It doesnt look like a quarter Dad!

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Dec 10, 2004
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East Central Kentucky
It doesn't look like a quarter Dad!

So I have my two boys out detecting an old home site yesterday, they take turns walking with the detector and when they hit a signal that they want to dig, I dig the plug, find the object then move on to the next target. We've been hunting about 30 minutes and we'd recovered 10 clad coins when my oldest son hits a loud signal, I dig it and see a coin the size of a quarter that has a reed edge, I say to him "nice quarter, what date is it?" He's rubbing on it as I'm moving on to dig a target that my youngest son has hit and he shouts out to me, "it doesn't look like a quarter Dad." I had a gut feeling on what he'd found as I started his way, huge smile on my face and I shout back to him "no you didn't, no you didn't!" He hands me a slightly tarnished silver coin, a Standing Liberty! I can't believe it. I tackle him and we roll around on the ground, get up, hugs and high fives and I'm about to turn on the tears. He just found his first silver and it happens to be a very hard coin to score. He is one very lucky kid! In my 15 years of on and off detecting, I've only managed to find one.

As I begin to give the coin a light field cleaning, there's no date, for which I had already prepared him for... which bums him out (he wants to find the oldest coin every time), no mint mark either...ok, no big deal. Flip it over, cleaning the area below the eagle....no stars! Wow, with that information, I already know that it's one of two years, a 1916 or 1917 Type 1 variety. Now all three of us are jumping, yelling, rolling and high fiving. He did win the oldest coin of the day after all.

We've looped the date area of the coin for about an hour now and we can make out the second digit 9 with no problem. The base of the fourth digit does look like a 7 but, a portion of the third digit looks like an 8?! Weird. We may look into having the date raised on this one, just for his sake, he wants to know for sure! LOL. What a lucky kid!!!!
 

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Upvote 11
Way to go!!!!!!! I love those coins, One of the prettiest ever minted.
 

Good stuff! I have started taking my youngest daughter (10) out with me. She really likes the hobby. I wish someone would have introduced me to detecting when I was a younger person.
 

Date looks like a 1927, but for life of me, I can't make out any stars under the eagle. They should be just above the "T" the second "R" and the "O."

Congrats to you and your son.

TCK
 

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Very Cool!!!...I would have doen the same thing with my boys!....Great find!
 

Correct, no stars. I kinda see "27" also but it's just the angle and light. Would be a nice find wouldn't it? 1927P No Stars...lol

Date looks like a 1927, but for life of me, I can't make out any stars under the eagle. They should be just above the "T" the second "R" and the "O."

Congrats to you and your son.

TCK
 

Sort of looks like 1924 to me.
 

As far as I know there is not way to "raise" a date on these, like you can with Buffalo nickels. If you find one, let me know!

However, the Type I reverse was only used for 1916 and 1917, you definitely have a Type I. The article I am linking to below at ANACS tells you some of the other cues to look for to differentiate between the 1916 and 1917 Type I even if there is no date. If you do have a 1916, that's a quite valuable find, even in that condition. There are other cues as well, a total of six, but these are the easiest to see. If you suspect you have a 1916, sending it to ANACS to have it verified is about $30 and that may be the only way to know for sure.

ANACS - Article: The 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar

While your photos aren't the best for ID, the strong dots around the shield are a tipoff that it's probably a 1917. The dots around the shield were very weak on the 1916.
 

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good find with an even better story! wtg!
 

Really nice find. Based on the article by Nick A and looking at your quarter I'm gonna go with a 1917 type 1 because...........

1. I can see 2 clear distinct beads on the left and right side of Lady Liberty's head separated by a line
2. Well rounded gown at the base
3. That last number that looks like a 1 is probably is a 7 and NOT a 6.

I wish it was a 16 but the only way to find is too send it in to get in attributed, authenticated, and graded if you want..........Rich
 

Congrats on your son's first Standing Liberty and the awesome "Happy Dance". That's a real nice start in this hobby!
 

I'll go with the 1917 crowd. Definitely looks like an exposed breast of a type 1, and as others mentioned, the shield definition is too strong to be a 1916. Nice find!
 

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