Beginners luck. First silver coin, big and old, hope it has friends.

Golden Pull-tab

Jr. Member
Mar 9, 2010
34
191
Detector(s) used
Sovereign GT, XP Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Beginners luck. First silver coin, big and old. update cleaned up a bit.

Bought my first detector about 6 years ago (Sovereign GT), but due to work/school and travel didn't really use it outside of my modern yard to learn the ropes. I finally have a ton of free time so I decided to persue this hobby again. Contemplated getting a more modern detector like the deus, but it seems the sov is plenty deep and I actually prefer to hunt by sound so I stuck with it. Bought a small nel sniper coil (snake), and had some time after work so I decided to hit a small, secluded park I knew had some cellar holes around. I was planning to snipe around the cellar hole a bit but figured the area was probably pounded already by others so I walked about half a mile down some small trails following stone walls just randomly swinging the little snake as I walked just to see if I can hit some pathes of iron that would tip me off to a productive spot. After about 20 min I dug a few shotgun shells and a few pull tabs, than hit a small flat button in a flat area by a brook, and an old Harry Wilken whiskey bottle. Took about 4 steps from when I dug the bottle and got a clear, loud signal, which I 99% expected to be another shotgun shell. Cleared the leaves and broke some small plant roots, and grabbed a handful of soil, looking for that shell, but instead had a large silver coin staring at me. This thing couldn't have been more than 2 inches down, I could have found this with my pin pointer, an 1809 capped bust half. Honestly couldn't believe it when I saw it, it was one of my first old finds and my first silver coin of any kind, kind of kills the "oldest us silver coin" game for me since it sets the bar pretty high, but it's a problem I'm willing to live with. Haven't tried cleaning it other than running it under some water, any tips on safely removing the stubborn crud on it would be appreciated, it definitely looks to be in great shape even with the dirt still on there, can't wait to see how it cleans up. I'm definitely going back to that place on the weekend when I have more than an hour to hunt, and will bring the 12x15 sef since the spot was actually pretty clean other than random shotgun shells, will see if this big guy has friends nearby. Cleaned it up a bit with soap and water as recommended. Still has some stubborn dark spots but looking pretty good for a coin that's been in the ground for 200+ years.
 

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Last edited:
Upvote 62
Wow! That is a beautiful coin! Congrats! :occasion14:
 

congrats, awesome silver!
 

amazing coin, congrats!
 

Beautiful coin, congratulations! :occasion14:

IMHO, I would clean with soap and water and leave it at that.
 

I agree with prof. That is a SICK find! Huge congrats.
 

OMG!!!!!!:icon_cyclops_ani::icon_cyclops_ani: What a FIRST FIND!!!!!! Get back to that spot and DIG!!!! Congrats!!!!!:occasion14:
 

Holy cow! What a Big Beautiful hunk of OLD, OLD, silver. Congratulations on one fantastic score. I'm with HighVDI and the good professor...just a little warm soapy water will fix her up just fine.
 

Oh wow!!! Congratulations on an awesome save! I agree get back to that spot and work it!:occasion14:
 

Wow. Just...WOW!!! 😱 U better be back there digging as I type this! 😂
 

What a gorgeous coin! Congratulations!!!

Cheers
CA8702D0-CA43-408A-A94C-87601F3EF985.jpeg
 

That 50 cent piece is truly awesome and it has very fine detail on it. For this being your first silver coin I WOULD STILL BE SHAKING IF i found it.
 

Now your hooked sweet finds
 

Beautiful coin ! Congrats & nice spot you found to buzz around. May more big old silvers be waiting for you there!
 

I would get that in a protective holder ASAP and stop handling it. WOW.
 

And hit that cellar hole with the small coil next time! You'll still get some stuff outta there too.
 

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