my oldest and best Indian Head cent found at the ATV trails

[funkman]

Had jury duty this week and got out a little early on Tuesday so naturally I grabbed my detecting equipment and hit the trails. This time I decided to become more methodical in my searching and did what most of you have said before....work in a grid pattern....so thats what I did. I hit the actual paths and mostly the grassy areas working in a straight line in one direction and then when I got to the end, swung 180 degrees and step over a little and started swinging again. This insured that I overlapped my paths so I hopefully would not miss anything.
We had rain all day on Mondayand the ground was nice and wet so I think this also might have helped me recover items I missed before. I stayed near the bottom section of my area since I think it is still deer hunting season here and did not want to risk getting mistaken for a deer.
Anyway I hit all areas that I had detected before but not using this gridding pattern. I manged to pick up a few more relics, some unknown but some I recognized since I had found some of these items before.

I found the back cover to an old alarm clock which I had found a duplicate on a prior hunt. Also found another back plate to a pocket watch that was made by the Waterbury Watch Co. It says it is Series J. I had found other pocket watch parts in the past near this same section so possibly they are all of the same watch.

Went to another grassy section and found a couple of clad quarters but the best was when I got that nice coin tone and thought another dime or penny (clad) but an Indian Head cent came out of the hole instead. I have never found an old coin in this particular section but had found some flat buttons in the past. Naturally this was a nice surprise when I rubbed some of the dirt off and saw the familiar shield on the back of an Indian Head cent. I flipped it over to get an idea on the date and a little more rubbing showed 1866. That is my oldest IH to date!! The other surprise for me is that it is also in the best condition of any I have found. After cleaning it a little I can see cleary the detail of the feathers on Liberty's headdress and also I can see all the letters of "LIBERTY"! Going to a coin grading site to get information on what grade it could be tells me that it might be in XF condition if not close to AU but you coin collectors could tell me better I am sure. PCGS website has this coin for quite a pretty penny...no pun intended... so I am thinking about bringing to a coin shop near me and seeing what they think it is worth. Would this be smart or could the coin shop possibly tell me that they would give me $5 for it and then turn around and sell it for $100 or so? Anyone of you ever bring a coin to a coin shop fro appraisal and felt it was correct?

Anyway after that nice find I went to another section and got the coin signal again and dug a bigger sized coin than I was expecting. It seems it was a souvenir coin from the Kissin Cuzzins Pancake Inn. Possible age is the 1960's I imagine. Thought it was an old token but it is still a nice find.

After finding really nothing much and noticing that I was out there for about 4 hours I decided to start heading back to the entrance and went to another section where I have found beer cans and modern trash but since I ahd pretty good luck so far wanted to try again. DId dig up the can slaw but got another coin tone and was nicely surprised to see the buckle! It seems in great shape and I have seen a few of these on this site before. Can anyone tell me roughly what age this could be? Would it be safe to say it is from the 1800's or could it go to the 1700's?? Not much of a buckle expert but I know a few of you are.

Well enjoy the pics and let me know what you guys and gals think of the:
- grade and value of the 1866 Indian Head
- should I trust the judgement of a coin shop on the appraisal of the IH.
- age and type of buckle

Thanks in advance for the help

Funkman

 

[DCMatt]

Nice IH and other finds. Looks like a good spot to hunt.

I'd skip the coin shop routine. You should be able to do enough research on you own to determine the value of you r IH.

What's the bent/folded item at the top of picture #1? Looks like part of some Victorian era bonbon tongs. These were thin pressed brass and often included in a box of candy. The candy maker would emboss the company name on them. You would bend it in half and use it to pluck the chocolates from the box. That way the ladies didn't get melty chocolate on their gloves.

DCMatt

 

[funkman]

thanks for the reply Matt. I forgot about that item. I haven't been able to ID the company but it says "Wieda's". Not sure what that is but maybe you are correct. ANy other guesses??

Thanks again.

Funkman

 

[silverfreak]

That injun's a beauty Funk. I would try the coin shop just out of curiosity...but definately don't sell it until you do some more checking around.

 

[DCMatt]

thanks for the reply Matt. I forgot about that item. I haven't been able to ID the company but it says "Wieda's". Not sure what that is but maybe you are correct. ANy other guesses??

Thanks again.

Funkman

FM,

I did a quick search on WEIDA. Found info on a guy named Ernest Weida who held a Canadian patent (applied for in 1902) on some kind of bonbon dipping machine. Coincidence? You be the judge.

DCMatt

 

[funkman]

thanks again matt....I see he also patented a dough kneader and mixer...unless that is the same thing you found. More research is needed I think.

Funkman

 

[DCMatt]

thanks again matt....I see he also patented a dough kneader and mixer...unless that is the same thing you found. More research is needed I think.

Funkman

So he was a baker AND a candy maker...

Check some of the Sharkpit postings from last year. That guy found numerous parts of chocolate tongs... Look at his pics. I think that's what you have.

DCMatt

 

[stevesno]

Great patina on that Indian head. Around here a lot of the ATV trails follow old, established trails that can be traced back to the days of the Native American....Steve

 

[seger98]

That is a nice coin, like the token as well.... WTG

 

[diggin jimmy hoffa]

Great finds there Funkman.
That Indian Head looks remarkable for just coming from the ground. You must have some very kind soil in your neck of the woods.
Here is an Ebay link of the "Kissin Cuzins' Inn" It is a postcard and has a 1970's postmark, so I think it will help you date your token.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BRADENTON-FLORI...ryZ20203QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nice Finds and Happy Huntin'

DJH

 

[funkman]

Thanks all for the replies. Will keep you updated on the coin. I plan on taking it to that coin shop anyway just to see what they tell me. There is another one near my work so I might try there also. Two opinions on the same coin should be interesting.

diggin JH.... the soil does seem to be kind to some things but not others. I have a couple of indian heads from this site and this iks by far the best one. You would think that one that is from 1897 would be in better condition than one from 1866, but maybe it has to do with how it was laying in the soil or possibly the 1866 one was dropped after the 1897 one. Who knows Not me but I don't care as ong as I find more of them. The Indian Head cent is my favorite one to find. Now if I could just pull a silver coin out of this ground!!!

Thanks again.

Funkman

 

[tymcmurray]

Nice bunch of finds.
Is this a atv track that a video was made of?
I saw a video with an stv track and was just wondering.

 

[detectoraddict]

Nice digs and one sweet lookin injun!!!

 

[funkman]

Ty,

not that I am aware of. I want to make a video of a walkthrough to show everyone the trails and where things are and were found. Have to purchase a memory card for my cell phone so I can put it into the colputer and upload it. I have the old 8mm video camera that i can transfer it to VHS but then have to somehow get it onto computer. ANy ideas on the process?? Other than that I will wait till I get the memory card.
If you know what the video is please PM me a link or post it here so I can check it out and see if it is the same site. I gather it is of people riding the ATV's or is it of someone detecting?

Thanks

Funkman

 

[nc-joe]

Great coin. It appears to be closer to AU detail than extra fine, but since it is green and there is excessive corrosion on the reverse, it will lose substaintial value as a "dug coin" but should still be worth $50-75. Unfortuneatly eye appeal trumps detail.

(of course the coin dealer will tell you it's nearly worthless and he'll give you $10 bucks for your effort)

Never the less it's far better than the 1866 I have, as this is a tough date and is considered a semi key date.

Hold onto it, indian heads are skyrocketing in value and are showing no signs of slowing down.

 

[Merf]

Nice finds ---That Injun is in good shape

 

[history hunter]

Very nice Indian head!!! WTG

 

[ModernMiner]

Great looking IH !!!
Congrats on your finds,
MM

 

[funkman]

just came back from a local coin shop near work and he told me that the condition it is in it would have been $110 to $150 but since it was dug (black color) that it brings it down a grade so about $75. Not bad for a coin that was worth one cent way back huh??

Still going to see what the other guys says though...just for kicks.

Thanks

Funkman

 

[Admiral de Salee]

That's a marvelous coin regardless of what the coin shop says. It's the most detailed dug-up '66 I've ever seen.

I've yet to get all the verdigris / green crud off my '67, and I likely won't get all of it off (w/o pitting).
So what, it's the oldest Indian I've found, and it's a fave, whether it's worth $60 or $150.

Great coin, great find! Hope you get more gems from that site.