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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Thanks alot guys, guess I'm hooked now and on a lifelong journey of dirt fishing for treasure. Surprised how nice the coin cleaned up, has an amazing amount of luster for something thats been in the ground for so long, no clue how something like that could be 2 inches down, it was in the woods so perhaps tree roots pushed it up or its just too large to sink much and gets cought on small roots etc. I did notice a row of what may be crude x marks on the edge, perhaps thats what they mean by the xxx veriety.
 

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Thanks alot guys, guess I'm hooked now and on a lifelong journey of dirt fishing for treasure. Surprised how nice the coin cleaned up, has an amazing amount of luster for something thats been in the ground for so long, no clue how something like that could be 2 inches down, it was in the woods so perhaps tree roots pushed it up or its just too large to sink much and gets cought on small roots etc. I did notice a row of what may be crude x marks on the edge, perhaps thats what they mean by the xxx veriety.

Damn man! You are completely screwed now! All you will be thinking about is digging in the dirt. I got hooked bad a few years ago and every time I found something new and awesome the sickness got worse and worse. But you just found something I’m still looking for. A huge congrats on that fine piece of silver. Write down a detecting goals list and see how many you can check off every year. Great job and good luck
 

Congrats on an excellent coin, and your first silver. If the coin were mine, I would not clean it. Only because I like to remember them the way they came out of the ground. The patina, and other marks give the coin character. I only water mine off, and into the folder they go. Thats just me though. Everyone is different.
 

That's one heck of a start. Congrats.
 

Thanks alot guys, guess I'm hooked now and on a lifelong journey of dirt fishing for treasure. Surprised how nice the coin cleaned up, has an amazing amount of luster for something thats been in the ground for so long, no clue how something like that could be 2 inches down, it was in the woods so perhaps tree roots pushed it up or its just too large to sink much and gets cought on small roots etc. I did notice a row of what may be crude x marks on the edge, perhaps thats what they mean by the xxx veriety.

I believe that's right, just looked in "Coins" mag. and it shows 1809 "Normal" Edge, and 1809 "XXXX" Edge. Very cool.
 

Holy Silver Bat Man, that is one great find. Congrats. :thumbsup:
 

Way to go! You beat my oldest silver by 21 yrs and 45 cents (1830 half dime). Congratulations again.
charlie
 

Gonna be hard to top that. Nice find!
 

Wow! My first silver coin was a 1891 Seated Dime. Totally got me hooked in this hobby 3 years ago. Your Capped Bust Half find is just the start. Enjoy the awesome find! And huge congrats!!
 

This is unbelievable! What a coin!!! And your first silver?? Just wow..
 

Been wanting to find one of those for a long time. But since I'm not a beginner (30 years in) I don't expect I'll ever have that kind of luck!
 

Outstanding find. Super nice silver and great definition. Get digging.
 

Amazing coin to dig, congratulations! What I'm wondering is why a silver half would hit the same as a shotgun shell??
 

OMG, that is amazing! Holy smokes, what a beauty of a coin. Nicely done. My first silver coin was also a half, 1951S Franklin. 80 silver coins later, have yet to find another. Good luck to you!
 

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