Colonial silver?? To be, or not to be -- that is the question ....

[Bill D. (VA)]

My buddy Dan and I were finally able to access a very promising site that we've been trying to get into for over a year now, although only part of the property was made available to us yesterday. As soon as we walked out into that first small field we immediately started seeing early brick and pottery scattered over a wide area with a little iron thrown in as well. But after hitting that spot for a bit it became obvious that someone had hunted it hard before as the low tones almost entirely predominated. I did get a bit of excitement when I unearthed what appeared to be a well-worn and very thin silver coin, but we were both skeptical about its true identity. After returning home I tried removing some of the tarnish, which was brown instead of the black we usually see on silver, and didn't have any luck even with electrolysis. I also compared it to a couple slick half reales, and although this "coin" was actually a little thicker, it was much lighter in weight (0.42g vs 1.20g). I finally had to give in and admit this was not a silver coin but probably some aluminum whatzit. I know this will put a smile on Dan's face since I won't be able to make up any ground in our little colonial silver competition . The rest of the hunt was pretty uneventful for me with only a few odds and ends from the 1800s, but it was still great to get out after a 2-week hiatus due to the snow.

 

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[Zodiacdiverdave]

IP has it right, give it the lemon juice treatment, this is worth investigating. There were lots of legit targets missed by the previous hunters, so my vote is you go back and try that spot again Bill. There has to be some good colonial goodies left there for you.
Congrats.
ZDD

 

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[Patriot Relics]

Nice spread of relics Bill, that thin...coin...is an interesting one. Standing by for the positive ID

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[Ahab8]

Hmmm I dunno buddy. I would try the lemon juice for sure. Can't hurt my friend. My guess is that you will dig up a rare one soon. You are due and I know you can't be held down too long

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

A quick lemon juice soak with a little brushing would likely go a long way.

Tried soaking it for quite some time and then with some vigorous brushing, but it didn't put a dent in it. And electrolysis didn't work either.

 

[Carolina Tom]

Congrats on getting out to hunt.

I find those fake reals all of the time... I call them "not-reals". Mine are usually aluminum play money.

Best of luck to you!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

As always, great hunt Bill. I like that heel plate piece and I bet that pocket watch gave a killer signal. That curved brass piece on the right side of the picture, to the left of the little buckle reminds me of a musket side plate... however, it has two screw holes and I cant seem to find one that's similar.

As for the "coin", I can see what Joey's talking about with a counter stamp. It definitely looks like it has a round stamp with something in there. It sounds like you've tried just about everything on it, but you could always do the boiling water, aluminum foil and baking soda and see if you get a rotten egg smell. While not definitive, you might be able to tell if it has silver in it based on that. Seems pretty light though, so if it is a coin, like Cru said debased maybe.

Either way, I'm super jealous you got out! After getting 3 feet of snow dumped on us, we've had a few mid 50's days up here. Perfect detecting weather, but there is still a foot of snow on the ground. It seriously cant melt fast enough. ha

 

[Vino]

Sorry late to this post Bill,
Things have been crazy organizing this hunt.
Not sure what I see on the coin?
But I'm glad to see you getting out, and getting some keepers!!