Can you say Capped Bust Half Dime?

Skrimpy

Bronze Member
Aug 16, 2006
1,300
61
smAlbany, NY
Detector(s) used
DFX
Shootncoin usually has me beat. If I make a find, he usually finds twice as many or something twice as nice. Usually, he makes the finds and I get skunked. I figured today wouldn't be any different. He found the spot. He did the research. He even scouted the place over the summer and we finally had a chance to get there today. I figured it was only Karma that he make the finds today. I was wrong. The spot is a pre-1900 mill and early 1900s reservoir. We had to cross part of the reservoir by kayak and waders to get to the foundations. The mill foundation is in the water and the caretaker's house foundation is outside of the water. We spent nearly 4 hours and didn't find much except a TON of junky iron signals. We figure that either the place has been pounded or the stuff has sunk in the light leaf mold, too deep to detect. At about 10:30-11:00 I got a signal that sounded very much like an indian (I figured we'd find a couple...we found none). It came up consistently high 60s on the DFX and 70 on the XLT. Boy was I surprised to find this, and what a beauty it is. It's in great shape for the age, I think. We figure it's somewhere between VF-20 and EF-40 but don't know exactly because there's still some crud on it I'm too afraid to try to work it off...it's soaking in OO now. What do you guys think on condition from the pics? You can't quite see it but the "LIBERTY" on the ribbon is fully visible and the ears are very well defined. Hopefully the rest of the crud comes off and we can get a better estimation of condition. 2008 Redbook has VF-20 at $85 and EF-40 at $150. My highest value find yet. Sweet. :thumbsup:

I think we need the beer mug icon you can get in the chat forum because I want to have a celebratory ale!
 

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So I took it down to a dealer to get an opinion and a coin envelope. He said the detail looked XF but it looked dug. I told him that I was guilty as charged and he said that knocks the grade back considerably, probably to G. Crap. That's 165 bucks down to 45. Still psyched though. Still my best find, I think. I got a nice spot in the lawyers cabinet for it right next to the two center.
 

Nice coin .... congrats ! :thumbsup:
 

Actually, the last time Shoot and I went out he got an 1823 capped dime...but we hadn't been out in a while. I don't think he posted it.
 

Skrimpy said:
So I took it down to a dealer to get an opinion and a coin envelope. He said the detail looked XF but it looked dug. I told him that I was guilty as charged and he said that knocks the grade back considerably, probably to G. Crap. That's 165 bucks down to 45. Still psyched though. Still my best find, I think. I got a nice spot in the lawyers cabinet for it right next to the two center.

You know, I've always been curious about that..if it's XF, why isn't it XF if it's dug up rather than bought or found from say, a coin collection you inherited?
 

CowboyKolo said:
Skrimpy said:
So I took it down to a dealer to get an opinion and a coin envelope. He said the detail looked XF but it looked dug. I told him that I was guilty as charged and he said that knocks the grade back considerably, probably to G. Crap. That's 165 bucks down to 45. Still psyched though. Still my best find, I think. I got a nice spot in the lawyers cabinet for it right next to the two center.

You know, I've always been curious about that..if it's XF, why isn't it XF if it's dug up rather than bought or found from say, a coin collection you inherited?

I can understand copper. XF really isn't XF but silver on the other hand just get's dirty so if there really is a way to get the dirt off and leave the patina...once the dirt is off there is no way to tell if it's dug or not right?
 

feels good don't it!!!! awesome find! i dont clean finds like that nice shape for its age 1833 5c i posted one some time ago have fun and keep digging scott
 

KRAZYHORSES said:
feels good don't it!!!! awesome find! i dont clean finds like that nice shape for its age 1833 5c i posted one some time ago have fun and keep digging scott

One of the first pages I visited when I found it...
 

You know, I've always been curious about that..if it's XF, why isn't it XF if it's dug up rather than bought or found from say, a coin collection you inherited?
[/quote]

I can understand copper. XF really isn't XF but silver on the other hand just get's dirty so if there really is a way to get the dirt off and leave the patina...once the dirt is off there is no way to tell if it's dug or not right?
[/quote]
I suppose I can answer my own question to a degree with this one. There must be a way to tell if the coin dealer pointed out it looked like it was dug. But I'll be hard pressed to explain how he knew. :icon_scratch:
 

CowboyKolo said:
You know, I've always been curious about that..if it's XF, why isn't it XF if it's dug up rather than bought or found from say, a coin collection you inherited?

I can understand copper. XF really isn't XF but silver on the other hand just get's dirty so if there really is a way to get the dirt off and leave the patina...once the dirt is off there is no way to tell if it's dug or not right?
[/quote]
I suppose I can answer my own question to a degree with this one. There must be a way to tell if the coin dealer pointed out it looked like it was dug. But I'll be hard pressed to explain how he knew. :icon_scratch:
[/quote]

Maybe he is on T-Net and read this thread. He knows I'm from upstate and visit LI once and a while. He seems pretty honest to me so I'm not so sure he was trying to start the low ball rolling (although I did say it was a possibility). Maybe he didn't want it and was thinking I was trying to get rid of it. Who knows?
 

nice Cap bust!!!! :occasion14: MR TUFF
 

CowboyKolo said:
KRAZYHORSES said:
skrimpy if you clean it he might say you cleaned it ????

If you clean it, they won't come....

Nope. Another coin dealer told me the ONLY thing I could do is a little acetone on a cotton swab very, very lightly to get the crud off to see details. Nothing more. No soaking in acetone, no harsh cleaners, no ammonia, no vinegar, no baking soda.
 

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