Gold Coin

[southfork]

I was going through some of my collection and thought about this old find . Artifact Jack and me were dredging for gold on the south fork of the American river in Coloma California where the gold rush started . When this coin showed up in the riffles it was my dredge and I wanted the coin so I gave Jack half the estimated value at the time . This is when it was legal to suction dredge as a great hobby this must have been forty or more years ago when we found this five dollar gold piece . Summer an Low water year and no wetsuit needed trouble maker rapid we found plenty of pickers too but that was a day maker . New photos of old gold .

 

[old digger]

Nice! A day maker that was!

 

[bug]

Nice find! I remember a big floating dredge, like a mini house boat, at troublemaker back in the early 1990s

 

[mytimetoshine]

great coin

 

[dredgernaut]

wow, pristine condition for a coin that spent 150 yrs or so in the river getting tumbled over. nice find

 

[madmantrapper]

wow, pristine condition for a coin that spent 150 yrs or so in the river getting tumbled over. nice find

I'd go back and search some more. The treasure chest just got broke open and pristine treasures are just getting lose.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Gold coins were in pretty short supply in 1845!

 

[Asmbandits]

absolutely amazing find!

 

[IdahoGoldGettR]

It doesn’t get any better than finding gold where the old timers did and also finding a piece of history to go along with it. Very cool. Thanks for sharing the photos and the story.

 

[dredgernaut]

the fella that lost it probably went down with it. and floated away over time. I have dredged up change then later that day I dredged up old bones. that scared the hell out of me. started imagining all kinds of stuff , like creature from the black lagoon. I almost could walk on water I got out so fast. they were not human after all . thank goodness. lol. the change was probably from a car accident or something . many cars end up in that river every year.

 

[Goldwasher]

I know a guy that found an 1853 double eagle pretty close to there.

Gold coins were heavily circulated in the 1840's and 1850's Not as much as silver and copper. But, there were millions of them.
When you consider the population at the time. They were often carried.

The Army paid in Gold and Silver. Enlisted paid in silver Officers got Gold and Silver.

The infux of gold during the rush actually made silver coinage sought after affecting circulation and increasing its value.
The weight in silver of silver in coins was actual adjusted at this time to affect hoarding of silver coins.

There were A lot of would be and actual prospectors walking around with gold coins during the 1850's

There is a difference between minted and circulated.. the circulation affects value (rarity)

I've sold about thre pounds of silver coins. Though I wish I had waited a few years cosidering what I paid and when I sold.

You will never get deals on gold coins like I did on silver. I still beat myself up over it.

There are a lot of coins lost and not found and in my opinion many more buried in mason jars that are still there. A whole heck of a lot on old homesite's that have since been built over.

 

[dredgernaut]

probably a week or so in wages with overtime.

 

[Goldwasher]

probably a week or so in wages with overtime.

I have a reprint of a journal from a guy that worked my creek and general area. 1853-58

He had a ledger. Almost four ounces to net $70 or so bucks

Paid off bills. $50 bucks for the months water. $15 for lumber. Not much left for a shovel.

Three plus ounces dug by hand in a month was not worth as much back then as it is today. as far as I'm concerned

 

[dredgernaut]

sounds like my life. lol

 

[mytimetoshine]

50 bucks for water. the real gold in some areas

 

[Goldwasher]

50 bucks for water. the real gold in some areas

it was his biggest monthly bill everytime he mentions it.

whats crazy too is the amount of work they did. Digging races through rock to set up sluices, building cabins selling them moving often. so, much work not actually digging for gold.

 

[dredgernaut]

I drive 2 days 15 hours each. just to get there . spend 1 day setting up and getting ready. 1 or so days digging before I even start running material. I feel tired before I even start seeing gold. Then after a couple weeks of super hard work I gotta undo the whole process. and i am not getting any younger that's for sure.
But they did it on foot by hand. i get flustered when i cant get a good radio station in and thank goodness for air conditioning. lol

 

[Gravelwasher]

Great coin, gold and story!!

Really the holy grail when gold searching, you get the gold the coin the whole thing processed and time stamped.

Looks to be in terrific shape for out of the roaring American.

 

[beekbuster]

$70 for 3.5 ounces translated to todays prices= $3125 water bill. i think id make a better profit with a screw driver and a dry pan

 

[Gravelwasher]

Kinda like going to the dentist nowa days with insurance. Dr. takes a look says emm 2 bad crowns our other office did for you plus 2 cavities and potentially 1 more crown comes out to $5300 patient cost for a few hours in the dentist chair.

What a scam, just like selling water to the miners, if you need it they jack the prices.