LawrencetheMDer
Hero Member
- Feb 22, 2014
- 986
- 2,406
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 2
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
- Primary Interest:
- Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I have detected Florida beaches for the past 7-8 yrs and have recovered over 6,000 coins and only one was silver, a 1956 quarter, until today.
I was detecting a rock layer during low tide, in which overlying sand was washed away by Winter storms and hurricane Irma. I had previously pounded this rock layer hard earlier in the year during super moon low tides where I found 4 gold rings. It was totally silent as I scanned the area (I had raked the area clean, digging every target) until I came across a good solid signal and out came this totally encrusted coin, which I initially thought was a cent. Once home, I let the encrusted coin dry out for a day before cracking open the encrustation which revealed the Barber dime.
Barber dime discovered about 8" below rock layer.
The date of the dime is still visible and appears to be 1899 (or 1894). The dime weights 0.61g; about 24.4% of the normal Barber dime (2.5g). It had been lost for 100 years or more and the ravages of the environment have left their mark.
It is extremely unusual to find such an old silver dime on a Florida beach. The thing is, where I found the rock layer and the Barber dime is about 1/4 mile from the beach used today by most visitors. But who knows where the popular beach was, say, 100 years ago? This past season, following Irma, I have observed that several Florida beaches in the area have altered their shape and even location, shifting north or south depending upon shifting sands. The location of a popular beach now my not be at the same location compared to many years ago.
The discovery of a Barber dime, itself, is a personal First in terms of early coinage finds. But the message conveyed by the find is more significant. I had ignored other rock outcroppings away from the people beach because I figured that you won't find something if no one has ever been there. The Barber dime suggests that, in years past, these rocky areas may have been part of the popular beach and the area necessitates my further attention and metal detector. Stay tuned.
I was detecting a rock layer during low tide, in which overlying sand was washed away by Winter storms and hurricane Irma. I had previously pounded this rock layer hard earlier in the year during super moon low tides where I found 4 gold rings. It was totally silent as I scanned the area (I had raked the area clean, digging every target) until I came across a good solid signal and out came this totally encrusted coin, which I initially thought was a cent. Once home, I let the encrusted coin dry out for a day before cracking open the encrustation which revealed the Barber dime.
Barber dime discovered about 8" below rock layer.
The date of the dime is still visible and appears to be 1899 (or 1894). The dime weights 0.61g; about 24.4% of the normal Barber dime (2.5g). It had been lost for 100 years or more and the ravages of the environment have left their mark.
It is extremely unusual to find such an old silver dime on a Florida beach. The thing is, where I found the rock layer and the Barber dime is about 1/4 mile from the beach used today by most visitors. But who knows where the popular beach was, say, 100 years ago? This past season, following Irma, I have observed that several Florida beaches in the area have altered their shape and even location, shifting north or south depending upon shifting sands. The location of a popular beach now my not be at the same location compared to many years ago.
The discovery of a Barber dime, itself, is a personal First in terms of early coinage finds. But the message conveyed by the find is more significant. I had ignored other rock outcroppings away from the people beach because I figured that you won't find something if no one has ever been there. The Barber dime suggests that, in years past, these rocky areas may have been part of the popular beach and the area necessitates my further attention and metal detector. Stay tuned.
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