brianc053
Hero Member
- Jan 27, 2015
- 987
- 3,443
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 3
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Equinox 800
XP Deus 2
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Hi everyone. My friend SlateBeltDigger invited me to visit him over in PA yesterday, and he took me to a home from the late 1800's/1900 timeframe with a barn and some other outbuildings. The pasture surrounding the barn area was wet - I dug a 6" hole (to recover a piece of aluminum - meh) and it filled with water by the time I found the target.
Most of our finds came from near the house. We found your standard assortment of clad and kids' toys; I included a picture of two Tootsie Toys (1950's) and a Japanese toy I found below. I also included a silver plated spoon picture ("Royal Saxony" from 1900-1940), which tells you it was a pretty slow morning.
But my find of the day was my first Barber Dime (I've found a Seated and plenty of Mercs, but somehow hadn't found a Barber dime before). It rang up low on the Nox - like a 20-22 - and I expected a penny, but what I pulled out was a blackened very thin coin with some silver peaking through. The "One Dime" was what I first saw and knew it wasn't a Merc.
When I cleaned it of it became obvious that something terrible had happened to this coin at some point. Given the appearance I have to believe it was in a fire; the remaining black mark on the obverse will not come of (without scratching away the silver), but I cleaned off plenty of blackness with a toothpick and Andre's Pencils.
As for a date...I can see the "190..." but the last digit is tough. In the right light it looks like a "5", so I'm going to call this a 1905 because...who really cares with how damaged this thing is.
But hey - the damage makes it unique, that's for sure! And I'm super happy to have my first Barber dime - and thankful to SlateBeltDigger for inviting me out his way!
- Brian
Most of our finds came from near the house. We found your standard assortment of clad and kids' toys; I included a picture of two Tootsie Toys (1950's) and a Japanese toy I found below. I also included a silver plated spoon picture ("Royal Saxony" from 1900-1940), which tells you it was a pretty slow morning.
But my find of the day was my first Barber Dime (I've found a Seated and plenty of Mercs, but somehow hadn't found a Barber dime before). It rang up low on the Nox - like a 20-22 - and I expected a penny, but what I pulled out was a blackened very thin coin with some silver peaking through. The "One Dime" was what I first saw and knew it wasn't a Merc.
When I cleaned it of it became obvious that something terrible had happened to this coin at some point. Given the appearance I have to believe it was in a fire; the remaining black mark on the obverse will not come of (without scratching away the silver), but I cleaned off plenty of blackness with a toothpick and Andre's Pencils.
As for a date...I can see the "190..." but the last digit is tough. In the right light it looks like a "5", so I'm going to call this a 1905 because...who really cares with how damaged this thing is.
But hey - the damage makes it unique, that's for sure! And I'm super happy to have my first Barber dime - and thankful to SlateBeltDigger for inviting me out his way!
- Brian
Upvote
15
