Lost Coin Collection - Worth Searching For?

[childoftechnology]

Was hunting around an old house yesterday, with permission of course, and when talking to the elderly owner afterward she told me a very interesting story. Seems her husband used to have a small workshop near the house, in which he kept a coin collection. The building was destroyed by fire in the 60's, and the coins were never recovered. She didn't say whether or not the area was bulldozed afterward. The one question is - would there be anything left to find? There are two things to consider; the melting point of the coins themselves, and the average temperature of a structure fire. Since I'm neither a chemist or fire investigator, I'm going to submit that question to you guys. She tells me that the coins were an assortment; some gold, some silver, and of course some copper/brass/etc. I'm guessing that at least some of them may have survived intact; even if they didn't, it would still be worth hunting for the blobs of melted silver or gold.
The site is covered with tall grass now, but it's only a small area and I'd be more than willing to clear it for the lady for no charge of course! That is, if I thought it was worth searching.
Any advice?

 

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[leadsman]

Unless this guy had some exotic stuff in the shed, the fire would not have gotten hot enough to melt the coins, it never hurts to look!

 

[gldhntr]

it is definantly worth the time to look because even if you are not able to find the coins, you will find the remains, which do have a scrap value.......good luck..gldhntr

 

[dudes2112]

Not even up for debate, go for it! What do you have to lose? Even if you find the stuff melted down there is still a great value there, let alone some possible relics along the way. Plus, you already have permission and the exact location from the owner, It doesn't get much better than that!! Do it man!

If you do, let us know how it turns out

Dudes

 

[childoftechnology]

I did a little research. The melting points for some common coin metals are as follows:
Silver - 1763 F
Gold - 1947 F
Copper - 1984 F
Seems to me the average structure fire is around 1200 degrees, so as you say, chances are most or all of the coins survived intact. Finding them could be tricky though; the repair shop was full of TV sets, so there could be a lot of debris from that stuff.
I'm anxious to have a look, but I'll have to clear the area first. One corner of the site has a large bush which must be left alone, so I'll just have to hope that the coins aren't underneath it!
I'll let you guys know how I make out.

 

[TrpnBils]

Finding them could be tricky though; the repair shop was full of TV sets, so there could be a lot of debris from that stuff.

Yeah but consider this... you know it's within the foundation of the building somewhere, so that limits your area you have to detect. And if you find coins, you're more than likely going to find them all in a small space since the whole collection was probably stored together.

 

[Klaatu]

The theatre in my home town burned in 1964. There was a lot of talk about a roll of 1964 Kennedy halves in the cash register that had melted together (rather than melting into a molten mass). Whether this was true I have no idea. I would guess that the highest temperature in a theatre fire was sustainted much longer that that reached in a much smaller structure like a garage. My guess is that the coins (if they existed) would be damaged but fairly intact.