Three centuries of silver including awesome 1600s monogrammed spoon handle

[Bill D. (VA)]

I decided to take the warm afternoon today toreturn to one of my old sites from last season. I’ve also hit it a couple times recently withmy buds Dan and Joey. It’s a very smallspot with a fairly heavy iron patch plus thick clover, and I’ve been using mylittle 4” coil in an attempt to pick out what I hoped would be a few remainingtargets. It really takes a lot ofpatience as even when swinging the small coil very slowly, many of the signalsare questionable at best. But most timeswhen you do a little 2-inch wiggle over them, they lock in nicely. Today for some reason the signals werepopping up quite regularly, and many of them were keepers although quite a bitof melted lead blobs kept turning up. Myfirst nice artifact was a real surprise. I saw a thin silver disk in the dirt clod and was certain I had acolonial silver coin. But to my surpriseit turned out to be much more exciting — a monogrammed handle from a silvertrifid spoon from the late 1600s!! I’vedug quite a few of these terminal end handles, plus one complete spoon, but allof my recoveries were fashioned from latten (a copper-zinc alloy resemblingbrass). Some pewter examples are knownto exist, but I was blown away with this awesome silver specimen. It also has an intricate monogram with theletters R-C-A. As with bottle seals ofthe period, I feel certain the “C” is the surname initial that’s centered overthe husband’s (“R”) and wife’s (“A”) initials. I also dug a very nice silver cuff button engraved with the initial “I”,and then completed the trifecta with a very worn capped bust dime (181?). I also was able to put 14 buttons in my pouchalong with a few musketballs of various caliber. So although my expectations weren’t veryhigh, the day turned out to be quite fun and interesting. And my bald eagle friend was keeping an eyeon me from his high perch as I made my way off the property. That was a great way to end the day.

UPDATE: Upon closer inspection I can see where my capped bust dime is dated 1811 which is one of the low mintage years (only 65,180). Also, since I found a random war nickel at the same site I can now say I dug silver from 4 centuries yesterday .... ha!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Always nice to have a successful hunt when you least expect it. Some truly rare and historic finds there Bill. That spoon is probably a once in a lifetime piece. I'm partial to the button, really tough to find silver buttons. Seems like the occupants had means, I'm guessing there is a killer coin still hiding in the iron.

Looks like you were right Evan, plus the token too .....

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Some killer early colonial stuff.

Had fun man, and I'm very happy you were able to recover a "plywood" cob . Looking forward to getting back and expanding on that early trash pit.

 

[Ahab8]

Whoa whoa whoa....just where the hell does this post think it's going? I don't think so! These incredible early scarce finds are t just going to disappear. Anybody else got a silver 1600s trefid spoon or spoon piece? Monogrammed? Love to see them all

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Whoa whoa whoa....just where the hell does this post think it's going? I don't think so! These incredible early scarce finds are t just going to disappear. Anybody else got a silver 1600s trefid spoon or spoon piece? Monogrammed? Love to see them all

ahhem... a 1600's monogramed silver trefid spoon handle, a 1700's monogramed silver cufflink, George Washington Inaugural button, and key date 1811 capped bust dime... in one hunt

 

[Ahab8]

ahhem... a 1600's monogramed silver trefid spoon handle, a 1700's monogramed silver cufflink, George Washington Inaugural button, and key date 1811 capped bust dime... in one hunt

Absolutely....In my opinion the rest don't even need to be mentioned. The one stands on its own but you are correct. They are all killer early finds. Finds that I've never made. All my crappy 1600s spoons arent even silver

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Absolutely....In my opinion the rest don't even need to be mentioned. The one stands on its own but you are correct. They are all killer early finds. Finds that I've never made. All my crappy 1600s spoons arent even silver

Agreed! Those two pieces of early monogrammed silver are amazing. I always like to put the lesser known key date coins in the context of the "popular key date" coins.

1811 Dime 65K minted
1877 IHP 852K minted
1916D Dime 264K minted
1909S vdb cent 484K minted

For every single 1811 Capped Bust dime you dig, statistically you should dig around seven 1909S VDB Wheat cents, OR thirteen 1877 IHPs, OR four 1916D Mercury Dimes. So in the context of the "popular key date" coins, this 1811 Capped bust dime is pretty key! And the dime is only one of 4 incredible finds in a single hunt.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Agreed! Those two pieces of early monogrammed silver are amazing. I always like to put the lesser known key date coins in the context of the "popular key date" coins.

1811 Dime 65K minted
1877 IHP 852K minted
1916D Dime 264K minted
1909S vdb cent 484K minted

For every single 1811 Capped Bust dime you dig, statistically you should dig around seven 1909S VDB Wheat cents, OR thirteen 1877 IHPs, OR four 1916D Mercury Dimes. So in the context of the "popular key date" coins, this 1811 Capped bust dime is pretty key! And the dime is only one of 4 incredible finds in a single hunt.

Thanks for the research Brad. I think you know that the key date for the classic head half cents is also 1811, and I found one of those years ago in superb condition. It's mintage was nearly identical to the 1811 dime - 65,180 for the dime versus 63,140 for the half cent. So guess I have pretty good luck when it comes to digging those rare dates. Which also brings to mind that the only Canadian silver I've ever dug was the ultra rare 1875H dime. There were so few of those made I couldn't even find a mintage figure for it. And unfortunately it was the only find I've ever sold, and I've regretted it ever since. That was way back when ebay was a new thing and I thought it would be cool to see how much I could sell it for. But I think I got taken advantage of - lesson learned!

 

[Bubba65]

Congrats on 4 centuries of Silver at one site. That is Awesome Bill !!!!!!

 

[sutphin]

BILL YOU HAVE SOME FINE RELICS FROM THE PAST...