MORE GOLD RUSH HISTORY DUG - AND MORE FIRSTS

[mariposagold]

Once again, I hit my Gold Rush Era site with high hopes. I worked it for two hours, pulling square nail and square nail. Determined not to miss a relic, a nugget or what every happens to be hiding below the surface.

Once again I wasn't disappointed. I got a +86 VDI on My MXT Pro, I'm thinking silver, so I start digging and about 6 inches down, I pull my first coin from this site. Its large, like a half dollar, so I Oh so carefully remove a bit of the caked on dirt. But I don't see any silver. What I do see is the so common green of old buried copper. Now I'm thinking I just dug my first large cent. I flip it over and see a star?? Now I'm confused.

When I get home and put some magnification to it, I discover the reality of what I found.

1853 Un Centavo - Republic of Chile
I didn't know Chileans came for the Gold Rush.


Here is my First large copper coin, Unfortunately, the coin took a hit on the date (not by me.) My oldest Coin to day, My oldest foreign Coin. And my first Gold Rush Era Coin. Probably my lowest mintage coin and the variety with the star was only made for, I believe 3 years. This coin most certainly was brought here by a Chilean Miner during the Gold Rush. Here is the history on it.
Chileans in California







Here are some references to this coin.

Coin: 1 Centavo (Chile) (1835~1960 - Republic (Centavos/Pesos)) WCC:km127

Chile 1853 Un Centavo One yr Type Scarce | eBay

Thanks for sharing my excitement. Can't wait to get back to this site gain.

HH
MariposaGold

 

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[s.tan]

Wow! That's a real interesting piece of history. Congrats on a great find! Thanks for sharing. GL and HH.

 

[Zee]

Dang! That is awesome. Great find!

 

[Terry Soloman]

Very cool find - Congratulations!

 

[surf]

Hey Lucky,

Wonderful find. sir. Thanks for that Chilean Gold Rush history.

I do believe it could also have fallen from the pocket of an Anglo 49er, as Valparaiso was a port of call on the voyage around the Horn:

"Millions of dollars in gold had already flowed into the country and the American 49ers who had chosen to travel around Cape Horn were just arriving in Valparaiso on their way to California. The economy in Chile was booming."

History - The First Voyage​

 

[CASPER-2]

COOL - KEEP IT UP

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

That's a very nice coin, congrat's.
ZDD

 

[treblehunter]

Cool find and great thread, very cool read. I love how you can dig up a piece of metal and the next thing you know you have learned something that you never had any idea existed. What else did you find besides nails?

 

[mariposagold]

Hey Lucky,

Wonderful find. sir. Thanks for that Chilean Gold Rush history.

I do believe it could also have fallen from the pocket of an Anglo 49er, as Valparaiso was a port of call on the voyage around the Horn:

"Millions of dollars in gold had already flowed into the country and the American 49ers who had chosen to travel around Cape Horn were just arriving in Valparaiso on their way to California. The economy in Chile was booming."

Now that makes sense. Another possibility of how the coin may have gotten here. Thanks for the research. I'll add it to my notes.

HH
MariposaGold

 

[mariposagold]

Cool find and great thread, very cool read. I love how you can dig up a piece of metal and the next thing you know you have learned something that you never had any idea existed. What else did you find besides nails?

The history of finds captures the mind and certainly expand knowledge. Nails and bullets.That's about it. And that's all I found today on my followup hunt. 4 hours of digging nails.

HH
MariposaGold

 

[thrillathahunt]

Wow, what a fascinating piece of Gold Rush history! Congrats on the find.

 

[AQUA]

The history behind what we find is the best part of this hobby.. !!!

Very nice history lesson and coin of course.

 

[Ahab8]

Very cool piece of history. And a well written interesting post to go along with it. Well done

 

[49r Relics]

Nice find! Sounds like all that determination paid off nicely. We find US silver coins quite often in gold rush sites but it is these obscure coins that speak to the history. There were lots of Chilean miners in gold country, check out the famous workings up near me "Chili Bar" or the site of the Chilean Massacre near San Andreas where 3 miners were murdered, their Graves are right alongside Hwy 49 and marked with a Historic Place monument.

Cheers, Mark
California Relic Adventures
El Dorado Hills, CA

 

[Msbeepbeep]

So cool a piece of history congrats!

 

[jewelerguy]

cool coin!

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Very cool find.

 

[Tnmountains]

History rocks when you can associate it to what you are finding. Congratulations on many first.I had heard once that when a settler would move he would burn the house and take the nails with him. I do not know if that is true.
HH

 

[mariposagold]

History rocks when you can associate it to what you are finding. Congratulations on many first.I had heard once that when a settler would move he would burn the house and take the nails with him. I do not know if that is true.
HH

History Rocks, that's for sure. I've heard that too, about nails being used for currency. I didn't know they'd burn down a house to get them. Interesting.

 

[mariposagold]

Nice find! Sounds like all that determination paid off nicely. We find US silver coins quite often in gold rush sites but it is these obscure coins that speak to the history. There were lots of Chilean miners in gold country, check out the famous workings up near me "Chili Bar" or the site of the Chilean Massacre near San Andreas where 3 miners were murdered, their Graves are right alongside Hwy 49 and marked with a Historic Place monument.

Cheers, Mark
California Relic Adventures
El Dorado Hills, CA

I haven't had a whole bunch of luck with the silver coins on my site yet. My site is barely 50 yards off highway 49. I hadn't heard of the Chlean Massacre, but next time I'm up in the San Andreas area, I'll have to stop by the marker. I haven't hunted a whole lot up that way, but I do visit on occasion.