Big silver almost went in the trash

[mr_larry]

Yesterday morning I was up early to join Jim (Time4Me) for a hunt. After feeding my cats I was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. While I was standing at my kitchen counter I thought to myself, "I really need to clean up the counter and sort through this mess."

Yes, I am single! Is it that obvious?

I grabbed this rusty looking hunk of metal and I'm wondering why it has been sitting on my counter for the last two weeks. I had pulled it out of a sidewalk tear-out. I remember digging it up and it being a good signal. When I pulled it out of the hole I thought maybe it was one of those brass snap valve covers due to its shape. I also remember wondering what it was doing under a sidewalk, but I realized it was rather pointless to try to figure that out.


I figured I would toss it in the trash. As I picked it up and looked at the edge, something caught my eye.


Is that silver?
As it had dried out for the last two weeks the crust had become very brittle and I cracked open the cookie.


Remember it is just after 5:00 AM and I haven't had any coffee and the light is poor. I was thinking it must be some sort of half dollar at first, but then I grabbed a nearby clad half dollar and realized it was a dollar sized coin.

Last night I rubbed it out with some baking soda to clean off the gray crust.


It's a 1922-S Peace Dollar!, and my first one. I found a Morgan dollar in January, but I will save that for another post. So this is my second silver dollar this year!

I have a new rule: Before throwing away random blobs, I should hit them with my Sunray probe to listen again and try to figure out what it might be before throwing it away. It makes me wonder if I have thrown away any other crusted up coins...

Thanks for reading and happy hunting!

 

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[skierbob]

Congrats on your big silver. That's the way to stick with it. You never know. I had a similar experience with a rusty blob that contained a Barber half and a V nickle stuck together.

Bob

 

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[Finman]

Great find!! HH Finman

 

[vpnavy]

Outstanding mr_larry!

 

[Sovereignelite]

Nice save!

 

[63bkpkr]

A 1922 Peace Dollar, yes sir under sidewalks lurk some gooooood things! Found my first gold ring in a sidewalk tearout, it was a real treat. I suspect that coin was enough of a wakeup call you did not even need any coffee for the rest of the day, well maybe not. Thank you for sharing as who knows when sombody else will find a similar target and remember your post. Thank you...................63bkpkr

 

[Jason in Enid]

Yep, the first time I ever ocean hunted was in Florida. I remember finding several black, hard concretions that sounded really good. But they looked like black rocks, and I didn't know about concretions, so I left them. I'll never know if they were good or not!

 

[BuckleBoy]

That's a great recovery, and a fantastic save from the junk bin. I'd love to use your photo in an article I'm writing for Western and Eastern about great finds that were almost thrown away.

Too many good finds are in danger of being tossed out, I'm glad you caught that one. Was this your first silver dollar recovery?

Cheers,

Buck

 

[IAMZIM]

Thats really cool! I have a friend that was digging in an old dump and he went to throw a big chunk of "melted burned decayed" stuff and just it was swinging past his ear he saw the reeded edge of a coin, and it turned out to be a walking liberty half!

 

[mr_larry]

That's a great recovery, and a fantastic save from the junk bin. I'd love to use your photo in an article I'm writing for Western and Eastern about great finds that were almost thrown away.

Too many good finds are in danger of being tossed out, I'm glad you caught that one. Was this your first silver dollar recovery?

Cheers,

Buck

Buck, It is not my first silver dollar. In January of this year I found an 1883-S Morgan Dollar that I have not yet posted. It will be included in an upcoming post about my beach hunting this winter in Northern California. Stay tuned for that one!
I also found an 1833 Rigsbankdaler from Denmark last year that is the oldest coin I have ever found.

Here are some higher resolution photos. Feel free to use any/all for your article.

 

[mr_larry]

Yep, the first time I ever ocean hunted was in Florida. I remember finding several black, hard concretions that sounded really good. But they looked like black rocks, and I didn't know about concretions, so I left them. I'll never know if they were good or not!

Jason, Now I wonder if I have thrown away any good items. Luckily I bring home all of my trash. In the future I will scrutinize my blobs more carefully before they go in the trash. I will also listen to them again with my Sunray probe to help determine the composition of the item.

 

[mr_larry]

A 1922 Peace Dollar, yes sir under sidewalks lurk some gooooood things! Found my first gold ring in a sidewalk tearout, it was a real treat. I suspect that coin was enough of a wakeup call you did not even need any coffee for the rest of the day, well maybe not. Thank you for sharing as who knows when sombody else will find a similar target and remember your post. Thank you...................63bkpkr

My best U.S. coin that I have ever found was found under a sidewalk tear-out just two blocks from my house. It was an awesome 1876-S Seated Half Dollar. I wrote up that find with a lot of pictures which you can read here: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/236505-sidewalk-tear-out-yields-beautiful-seated-half-dollar.html

 

[63bkpkr]

mr_larry,
Thank you for including your post of the 1876-S Seated Half, what a beautiful coin and I would have carefully cleaned it myself.

The EMI can be such a frustrating issue!! I was in Toronto several years ago with my 6000D and it was a struggle to hear any targets with the EMI disturbance noise.

Jason in Enid's input on concretions was also eye opening. I assume it is an electrolysis type of reaction. I am still in shock looking at that 1876-S and it just dawned on my YOU are in NorCal, no wonder that coin looks so good it was minted right around the corner from you! A fellow coinhunter I knew years ago was out south Halfmoon Bay, an old Ranch Estate site, and found a very nice Old 50 cent piece that was badly bent up. Likely someone was target practicing with a .45 colt Revolver, stuck the coin in a fence crack, took aim, fired hitting the coin just off center, puncturing in and bending it as well as sending it flying. Still a neat looking even with the hole/bend in it.

Best of luck with your hunting..........63bkpkr

The high res pictures of the Peace Dollar are really nice.

 

[poorman15]

This really makes me think. I have something at home that looks like a chunk of charcoal. I'm going to tear that bugger apart tonight and see what is making it set of a detector. I thought it might have been a rock with some type of iron compound but thinking about it now I was in discrim mode, not that it means much though. Thanks for posting this! Congrats on a great find!

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Good eye

 

[SusanMN]

Nice. I had a similar thing happen with a seated dime last summer. Came out of the ground with such a sandy thick brown crust, I thought it was a badly corroded modern penny. Fortunately I noticed when cleaning out my pouch that it was slightly smaller than a penny. Not much left of the coin after the crust came off but enough to get a date and see that it was a seated. A lesson to check all finds before tossing the junk.

and yes, that does look like the counter of a single person. 409 antibacterial works great on crusty surfaces

 

[Sooper Dave]

That's Crazy! And Very Awesome! Way to go!

 

[Wildcat1750]

Glad this story had a happy ending. What a shame if that Peace Dollar had ended up in the dump!