Don in SJ
Silver Member
- May 20, 2005
- 4,931
- 832
- Detector(s) used
- MINELAB SE Pro
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Not a good year for "purdy" coins
I have been fortunate over the years to find many many old coppers in great shape considering they have been in the ground for many moons. Lately that has not been the case, and I attribute that to the new sites I am hunting, are just different soil types than a lot of my previous sites.
Yesterday I hunted for a couple new places and that did not pan out so I finished off my morning hunt by going to a site my son found couple months ago that has produced some very old coins. I only had a half hour to hunt so I thought I would try in the low area next to the road to expedite things.
I got a large copper right away, I knew from the looks of the coin and also how the previous coins and buttons were that it was going to be a tough one to ID and clean. Boy, was I right.
Anyway, the peroxide method did not do much in the way of removing the cemented on dirt. That is the only way to explain this stuff. It is like fused to the coin. So , I resorted to trying a INK ERASER, and it worked, but wow, it was slow and hard work. Oh, I tried toothpicking and that did not touch the stuff on the coin.
I took several photos while cleaning incase I "erased" detail off with the gritty stuff. After much eye strain, blowing up super macro photos on the computer, the date was deemed to be a 1822 Coronet Large Cent. My newest old coin of 2008!
As a consolation, I did get a flattened thimble, and after rubbing baking soda on it, I was pleasantly surprised to see it is a silver thimble.
Today, I went to check out a new possible homestead I spotted on an old map and it did turn out to be on, estimated age 1800-1830 era, maybe a tad older, maybe a tad newer. I found no coins to help, but did get 4 buttons and all were old, at least 1800-1830 era, with one being a blowhole button, which most likely maybe be 1700's. I did find pieces of very old, almost rotten pieces of brick and clam shells when I dug, all DEEP, at least 6-10 inches down, so another good sign. I will be hitting this new place next week and hope for a coin or two.
Here's my 2008 coin list so far, not too bad of a year.
1695+ William III HalfPenny
1695+ William III HalfPenny
1695+ William III HalfPenny
1722 Rosa Americana Penny
1723 King George I HalfPenny
1727+ King George II Pewter
1734 King George II Halfpenny
1738 King George II Halfpenny
1748 Spanish One Real
1805 Draped Bust Half Cent
1807 Draped Bust Half Cent
1822 Coronet Type Large Cent
1904 Indian Head Penny
1937 Mercury Dime
Don
I have been fortunate over the years to find many many old coppers in great shape considering they have been in the ground for many moons. Lately that has not been the case, and I attribute that to the new sites I am hunting, are just different soil types than a lot of my previous sites.
Yesterday I hunted for a couple new places and that did not pan out so I finished off my morning hunt by going to a site my son found couple months ago that has produced some very old coins. I only had a half hour to hunt so I thought I would try in the low area next to the road to expedite things.
I got a large copper right away, I knew from the looks of the coin and also how the previous coins and buttons were that it was going to be a tough one to ID and clean. Boy, was I right.
Anyway, the peroxide method did not do much in the way of removing the cemented on dirt. That is the only way to explain this stuff. It is like fused to the coin. So , I resorted to trying a INK ERASER, and it worked, but wow, it was slow and hard work. Oh, I tried toothpicking and that did not touch the stuff on the coin.
I took several photos while cleaning incase I "erased" detail off with the gritty stuff. After much eye strain, blowing up super macro photos on the computer, the date was deemed to be a 1822 Coronet Large Cent. My newest old coin of 2008!
As a consolation, I did get a flattened thimble, and after rubbing baking soda on it, I was pleasantly surprised to see it is a silver thimble.
Today, I went to check out a new possible homestead I spotted on an old map and it did turn out to be on, estimated age 1800-1830 era, maybe a tad older, maybe a tad newer. I found no coins to help, but did get 4 buttons and all were old, at least 1800-1830 era, with one being a blowhole button, which most likely maybe be 1700's. I did find pieces of very old, almost rotten pieces of brick and clam shells when I dug, all DEEP, at least 6-10 inches down, so another good sign. I will be hitting this new place next week and hope for a coin or two.
Here's my 2008 coin list so far, not too bad of a year.
1695+ William III HalfPenny
1695+ William III HalfPenny
1695+ William III HalfPenny
1722 Rosa Americana Penny
1723 King George I HalfPenny
1727+ King George II Pewter
1734 King George II Halfpenny
1738 King George II Halfpenny
1748 Spanish One Real
1805 Draped Bust Half Cent
1807 Draped Bust Half Cent
1822 Coronet Type Large Cent
1904 Indian Head Penny
1937 Mercury Dime
Don
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