3 Firsts with one coin !!!

[pescadore]

Went for an hour hunt today at the first site of our County Fair. We have been finding old coins occasionally but this place has been POUNDED over and over again !!!! I parked my car and got out with the CZ5 not far from the car and got a deep signal showing 8 inches on the depth. I got a two way signal from one direction and a choppy signal as I circled the target. I was pretty sure it was a rusty nail but because it was so deep, I dug it anyway. Sure enough it was a rusty nail about 8 inches deep. I moved about 3 feet and got another signal showing coin and circled the target and had a two direction hit all the way around. I pinpointed the target and it showed to only be about 4 inches down. I dug down and got out the trusty ProPointer. Sure enough from about that depth I retrieved a solid black disk the size of a dime. Okay here is where the mystery begins. Most of the older coins we have pulled from this site look like they have been in a fire and I have had one Merc soaking in olive oil for months and still can barely tell what it is. With my current find, it was so crusted that I couldn't see anything. I managed to chip off a small place on the reeded edge and knew that it was silver. The coin was very thin so I knew whatever it was it was very worn. Could this be my first ever seated coin ?? The suspense is killing me and I had no idea how I was going to clean this thing enough to find out what it was without totally destroying it. I took it home and washed it and used a soft toothbrush on it with lots of soap and still had no idea what it was. A decision had to be made was I going to try and scrape the black junk off of it or wait months to try and clean it. Okay, before ya'll all beat me up, let me explain I knew that the coin was so thin that it was probably in bad condition and if it was my first seated coin that I would never sell it no matter what. I got a small splinter of wood like a toothpick and began working on it. This black stuff is crazy and barely made any progress on it at all and still could not tell what it was. Another decision (to some I'm sure was a bad one) had to be made and the suspense was killing me. I took my small knife that had a flat end screwdriver blade on it and started trying to scrape the black stuff off. I knew the coin would probably be worthless after doing this but I didn't care at this point I just had to know. I manage to get enough of the black off the front of the coin and uncovered the date ... 1876 !!! my oldest US coin and my first ever Seated Liberty Dime. I could tell as I got more of the black stuff off that it was in really bad shape so I just had to see the mint mark. Started the same process on the back and had to get my wife to verify the small mint mark for me and it was my first Carson City mint mark !!!! Wow I am super stoked at this point and had three firsts in one single coin !!!! I am glad that I cleaned it, don't care that I damaged it because I wouldn't take a thousand dollars for it even if it was worth that !!! This little jewel will go in my collection and be passed down to my grandkids with this story. Sorry for being long winded !!!

 

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[Travyboy78]

Awesome find!

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Great story and an outstanding find for anyone congrats !!
Gary

 

[Greylock]

Try lemon juice. A flathead screwdriver? Really?

 

[pescadore]

Try lemon juice. A flathead screwdriver? Really?

I have tried everything short of electrolysis including lemon juice on the Merc and it didn't phase the black stuff but thanks for the advice. The condition of the coin is not a problem for me because I would never get rid of it anyway.

 

[jewelerguy]

any Carson City coin is an awesome find. when I was a kid, I saved my money up to buy a CC quarter from the local coin dealer to add to my growing collection. once I finally got it, I was one proud young man

 

[Greylock]

That's a great find by the way

 

[fongu]

Excellent find. I thought anything from carson city was valuable.

 

[pescadore]

Excellent find. I thought anything from carson city was valuable.

In poor condition as this one was it would be about $15 at best but to me it's priceless !!

 

[terpfan]

You did really well. Congrats on achieving so many firsts.

 

[GatorBoy]

Nice find if you want I suggest dropping it in hot hydrogen peroxide
I find them with that black on them so bad sometimes I call them cookie coins its two slabs of black with a coin in the middle
The last one I did was an 1837 capped bust half dollar
It will loosen the biological material sometimes I can pop the crust off and it leaves a perfect impression of the coin on the inside of the crust

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[sideshowbob]

Grats! That dime had nice detail. I found my first seated dime a couple weeks ago. Mine was much more worn than yours though, but was quite in cased in black. I asked for a little cleaning advice considering I couldn't get a date off it. Thank you again Susan MN!

If the vinegar doesn't work, this likely will. Lay a piece of tin Foil in a glass bowl, and the coin on the foil. Cover with baking soda, and then pour boiling water over both. Let it sit till the water cools and then wipe the coin clean. Some say never to clean a silver coin, but if it is so damaged you can not read a date, then this isn't going to damage it any worse.

I did the process three times before I wiped it and it still felt like I was rubbing too hard. Screwdriver .


1851 O. Cherish that seated I do mine

 

[treblehunter]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I love the story, I can really relate to how you felt. I'm happy for you that you got those first, that little screwdriver works good sometimes (I've had it in my hands a couple times)! Now break out the dremel and polish that bad boy up. Silver polish should work. lol just kidding about the dremel and polish. Nice find, congrats and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[pescadore]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I love the story, I can really relate to how you felt. I'm happy for you that you got those first, that little screwdriver works good sometimes (I've had it in my hands a couple times)! Now break out the dremel and polish that bad boy up. Silver polish should work. lol just kidding about the dremel and polish. Nice find, congrats and Happy Thanksgiving.

Wow .. dremel and polish why didn't I think of that !!! Patience was never my best virtue !!!

 

[gtfm2345]

Nice find man sorry about condition I got my first 2ct this year and it was also fried. Like you said priceless to me

 

[pescadore]

Why dont you guys run these coins through electrolysis process? It's easy, takes 5 minutes and cleans coins really well...

Honestly, I thought about trying to hook up a unit but didn't have everything I needed. I also tried it in the past and it didn't work right. I really had no idea what the coin was prior to cleaning it and in hindsight I might have done things differently but like I said in my post, the coin would never be for sale so the condition is no big deal to me. I am going to do some more testing with electrolysis and get a setup ready just in case I get another black silver.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Congrats on a super find!

 

[borntohunt460]

I have tried everything short of electrolysis including lemon juice on the Merc and it didn't phase the black stuff but thanks for the advice. The condition of the coin is not a problem for me because I would never get rid of it anyway.

If you spit in aluminum foil and wrap that coin up tight I promise that black crud will fall right off. I did this with my seated quarter after nothing else worked and it was magic. I had very little detail but I'm not sure if the aluminum foil did it or it was already like that underneath

 

[detroitdigger]

A Big Congrats on 3 firsts!