found my first silver in a big way--- 1820 dime

[borntohunt460]

found my first silver in a big way--- 1820 dime--UPDATE AT END WITH QUESTION

I wish I had the energy to type out my full story but ill get to it if this ends up as being as good of a find as I think it is.


I found these within 10 minutes of detecting in a very historic place...I was so hungover from the wedding I was at the night before, that the full gravity of my find didn't kick in til hours later.

These are as they came out of the ground and I just gently rubbed some dirt off-- what is the best way if at all to clean for maximum value? If you could also elude to rarity, value etc Id appreciate it. My knowledge of coins is limited as I am just starting to really get into detecting.

 

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[MikesDiggins]

Nice finds, I love bust coins!

 

[prolab69]

now theres a nice early one you dont see every day

 

[wvwildman]

mintage 942,587 its worth from 15 to 1200 and very nice finds by the way HH

 

[silversweeper]

Treasure that dime! Not many of those come out the ground in that condition any more and not a lot of us can claim to have found American silver dating that far back. Awesome, awesome. Congrats and good luck finding more!! HH

 

[Gridwalker306]

That is a great hangover cure lol!

 

[jewelerguy]

beautiful dime. looks like it's got lots of detail hiding under that dirt

 

[wvwildman]

use soap and water and a soft tooth brush to clean it

 

[GioTheGreek]

Man, that dime is a beauty! Pure acetone, no perfume... for that guy.

 

[{Silverado}]

What an awesome first silver find ,

 

[Argentium]

That is a terrific early American silver !!! It's in great shape - please don't clean it until you understand more about the possible risks
involved in overcleaning - I would think running a little water over it to take the surface dirt off would be fine (no abrasion !)

 

[JimmeyC]

Beautiful dime!!! Word of advice... NEVER rub a coin. The dirt is abrasive. Rubbing will cover it in micro scratches! We all learn the hard way and have been guilty myself. I now carry a plastic jar of water and a soft toothbrush for the must read finds.

Congrats and HH!!!

 

[Plumbata]

Wow, that is a lovely find! Capped silver in that shape is hard to come across. It's tough to beat a "first silver" of that caliber; I'd say you're looking at a 250.00+ coin. Thanks for sharing.

 

[park pirate]

WOW!!!..Thats vary big what a sweet coin.. congrats to ya....

 

[borntohunt460]

So something that I found odd was the dime was no more that 4 inches down. How in the world is a coin thats been in the ground for almost 200 yrs only that deep? It wasnt in the woods but in the middle of open, mowed grass. The dirt was not clay but instead black fertile looking and easily scooped.

Im still excited about the historical place where I found it. The scenarios of who could have dropped it during that time are really fun to imagine. If to clean it I should run water over it, I wont be doing this in the sink in fear of dropping it down the drain lol

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

All good advice here.

Just a little water, maybe a 5 minute soak you'll see the dirt float away, and a little tooth brushing.

As Jimmy said best not to rub a silver in the field. The ones who say they don't care about loosing half a coins value are not being honest, as I'm quite sure they wouldn't throw away half of the silver coins they found, would they.

Plumbata said 250.oo I'd agree, looks like large "O" 200-250 book price.

Nice find.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

So something that I found odd was the dime was no more that 4 inches down. How in the world is a coin thats been in the ground for almost 200 yrs only that deep? It wasnt in the woods but in the middle of open, mowed grass. The dirt was not clay but instead black fertile looking and easily scooped.

Im still excited about the historical place where I found it. The scenarios of who could have dropped it during that time are really fun to imagine. If to clean it I should run water over it, I wont be doing this in the sink in fear of dropping it down the drain lol

There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how deep VS. age, lots of factors, soil turned, fill hauled in, bugs, frost, etc. I found 3 1700's coins yesterday and one was pretty much on top of the ground.

 

[borntohunt460]

All good advice here.

Just a little water, maybe a 5 minute soak you'll see the dirt float away, and a little tooth brushing.

As Jimmy said best not to rub a silver in the field. The ones who say they don't care about loosing half a coins value are not being honest, as I'm quite sure they wouldn't throw away half of the silver coins they found, would they.

Plumbata said 250.oo I'd agree, looks like large "O" 200-250 book price.

Nice find.

cool! thats what ill do for cleaning when i get home from work. One thing I found was that since it is an "1820" the die maker that year ran out of room for "states of america" and instead has "statesofamerica" --- it looks as though it makes it a little more rare.

The condition has me blown away. I imagine that the only instance you would find a coin in this condition thats been buried for 200 yrs is if it was in a mason jar directly from the mint and dropped in a hole. The condition makes me think it was probably lost at least close to 1820 since it hadnt been worn very heavy. The site currently had a house from late 1800's but before that house a very important person in history had a frontier like cabin on that property

 

[borntohunt460]

The ambiguity in my description is because I literally detected for 10 minutes in the first spot I walked to at this site--- i plan to return when i learn to use the At pro I plan to buy well.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

You'll like AT Pro, I like the smaller coil on it.

Yes that coin was dropped, or not handled for very many years.

Want to see old in good shape check out my latest thread, it is close to the top, 2 X 2 reales.