Found in an old sidewalk tear out

MT DFX · Jul 28, 2009

My wife and I were driving the grandkids across town to a local lake in Kalispell, MT when I spotted some sidewalk removal in progress in front of an old school in an old part of town. These sidewalks went in back in the 1920's for the most part and I jump on them when they are being torn up if I can find them. I could not tell from driving by if they had already laid down the gravel bed, but I made a mental note to get back to check it out as soon as I had some time. As it worked out, I got back late that same evening and the dirt under the sidewalk still had not been removed. I slowly hunted about 50 feet of old dirt, and in only about an hour I had found two 1900 Barber dimes and a 1905 IH penny (badly corroded), plus a small pearl handled picket knife and what I believe to be a decorative end to a hat pin. Unfortunately, the dirt under this section of sidewalk had been consistently wet for many years and there was a lot of pitting on the penny and on both dimes.
On Monday evening I went back over there to see if they had torn up any more, and sure enough they had gone the rest of the way down the block. I was able to spend another 45 minutes and only found one coin, but it was a keeeper. It was an 1896-S Barber quarter. It came out shiny and not pitted as the others had been. Evidently it had not been wet for a hundred years like the others. This one brought out the happy-dance as it was a first for me for this coin type, and a semi-key date besides. Thanks for looking.

Michaelangelo · Jul 28, 2009

Sounds like some nice finds but no pics?

MT DFX · Jul 28, 2009

Not sure why the pictures did not show up. They were there on the preview

?

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MarkinIa · Jul 28, 2009

Oh boy, would I love to see a picture of that Barber Quarter. I sure hope it's in real good shape.

Congrats on a super great find.

you just got to love them sidewalk tear outs.

spartacus53 · Jul 28, 2009

Sounds like you had a great day and good finds. Maybe the pictures didn't show up because you need to re-size them. You can always use Lunapic.com for FREE service.

Moonshadow · Jul 28, 2009

Try posting the pics again! I would love to see what you found. I love sidewalk tearup stories. Congrats to you! :icon_thumleft:

HH,
Moon

MT DFX · Jul 28, 2009

Sorry about the confusion on my mint mark for the quarter. I meant to say 1896-O. I got it confused when looking at the pictures of my other great find of a 1901-S Barber dime.