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SILVER DREAMS: A 99 Year Dime

Zrod87

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Got a good one today.


I had been eyeballing a new place to hunt on my way to a jobsite, and yesterday I got permission. It was an old homestead on top of lake Agassiz gravel shoreline, and I have learned to pick these places along the ridge based on the fact that 6 inches down is literally road gravel and nothing can move deeper. I had about 30 minutes before dark to take a look and my hunch was right, within minutes I had 2 1944 wheats and a few memorials when
BAM my AT PRO went nuts! 2 inches down was a 1961 Canadian Silver Dime!

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Awesome! Who doesn't like finding silver right! But it was getting too dark... so I had to go home thinking of all the wonderful piles of silver that must be there, just waiting for me to come back. I mean, if I found a silver in 20 minutes there must be all kinds laying around.

So there I sat with glints of silver flashing before my eyes, dreaming of my glory to come, planning my every swing. I loaded new batteries, sharpened my shovel, and cleaned out my pack for room for all that coin.

As soon as I was done with work, I rushed over to my mystical dream spot filled with silver dollars and lost gold rings, and there it was ...... NOTHING!

I worked the front yard, the back. nothing.

Under the clothesline, and near the well, where the Canadian silver was. nothing

4 hours in a relatively small area produced only trash and one brass buckle. Finally I found a single penny, which, despite my dire efforts managed to escape down a gophers hole near my hole and into what seemed to be a bottomless pit.

The SILVER GODS HATE ME I said.

This was the last straw - I wasn't going to come back here anytime soon..

Its about 200 yards across a field to where I park my truck. I don't really detect fields much anymore as I hadn't managed to find much with the amount of time a person can spend wondering aimlessly in 160 acre fields, so on the way in I left my machine off.

My frustration was at a peak level after the penny escaped me, and I remember swinging wildly and taking long strides, stomping across the field. since there was so much trash in the field I was basically ignoring the sounds,
doing a routine keep swinging until you just can't any more.

Halfway between the farm and my truck the ground cleared up and I started to listen again. I heard a chirp on the end of the swing, I have learned the AT Pro seems to be able to pick up a certain type of halo effect around coins, and almost seems to draw you right in.

I zone in, its a very nice high clean signal. I thought "Hey Mr. farmer lost a quarter", then "no its smaller that that".


So I dug around it and flipped out the dirt and out rolled my SILVER DREAM!!!

1916 D MERCURY DIME

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Last edited:
Upvote 42
Now that's a banner-worthy find! Looks like a higher grade too. You'd probably get more replies if "1916-D Mercury Dime" was in the title. This is one that you should consider getting slabbed.

Yeah, get this coin graded !! 8-)

Keep @ it and HH !! :hello2:
 
Need Don to look at this one!

That looks like it would grade at about Extra Fine. That would put the value somewhere around $4,000.

This is a Banner find. Congrats!
 
May I compliment the Canadian dime? Its a good find as well!
 
Very nice, but not even remotely close to full split bands, this doesn't really matter though as this only applies to higher grade coins. I am not that big on having coins slabbed, but a 1916 D Mercury is one that might be the exception with all the counterfeits and altered ones around.
 
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1916 D and a pretty one at that! Great hunt!
 
it amazes me how 16-D mercs have been posted on various digging forums since I got the internet 20 years ago, and any more I can barely find a wheaty. congrats, that's a gem and one that most diggers will never cross off their list
 
Congrats on a fantastically awesome find!

.....so it DOES pay to complain! Hmm, I will have to test that one out!
 
Sometimes the stars align just right, and the rarity and condition of a find are both very high. This is a "silver dream" find for sure!
 
CONGRATULATIONS! That one is one most of our short lists- and the condition is blowing my mind. It's funny- this hobby never ceases to surprise and amaze me- you just never know what may turn up- especially when you least expect it. Again, congrats on an incredibly rare and coveted find.
 
Great bunch of silver.
Sounds like a great spot. Congrats.
 
Banner nomination sent. Coingrats!
 

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