MODIFIED with ADDITIONAL PICS - 1879 Morgan

[Indiana Digger]

I HAVE ADDED ADDITIONAL DETAILED PICS 8/23- FARTHER DOWN IN THE THREAD

Hello Everyone,

This is a classic example of "they hit you when you least expect it".
I was digging with my buddy Kenny this morning. He had a spot in a neighboring county that he had hit before, but had come up empty-handed. We decided to give his spot a try and drove out there.

We drove up a very long lane that had wheat stubble and waist high weeds on one side and on the other side of the lane was a field that only had the outside rounds worked. (bare dirt)

We hit the weedy side first (that's where the old house and barns used to stand) and after 15 or so minutes of being unable to swing a coil in that mess, we decided to try the other side of the road and swing over bare dirt. Signals were few and far between - and when we did get a signal, it ended up being old shell casings.

Since we weren't having much success, I suggested we may have to go to the local park and settle for some coinshooting. Kenny agreed and said,"Let me dig this signal first." I was no more than 10 feet away from him and got a signal, too. Kenny said, "I've got a washer". I told him, "Let me dig this signal it's probably a washer, too."

Two and a half inches deep and caked with dirt, I pulled out what I was certain was a very large washer. However, the "center" didn't budge when I tried to poke it though. Keep in mind this thing was completely covered in dirt.

I've had my heart broken numerous times by large washers pretending to be something else. I asked Kenny, "What the hell is this?" Committing the cardinal sin, I carefully brush away a tiny bit of dirt and saw some writing. This is NOT a washer. This is NOT a big-assed token. This is a large coin. My heart skipped a beat when I realized how heavy it weighed in my hand. "Could it be? Have I found my very first large silver?"

Indeed, I had. An 1879 Morgan Silver Dollar. After a few war-whoops and a few expletives, I carefully wrapped it up and brought it home to share with my fellow T-Netters.



I think I owe my buddy Kenny a beer or two for allowing me to hunt this site.

And to think...we were just about ready to leave...

It's true...."they hit you when you least expect it".

HH Everyone,

~Indiana Digger~

 

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[worldtalker]

#1---Take a real good look at Dave In Iowa's coin. Does yours look like that in color? #2-- The camera you have is not cutting it. Whether it's settings or what, I don't know. #3-- The coin just doesn't look right. Too soft, numbers look funny, denticles, rim, reeded edge, and overall striking looks to be soft. No matter how much wear or damge is evident, the metal content looks TOO SOFT. By the amount of damage I see, the coin appears as though it wasn't made with high grade silver. Take a magnet to it. Especially where it is damaged. If there is ANY resistance or pull, NO MATTER HOW SLIGHT OR SMALL, coin is made with another metal besides 90% silver and 10% copper. If it were mine, I would take a toothbrush with warm soapy water, and clean,(NOT SCRUB), but lightly clean it. At this point, with condition, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HURT IT. It's only worth silver content anyways. All you want to do is find out whether it's real or not. Some well made Chinese CFT's were very hard to spot. Some have even made it into grading slabs. I think any coin collector, (or dealer epecially), with any experience, examining this thing in the metal, will have no problem telling you it's authenticity in about 10 seconds. Take it to someone reputable in your area and see what he says. I like this post! Can't wait to hear the outcome. Hogge

Hogge,

My Morgan is bright and shiny - unlike Dave In Iowa's coin - even in the nicks/gouges.
I took a magnet to it - absolutely no pull whatsoever.
This was found in the middle of a farm field - a 1904 IH was the only other coin found - about 10 foot away.
My White's Eagle IISL 90 vdi on this was 93. It hit and STUCK on 93 vdi.
Agreed - this looks like a very soft strike.
The exposed metal on the scuffed rims in shiny/silvery.
My camera isn't the best - this coin looks much better in person - but here's another shot after cleaning.




There is a very reputable coin/metals dealer about 45 minutes from me. It looks like I'll need to go see them sometime soon...I appreciate everyone's input on this. I am just finishing up my first full year of detecting and have had some incredible luck. If this is an authentic Morgan, it would be the PERFECT way to wrap up the year!

HH,

~Indiana Digger~

ID,What do you mean wrap up the year,You got 4months+ before the ground freezes,don't stop now!!!!!!!!!!!!GodBless HH Chris

 

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[Indiana Digger]

Thanks Chris - I started detecting in September 2010 - meaning my first 365 days at this addic....er, um...hobby! Oh, I have SO much more to do - especially at the "honeyhole" I found this past Spring. You can check my earlier posts for details on that one!

HH,

~Indiana Digger~

 

[Scott (Mich)]

My guess is that it is real. Another way to tell a fake is to look really close at the edge and see if you can see a seam. Cast fake coins usually have a seam in the middle of the edge.

I had read an article a few weeks ago about someone getting caught bringing fake Morgan's into the USA. He got caught because he had too many of a rare date and that raised alarm bells. Since most coins now coming from China are suspect, the fakers are shipping them in and selling them here.

The place in China that made the fakes actually used the real US Mint presses to make them so they were really difficult to tell as being fakes, just different die indicators gave them away. The coin presses were sent by our government to China in the early 1900's, possibly to help the Chinese with their own coin production. Those presses were in storage until discovered and used by the modern day Chinese counterfeiters.

 

[hogge]

93 VDI UM WELL UMM...........Nice Find! But you could have saved alot of questioning if you had mentioned this in the original post! ALSO..........You need a better camera. I got a SONY 12.1 mega pixel at Wal Mart for $119. If you are going to take pics of your finds, I highly suggest you buy one. A CFT should typically read in the 50-70 range I believe. I still have Q's about your coin, but with a reading like that it is hard to question it. It still doesn't look right. Anyways........Congrats..... and I guess I'll go eat some "Humble Pie".