Amazing Hoard of Silver Coins!

UnderMiner

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I was driving through an industrial area of Long Island City yesterday and noticed a business was tossing out a bunch of stuff. I pulled over and asked the guy if I could look through the pile. He said I could. I found alot of junk - mostly broken pay phone parts and wires. Curious I asked the guy what the place used to be. He said it used to be a pay phone depository and repair facility but a few years ago it shut down when the last payphones were removed from the streets.

I continued searching the pile and then I came across a box full of "taped-up washers" and metal slugs. Then I realized these were payphone slugs from the old days when people would scam the phones with fake coins. I brought the box home and sorted through the slugs. To my amazement there were silver coins mixed in with the slugs, old coins, some VERY old coins! I soon was floored with amazement, Nazi coins! A Seated Liberty dime! Pre-WWI German silver coins!

Many of the coins were modified - shaved down in the past to be the same size as American quarters and dimes - but hey I'm not complaining! It was just a sheer rush to be able to just keep pulling out coin after coin! There was even a silver coin from 1858! My new oldest coin! My favorite coin however is the Queen Victoria dime, even though it's smashed up I've never found a Victorian silver before and I just love the Victorian Age so much (and to think where this coin has been to have gotten worn out - it just has an aura around it to me). This is what treasure hunting is all about - it's not just the value of the treasure - but the physical connection it gives us to the past.

Here are the 41 coins from the lot (the first 3 pics show all the coins, the rest of the pics are highlights of same coins):

DSC01568 2.jpg

DSC01489 2.jpg

DSC01487 2.jpg

DSC01567 2.jpg DSC01569 2.jpg

DSC01490 2.jpg DSC01491 2.jpg

DSC01493 2.jpg nazi 2.jpg

DSC01572 2.jpg DSC01571 2.jpg

DSC01574 2.jpg DSC01575 2.jpg

DSC01576 2.jpg DSC01577 2.jpg

DSC01579 2.jpg DSC01582 2.jpg

DSC01485 2.jpg
 

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UnderMiner

UnderMiner

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Tis the way of many a treasure hunter! Thank you! :occasion14: :treasurechest:
 

unclemac

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big rush, great score...did you snag any phones?
 

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UnderMiner

UnderMiner

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There were many phone parts and I kept a few unique pieces. The funny thing about this place is I think they repaired phones for a very LONG time and must have had some of them laying around for a half century at least - there was one headset labeled "Fungus Treated June, 1945." I kept that one only because I think it's part of a WWII telephone. It's stamped "Signal Corps U.S Army TS-10-M". I'll upload a pic later - it's defiantly a unique artifact.
 

cjon455

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That's interesting, very cool story
 

Higgy

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Very sweet find just laying there in the street. Thanks for sharing!
 

treblehunter

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Wow, what a great find, my mother use to call it "trash picking" ha lol Your going to be picking through everyone's trash now! It is amazing how people will leave coins like that in the reject trays and how someone actually put that out for trash pickup without checking for valuables? Lazy or stupid, you were right trusting your instincts to check that stuff out, good work, great thread, great finds and great pix! I still haven't found a seated anything, and I love those nazi coins, my favorite is the Philippine coin. It looks to be in really good shape. It would be interesting to get a value, of course getting "real" values on any coins is always pretty tough.
 

Darrow

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Wow! Such a great story...had to share it with hubby��
 

hubcap76

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Amazing opportunity you didn't pass up, stellar finds.

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jeff of pa

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MaineRelic

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Nice score ! That 1915 George V is a key date ! They made less than 300,000 that year ! dont know about any of the others MaineRelic
 

pepperj

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That's a great save from the landfill, congrats on the find and sharing the story.
 

Agent Green

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Awesome find, great story.. Unique.. :occasion14:
 

CoinandRelicMan

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Seek and ye shall find !! Congrats on that treasure find !
 

MUD(S.W.A.T)

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Really awesome !! :headbang:You should try and look around the floor of that place or get into the basement and detect it if its a dirt floor or foundation or whatever is left... :dontknow:
You could find the find of a lifetime from a place like that !! :thumbsup:

Keep @ it and HH !! :hello2:
 

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