FINALLY! 1851O SEATED HALF DIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baldingboy

Bronze Member
May 17, 2007
2,240
34
Southeast Missouri
Detector(s) used
Minelab SE Professional with 6" Coil
Have you ever had those evenings detecting when you ā€œjust arenā€™t feeling itā€? Wellā€¦me and Mastereagle headed out after work on Wednesday night. We had secured permission at an old Barn that was standing before the Civil War. The problem was, TONS of dirt work had been done. We went with no backup plan and basically, we dug a few cans here and there and that was about it. I did manage to find a brass horse tack ring, and Mastereagle dug a few clad pennies, but even those were after covering several acres. Tough hunt. :(

We left this place and took off to hunt this old house we had our eye on. We arrived and started detecting the strip out by the curb. The third signal I dug, I pulled up this ancient looking ring. I donā€™t know if this thing just had brass disease along one edge, or if there was a setting there at one time. It has seen better days though.




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We entered the yard and after about thirty minutes, we realized this place was practically clean of coins, even newer clad. Apparently someone had hit this place before. There were several choppy trash sounds, but diligence paid off when Mastereagle came around the house with a Silver Merc and a Wheat Penny. I was energized by this and tried to really concentrate on my signals. I dug a screw cap signal in the front, and finally produced a small compact lid that had the company name on it.


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Well, the time finally came and Mastereagle said it was time to go. I pretended not to hear him and decided to attempt a couple more plugs before we had to leave. I dug another signal in the left front yard and decided to hit the right side before leaving. I joked with Mastereagle by starting to pray out loud for the Lord to give me one good signal before leaving. A couple of times Mastereagle yelled "What"?! and I just yelled back, "Hey, I am having a conversation with the Lord"

I had avoided the ā€˜gutter lineā€™ of this place because I had only dug tiny little triangles of aluminum, but as I swept through there, I heard a sweet little sound mixed in with the slurry of other signals. I assumed it was probably a tiny sliver of aluminum. By this time Mastereagle was demanding to go, and towering over me as I dug my ā€œlast signalā€ as he called it. :cussing:

I plunged my digger in and made about a four inch plug and started checking it with my pinpointer. I had a hard time finding it and realized it was in the plug. I tore the plug apart and finally saw this extremely tiny little coin. I thought at first it was play money but thought to myselfā€¦ā€please have a reeded edgeā€!!! I picked up the coin still enveloped in the dirt clod and sure enoughā€¦the edge had reeds. I started saying ā€œOh my Godā€ā€¦ā€You know what I think I just dugā€?!!! Mastereagle says ā€œWhat is itā€? I said ā€œOh my Godā€¦I think itā€™s a HALF DIMEā€!!!! He looks at it close and says, ā€œItā€™s an 1851ā€!!! Well, I guess the Lord was really with me tonight....literally!! :angel7:

I have to give Mastereagle credit during tonights hunt. He high fived me and congratulated me. He was truly happy for me; I cannot rip on him in this post like usual. I have taken the gloves off. Here is a picture of him congratulating me:













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Here is the Half Dime I dug. It was a 1851O.....and I really donā€™t think the tiny scratch was caused by my digger, but maybe. I donā€™t really care though because I would never sell it anyway. I can't even believe I not only dug my first Seated Coin, but it was the elusive Half Dime. I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would dig one of these. In our town, this is probably a find of a lifetime!


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I got home and cleaned the rest of my trashy stuff and was getting ready to hurl this tiny piece of metal when it took on a familiar shape. I discovered this little guy had snuck in my pouch disguised as a dirt clod. I bathed him and gave him a nickel to dance on. I love finding these little lead toys. He sure looks old and tired, but I was super happy to have him.


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Here's another pic of some of the other finds:


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Hope you enjoyed reading...Happy Hunting Everyone.

Baldingboy
 

Upvote 0
Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

Hi Baldingboy,
As they say, you cant get lucky every time.. But i think the coins a sweet find, i like the little pig figure.
I hope that its a ring, it looks really old!
Happy Hunting!//Tsh
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

i remember my first half dime! it was quite a feeling. congrats. willy
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

Terrific find,BB!That coin is in great shape and one of the hardest to ever find.Congratulations!I can hear Mastereagle now,wanting to go back and find the other half of it.
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

Well you got the picture mostly correct. I DO NOT SMOKE! And I never will! Get that straight dude.

I am very happy for your find and around here no question asked that is a BANNER find. I know so many other people find coins like this everyday but in this town with the sites we have available to us to hunt I know that I will NEVER find anything that will come close to the awesomeness of that coin. Heck I cannot even find a decent Indian Head or V Nickel. :-\

I am very happy for you and I am glad that after over 220 sites and over 5 years of detecting together one of us finally has a coin worthy of displaying and that is so cool. And I am happy for you.

Now on to another subject: I have decided that I have NO luck with this hobby and I think I have a used Explorer II and a few coils for sale for a good price if anyone is interested..........

Oh yeah you are welcome for the use of my AWESOME digital camera to take those pictures. That camera is one of the best purchases I have made in quite some time.
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

Larry,don't give up!That SEMO area down there is too old of a place with great history.There are many other terrific finds waiting to be unearthed.Just takes getting the coil over them.
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

Ohmygosh! BB!! 8) What a way to end a hunt!!!! I am SO happy for you! :hello2: Ya'll might want to get back to that spot and go really slow and dig EVERYTHING. No telling what all ya'll will find there. That's a dandy of a find!! :icon_pirat:

Many congrats to ya!!!

Nana :icon_thumright:
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

The Swed Hunther said:
Hi Baldingboy,
As they say, you cant get lucky every time.. But i think the coins a sweet find, i like the little pig figure.
I hope that its a ring, it looks really old!
Happy Hunting!//Tsh
dfx willy said:
i remember my first half dime! it was quite a feeling. congrats. willy
steelheadwill said:
nice old Silver :hello2: Congrats !
Love that little pig :thumbsup:
rtde3 said:
Ask and you shall receive! :angel7:
Congrats on that Half dime B.B.!
That little piggy is cool too!
I found a ring like that one time & it turned out to be a cut piece of copper pipe! :P
warsawdaddy said:
Terrific find,BB!That coin is in great shape and one of the hardest to ever find.Congratulations! I can hear Mastereagle now,wanting to go back and find the other half of it.
fistfulladirt said:
Congrats on that wonderful dig!

Swed Hunther ~ Thanks. I am pretty sure that is a ring, since it is domed. If it's not, I will probably never know for sure. I like the tiny little pig too. What a surprise he was.

dfx willy~ I sure am happy to have joined the club. :thumbsup: Congrats on yours too.

steelheadwill~ Thanks! That pig is so cool. I wonder how old he really is?

rtde3~ Yeah, who knew God got involved with metal detecting? :tongue3: Might have been a coincindence, but.... :dontknow: That might be a piece of copper pipe...but it has a dome to it like a ring. I guess I will never really know for sure.

warsawdaddy~ Thanks. I can always count on you stopping by and posting. I wouldn't have been more surprised (in finding this coin) if I woke up in the morning with my face stapled to the carpet.

fistfulladirt~ Thank ya bro.
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

mastereagle22 said:
Well you got the picture mostly correct. I DO NOT SMOKE! And I never will! Get that straight dude.

I am very happy for your find and around here no question asked that is a BANNER find. I know so many other people find coins like this everyday but in this town with the sites we have available to us to hunt I know that I will NEVER find anything that will come close to the awesomeness of that coin. Heck I cannot even find a decent Indian Head or V Nickel. :-\

I am very happy for you and I am glad that after over 220 sites and over 5 years of detecting together one of us finally has a coin worthy of displaying and that is so cool. And I am happy for you.

Now on to another subject: I have decided that I have NO luck with this hobby and I think I have a used Explorer II and a few coils for sale for a good price if anyone is interested..........

Oh yeah you are welcome for the use of my AWESOME digital camera to take those pictures. That camera is one of the best purchases I have made in quite some time.
warsawdaddy said:
Larry,don't give up!That SEMO area down there is too old of a place with great history.There are many other terrific finds waiting to be unearthed.Just takes getting the coil over them.

Mastereagle. I forgot you only smoke those LEFT HANDED cigarettes. You know the Fatty Boombalaty, the Cheeba Cheeba, Hippie Lettuce....the old Puff the Magic Dragon???
As far as your quitting of the hobby...your being ridiculous! As stated, there are plenty of times when you have been killing it...in example...your two Barbers. Another time would be when you found that super rare Whiskey token. I can go on and on. The fact of the matter is, you are feeling this find overshadow you and are ready to give up. We have many more yards to detect and windows to look in. :laughing7:

warsawdaddy~ Don't worry...I have his medication at work with me today.
 

Re: I FINALLY DID IT!

Nana40 said:
Ohmygosh! BB!! 8) What a way to end a hunt!!!! I am SO happy for you! :hello2: Ya'll might want to get back to that spot and go really slow and dig EVERYTHING. No telling what all ya'll will find there. That's a dandy of a find!! :icon_pirat:

Many congrats to ya!!!

Nana :icon_thumright:

Thanks Nana. You have been killing it this year. A big congratulations to you too. We are already making plans when the ground dries out a bit. We are gonna make that ground sterile of anything metal. :icon_pirat:
 

Congrats on a great coin to find in your neck of the woods. Whoever cleaned that yard out would probably be crying to know what they left behind...persistence payed off.
 

WOW, did you go into the future for that Half Dime; Year: "18510" :o :laughing9: :tongue3: J/K That's a Very Nice 1851-O Half Dime you snagged there BaldingB! Congrats bud! :occasion14: :wink: :icon_thumleft:
 


Great job. I'm green with envy. Congrats on the half dime. Thanks for sharing.
 

Congrats on that awesome half-dime. That one's still on the wish list. :thumbsup:
 

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