Draped Bust and a Silver Sunday

xcopperstax

Silver Member
Sep 3, 2018
2,508
4,872
Massachusetts
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It's been awhile since I've had any time to go out hunting.. cue up some dramatic music. Yesterday I got to break out and dig. There's a park that we've been hitting on a regular basis and it was time to see what else we could get. The Silver bandit and I met up at 6:00 am (thanks daylight savings) and started swinging as the sun rose. I found a 52 Washington quarter which was a great way to start the day. Next up I found a silver rosie. The bandit was not to be outdone and his first coin of the day was a stunner: He called me over and I looked at the big round silver edge in the hole. In my mind I said it's probably not a coin because the edge was not reeded. Boy was I wrong! It was a nicely worn Barber half from 1908! This was probably the best find between either of us ever at this spot. I lost my focus and started to worry that I was done for the day and was not going to find anything else. It's not superstition just some kind of weird metal detecting anxiety. Haha! Next up I dug an 80's signal thinking it could be an IHP or wheatie. It turned out to be Draped bust! It was twisted like a warped vinyl record. I think it was resting between a couple rocks. Check the photo of the twist. No date it's pretty beat up but that was a great find for me. I love the draped bust coins because they have so much variation and they are always old. The beauty of this spot is that it's old fill and you never know what you will find.. it has such great potential when you think about it. I wouldn't be surprised if some Spanish silver were found. Next I found a nice little button. It has most of the gilt left and it's in pretty amazing condition. There is some writing on the back of it but I can't make out what it is due to corrosion. The rope makes me think it's navy, the lion and crown make me think it's British. Either the button was lost in mint condition or it's not that old. I was able to find two images of it online: One described it as a livery button and one as an antique button. It's definitely a 2 piece button and I want to believe it's 1800's but we need an expert opinion here. I went on to find 2 more Silver Rosies and a 42 Merc. That was quite a decent day for me and I can now rest easy knowing more lies in this little piece of metal detecting paradise. You may ask how the Silver Bandit did? He lived up to the moniker with 9 silvers and 2 IHP's!

One more question: Does anyone have any advice on straightening my coin? Can I crush it in a vice back into shape or will that further mar the surface?
 

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Upvote 19
Nice. If you are going to use a vice, put it in between a couple of pieces of hardwood and see if that works. I like it the way it is though.

Thanks for the tip. I am leaning toward leaving it the way it came out of the ground.
 

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