1790s US Silver at Incredible Ball Field Site

jrmazzeo · Nov 29, 2013

I've hunted the old ball field 2 more times since my last post. Earlier this week I had a 9 silver dime day, including 2 Barbers, 6 Mercs and a Rosie. Today I spent a full day at the site as it closes for the season tomorrow. What a day! 9 more silver coins, for a total of 65 silver coins in 7 hunts (not to mention that my buddy, who found 4 the day I found 18, also found 6 more silver dimes today, which puts the site's total at 75 silver coins).

What made today special is the variety of silver coins that were found. It started off with the no date SLQ, then the 1930 Merc, then the 1948 D Washington, followed by 2 of the Rosies. Next was the 1877 seated dime (second seated dime at the site), followed almost immediately by the 1892 Barber Quarter. Then another Rosie before we broke for lunch.

It was only about 32 degrees today, but there was no wind and the ground was still soft. A hot coffee at lunch gave me the energy to get back our for a few more hours. Almost right after the lunch break, pulled out what I believe is a holed 179? US half dime. You can read United States on the back and it has an Eagle. The front is very worn but you can clearly see the numbers 79, There are also several stars visible on the front as well as a little bit of hair. It is smaller than a dime. Pretty cool! I wish it were in better shape but still an amazing find. Obviously it was lost well after it was minted, given the wear and the fact that it was holed.

Also found 4 IHs and a 2 cent piece. To say this site has been great would be an understatement. Last year, which was my first full year with the Safari, I found 179 silver coins. About a month ago I was happy to just reach 100, never dreaming I would get close to last year's total. After today, I am at 166 silver coins for the year. If the weather cooperates, and I can find another site like this, you never know.

I hope you all can find a site like this to enjoy. Happy Hunting.

oxbowbarefoot · Dec 3, 2013

Hmmm... Perhaps people don't know that there are as few as 150 of these surviving in all grades.

jrmazzeo · Dec 3, 2013

oxbowbarefoot said:
Hmmm... Perhaps people don't know that there are as few as 150 of these surviving in all grades.

Really? Do you think the others were melted down? Or are just lost?

Ahab8 · Dec 3, 2013

That's a pretty rare piece of silver. You've got my vote due to the scarcity of those and as said before 1700s silver is not easy to find

screwynewy · Dec 3, 2013

oxbowbarefoot said:
Hmmm... Perhaps people don't know that there are as few as 150 of these surviving in all grades.

Yeah, this one deserves to be up top. Maybe the banner gods think its too worn out and wouldn't look good up there?

oxbowbarefoot · Dec 3, 2013

jrmazzeo said:
Really? Do you think the others were melted down? Or are just lost?

I'm sure plenty (relatively speaking) were lost, but a lot would have been melted down in the 1800's when the value of silver outpaced the face value of the coins on the international market. Much of early circulating US silver was exported for melting.

Mach1Pilot · Dec 3, 2013

No doubt about it. Banner material! Congrats on you half dime!! :hello2:

(mine was only one year earlier than yours.

)

West Jersey Detecting · Dec 3, 2013

Welcome to the early US silver club! Only a handful of Draped Bust silver ever posted. I skipped over all the bust coins for my early silver, so any bust is still on my list!

Awesome find!

terpfan · Dec 3, 2013

Definitely a banner worthy find, despite the wear. Perhaps the mods are looking for a clearer picture. The two posted are pretty fuzzy.

l2hunt · Dec 3, 2013

it was a silver bonanza :silvermedalblue:

flatbutton · Dec 3, 2013

Incredible site, Incredible find! Def banner material! :icon_thumright:

Steve in PA · Dec 4, 2013

Yes! Welcome to the Draped Bust club! I have found two Draped Bust dimes, 1797 and 1802. You never see Draped bust silver posted. You see more Massachusetts tree silver posted than Draped Bust silver. Your coin should be Banner on rarity alone. My vote is in! By the way here are my two. Unfortunately mine were not in very good condition either.

I also have a great article from coin world about a study done by the US Mint in 1830 that found very few early US silver coins still in circulation as most were melted for bullion or for other purposes such as silver smiths and they were replaced by underweight Spanish coins.

Tenspeed · Dec 4, 2013

Great find! That is a serious honey hole you have access to. Banner vote from me too for the draped bust coin.

jrmazzeo · Dec 4, 2013

Steve in PA said:
Yes! Welcome to the Draped Bust club! I have found two Draped Bust dimes, 1797 and 1802. You never see Draped bust silver posted. You see more Massachusetts tree silver posted than Draped Bust silver. Your coin should be Banner on rarity alone. My vote is in! By the way here are my two. Unfortunately mine were not in very good condition either.

I also have a great article from coin world about a study done by the US Mint in 1830 that found very few early US silver coins still in circulation as most were melted for bullion or for other purposes such as silver smiths and they were replaced by underweight Spanish coins.

Very nice! Awesome that you found 2, much better shape then mine.

jrmazzeo · Dec 4, 2013

terpfan said:
Definitely a banner worthy find, despite the wear. Perhaps the mods are looking for a clearer picture. The two posted are pretty fuzzy.

I've tried to take a better picture with my iPhone but can't seem to get much better then the ones already posted. I am not worried about getting a banner, it would be nice but having the coin and learning about the rarity is much more rewarding.

DocBeav · Dec 4, 2013

All the other finds alone were a great haul but that early silver really capped it all off! Congrats and you have my Banner vote as well!

screwynewy · Dec 6, 2013

jrmazzeo said:
I've tried to take a better picture with my iPhone but can't seem to get much better then the ones already posted. I am not worried about getting a banner, it would be nice but having the coin and learning about the rarity is much more rewarding.

I don't understand why this find didn't make the banner. I guess a lot of posters who say that it is a banner find don't actually put their vote in. Either way it is still an awesome and rare find. But I'd still love to hear from the banner gods why it didn't make the cut.