First try with xterra and wow!

[White Akuma]

To make a long story a bit shorter, its been over a month since I could go digging (car accident, still a bit sore too) and while being stuck at home dreaming of getting out but mostly just laying about I decided on getting a new detector to try out at the old sites to see if I was really missing much with my ace and all the coils I got for it. I was able to get a minelab xterra 305 for $177 on ebay and am hopping their reputation is well deserved. So far it looks pretty dang good to me!

I decided this morning to head to my Grandmothers house with it to try and find her wedding band that had been lost last year and I was unable to recover for her. It was a thin gold ring and lots of scrap in her yard make looking a bit hard even with a sniper coil. I figured my first time out with the xterra would be a decent trial run there. After getting used to the differences between this one and my ace I started to dig different ID's to get a feel for only using the numbers displayed. The third decent signal I got turned out to be a coin. "nice." I thought, but then I realized it had a nice patina to it. Bang it hit me, 2 cent! This is only the second I've ever got and it even turned out to be an 1864 first year one too! Loving it! Not to far away from that I pulled a nice little sterling ring with the stone still in it. Pretty sweet for the first trip out.




Now I have to apologize for the pics quality, but it actually has pretty good detail. If I can get ahold of a relative sometime later on with a better camera I'll try to get a better pic. I was looking in the price book and it lists a small motto version worth a pretty decent amount! Lol, enough to pay for the xterra on its first trip out in fact even in the condition its in. So here's two things I need to ask: Anyone got any good tips on cleaning it a wee bit more? This is from just soaking in water for a few hours, still has dirt build up on the details on the back even. And can anyone use these pics to get an idea on if it could be the more expensive small motto version? Hard to say I'd actually get rid of it, but if it was worthwhile I might think of sending it off to get done if it was. Well that's about it for now, can't wait to try it out tomorrow at the old homesites I worked to death with the ace. Best of luck to ya'll and HH!!

 

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[CoilyGirl]

Congratulations! I chose a Minelab because of ease of use. I like the fact that even in all metal mode the display shows negative and positive ID numbers but as you learn the machine you will be able to distinguish higher pitched tones for good targets. That two cent piece is sweet and the ring is nice too.

 

[Pointman]

Congratulations on the Minelab. Seems like you got a good deal on it.

If you think that the 2 Center is worth it, (if it is a key date or worth a few hundred) I would probably do nothing to it, but invest the money to have it professionally cleaned and slabbed. I would figure the lowest grade that you think it could be in to estimate it's value. You will either have to go through a coin dealer, or purchase a membership with PCGS or NGC to send it off. Doesn't costs too much. If you do so much as wipe it, it could really hurt the value. Always the best thing to do on a good coin is nothing.

 

[dirtlooter]

sounds like a happy detector, congrats and good luck on the other places

 

[46Wheat]

Thank you for sharing your hunt and those pictures

 

[White Akuma]

Congratulations on the Minelab. Seems like you got a good deal on it.

If you think that the 2 Center is worth it, (if it is a key date or worth a few hundred) I would probably do nothing to it, but invest the money to have it professionally cleaned and slabbed. I would figure the lowest grade that you think it could be in to estimate it's value. You will either have to go through a coin dealer, or purchase a membership with PCGS or NGC to send it off. Doesn't costs too much. If you do so much as wipe it, it could really hurt the value. Always the best thing to do on a good coin is nothing.

Bad part about where I live is not many coin dealers that I know of. Could send it off, but first interested if it is large or small variety. The book I got lists the small variety in fine at $335, but the Large at $28 in same condition. It'd be pretty nice to have the scarce small variety, but not really worth sending off if not. I'm still pretty stoked at finding it at all though. Hehe, just walking about the house now waiting to show it to the wife, lol.

 

[treblehunter]

http://www.ngccoin.com/NGCCoinExplorer/CoinDetail.aspx?CoinID=13576

1864 Small Motto 2C MS Shield Two Cents | NGC

There are the two links to the large and small, I can't tell from your pix, but maybe you will be able to see the difference, "in god we trust" I can see the taller letters on the large motto.
Hope this helps ya!

 

[treblehunter]

1864 Large Motto 2C MS Shield Two Cents | NGC

1864 Small Motto 2C MS Shield Two Cents | NGC

There are the two links to the large and small, I can't tell from your pix, but maybe you will be able to see the difference, "in god we trust" I can see the taller letters on the large motto.
Hope this helps ya!

 

[Evolution]

I can't really tell from the pics if its large or small motto.... chances are, its the large and if so not worth grading. In my opinion I wouldn't grade it even if it was the small. you'd be spending most of the value of the coin just to have someone grade it and probably list it as environmentally damaged due to it being in the ground. Just put it in a 2x2 coin holder and enjoy it. Nice find!

 

[White Akuma]

Sounds like good advice. Be nice to have something saying Ya its That One, but overall I'm just happy with it. Still, any advice on cleaning a bit without taking away the detail? Not really wanting to try a peroxide dip (sometimes turns out bad) but thinking of just q tipping it a bit and leaving to soak in olive oil for awhile, but usually after doing that there's no chance of making it any better. Does keep the item in a "preserved" condition in regards to continued degradation, but any build up left on the coin usually won't come off afterwards.

 

[Pointman]

You have to look closely. The large motto letters are pretty obvious if you can compare the two varieties side by side; especially in the "W" on the WE.

Can you get a close up pic of the motto and I could probably tell you?