several locations but every farm house that was close to where I wanted to hunt nobody was home...
Most likely at Church...
So what did I do I decided to go to Church, that is to hunt one....
Got permission to hunt a church while church was going on but came up empty handed....
Was at the end of my side trip and hadn't found a thing..
I went down a couple of more roads when I came upon a burnt out house that was still smoldering..
Went down the road to a couple of farms and again no one home.. I said the heck with it I'm going to hunt it.
First hole I dug was a Wheatie Cool..
Second hole I dug was a silver dime..."Cool Come on be a 1916D", I SAID OUT LOUD ... I rubbed away a little dirt where the date is and WOW!!! a 1916 Holy S%#T ...I started to shake ... Rubbed a little where the mint mark should be and again Holy S%$T I saw a mint mark Jezz was I shaking UNTIL

I saw that it was an S mint mark.....Still what a thrill..

About 5 minutes after that a truck pulled into the drive way and the guy asked me what I was looking for?
I told him I was looking for coins.. I explained that I went to a few of the farms down the road to ask for permission but no one was home at any of them..
He told me that he owned it and that I could stay as long I wanted too...The house was built in 1910 and they burnt it down on Sat.... Cool.....Spent about 1 1/2 hours there
and that was the only good find besides a bunch of other wheaties and a silver ring and some change....

SO CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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DPBOB

DPBOB

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Apr 12, 2006
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DES PLAINES IL
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Re: 1916 Merc with a mint mark

THE COIN
 

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fd3615

Sr. Member
Jan 25, 2007
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California - Solano County
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Re: 1916 Merc with a mint mark

your lucky he was cool...

cool dime... next time id wait to rub it.. ( well id say i wouldnt ) but i am sure i would have rubbed it to.. and with my luck gouged the crap out of it.. lol...
 

River Rat

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Jan 6, 2006
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Re: 1916 Merc with a mint mark

Sweet find, Bob!

;) RR
 

piggman1

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Apr 7, 2007
3,120
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Austin, TX
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Re: 1916 Merc with a mint mark

Sweet find, and it was great you found the owner so cooperative. Way to go!
 

Prober

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Apr 11, 2007
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West Michigan
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Re: 1916 Merc with a mint mark

Sweet dime Bob. Glad the guy was nice. With my luck he'd of been a p#%^# and had me arrested for criminal trespass! Nice hunt.
 

Jack(IN)

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Jan 20, 2007
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Indiana
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Re: 1916 Merc with a mint mark Holy %$#&

Great story and sweet dime!! Its good the guy didn't throw a fit when he drove up. Shame you didn't find any more silver and I've been close about nine or ten times, maybe my next 1916 will have that "D". You never know, even someone from my town won the Powerball last night so things can happen!!
 

tymcmurray

Gold Member
Jul 14, 2007
5,634
54
Maryland
Nice dime, and good to hear that I'm not the only one out there ALWAYS looking.
Last night I got permission from a park manager to hunt "his" park anytime he is there!
Gotta love the nice guys!
 

ModernMiner

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Jan 9, 2007
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Great post and pictures Bob. That had to be one exciting moment digging up a 1916 dime. Congrats to you. Maybe you can find the matching "D" at a later hunt?
-MM-
 

Green1

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Mar 20, 2006
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Massachusetts
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so close dude,, still a sweet find ! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


i do the same thing out there,, come on baby be....... ;D ;D ;D
even while cladding,, come on don't be a quarter !! ;D ;D 8) 8)
 

Boobydoo

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2006
6,338
28
Michigan
Awesome coin Bob and an exciting find for sure, too bad it wasn't the elusive "D". Congrats and keep the goodies coming. Good luck!

Smiles!
BDoo
 

oroh2o

Full Member
Mar 10, 2006
122
13
WTG!!!!!!!!!! reminds of an old park in Nebraska a few years ago. Dug a '16S- two '16 plain mercs and to top off the day, a '16 Canadian dime. A roller coaster day, but a good one. HH..........
 

R

RUDY2003

Guest
Cool huntin' trip Bob!
1916 is very elusive no matter what the mark.

Keep diggin'...
 

mastereagle22

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May 15, 2007
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Southeast Missouri
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Awesome dime

we must remember not to "wipe" our finds lest we scratch them. Learned that the hard way last week. Still that is one cool story and a great find.
 

West Jersey Detecting

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Oct 23, 2006
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Nice find.

A little advice for the future...NEVER rub a coin with your finger to see the date and mintmark. You will depreciate the value greatly if you do. For example, I can see the tiny scratches made by your finger in the picture. Have patience. Wait until you get home or bring a small bottle of water with you. The kind with the squeeze top. You can usually get the date with few squirts. I cringe when I read some of the posts.

WTG!!!!
 

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DPBOB

DPBOB

Silver Member
Apr 12, 2006
3,585
264
DES PLAINES IL
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AVATAR: MY Wife Saying....




"Your going Metal Detecting
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As far as field cleaning a coin..
A little water ( lots of SPIT ) or a water bottle works good.
You know if it was a 16D
I wouldn't sell it so cond. doesn't play that major of a factor for " ME"
Realistically one can find an 1877 I H lost that same year only to be found in 2007 and come out of the ground
all corroded and be worth "maybe" a couple hundred or even worthless ,would you sell it ?

The ONLY wiped area was by the date and mint mark All other scratches were in the coin even the surface ones before I pulled it from the ground...



Thanks ALL for your replies..... DPSB
 

Mirage

Silver Member
Sep 16, 2005
3,718
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Cleveland, OH
Bob,
I had a similar experience with a 1916 Merc. But mine didn't even have a mintmark. I can imagine seeing the mint mark.... ;D


Bob
 

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