A 7 cent pocket spill circa 1885

[skierbob]

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time hunting along an old trail through the woods. The trail dates to at least the post-civil war era. It is used today mostly by bicyclists and some hikers. I had found some good stuff on and around this trail back in the winter, even though I'm not the only detectorist who hunts there. Yesterday, I walked about 300 yards up the trail and had found only one nickel. Then along the side of the trail, I got a strange, deep signal which I thought was either a screw cap or possibly an Indian Head cent. It seemed to be pinpointing in a couple different spots. I dug down about 5 inches and lifted the dirt out of the hole. There was a target in the dirt, which turned out to be an Indian Head. There were still more targets in the hole. As I lifted each one out of the hole, I discovered three more Indians and a smaller piece, which I thought might be a civil war token. But after closer examination I could just barely make out a liberty head on one side and a Roman numeral III on the other. I knew I had a 3 cent nickel, only the second one I had ever found.

There were two 1883 cents, an 1885 cent and, a semi-key 1872 cent. The 3 cent piece turned out to be an 1865 piece. It must have been laying up against one of the Indian Heads as one side of the coin was somewhat protected from the elements, while the other side shows alot of environmental damage. There was some chemical reaction between the two coins which caused some green corrosion over Liberty's head. This was removed by soaking the coin in lemon juice.

Here's a shot of the whole 7 cents together:



The three cent nickel:



The 1872 cent:



The 1885 cent:



And the 1883's:




Thanks for looking.

 

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[Roger Mn.]

Thanks Bob
The 1872 looks great.
If you have a hill facing southwest or west on that trail I would be detecting at least 6ft. around all the big trees.
I think most of my coins were found on hillsides.
roger

 

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[Tank69]

sweet little spill congrats

 

[GioTheGreek]

Awesome stuff OP, thanks for the info.

It helps to get my imagination going while going over google earth and talking to myself.

"There's an old trail. Oh look another. Perhaps there are old coins and relics there? Oh look more trails." lol

 

[ES66]

Awesome pocket spill!! That's one you won't soon forget....