Old California Gold

time4me

Bronze Member
Aug 30, 2005
1,296
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Detector(s) used
E-Trac, Explorer II, Excalibur
This is by far my best find ever, and it occured several years back while showing my 6 year old son how the metal detector works.

We were in the yard of a house built in the 1950's or 60's in an area of San Rafael California called Santa Venetia. Santa Venetia was envisioned in the early 1900's as a little Venice so canalas were built and houses and structures built along them. It was a vacation spot for the wealthy for a brief period of time -- around the 1920's. The plan of building a little Venice was abandoned. In the 1960's, houses were built along North San Pedro Road.

After spending an afternoon digging newer coins in the 2 to 3 inch range, I got a solid penny/dime reading at 7 inches. I was excited, and hoped for a Mercury Head dime. After digging a deep plug and rechecking the hole, the reading changed to Dollar. In my experience, anytime this happens, it is a piece of scrap metal or crushed can or something, so my excitement passed and I dug out another scoop of wet dirt (the ground was wet from recent rains). I ran the wad of mud I was holding over the coil, and got a loud blast. As I began to pull the mud apart, I saw the reeded edge of a coin, and it was bright gold. My heart stopped, as I knew instantly I was holding a gold coin. I washed it off in a big puddle of water, and was holding a $10 gold coin in extremely nice condition.

Now for the bad news. When I dug out this final plug of dirt, I was somewhat sloppy with my digging tool because I was sure it was scrap metal, and I put a couple of nicks in the coin edge.
 

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awesome man, way to go. i cant wait till i find my first gold
 

Leon said:
How did this post sneak by me for so long? ???
Totally awesome find, Congrats!!!
Good luck & Happy hunting~


thats what i was just thinking! congrats on the find of a lifetime!
 

Beautiful find!!!! Anytime you feel like finding another, just let me know. I live in the east bay. WTG!!!! HH
 

time4me said:
Thanks everyone for your comments on my gold coin. It definitely was the high point of all my countless hours of detecting. I just wish it could have been at an old foundation out in the woods or something. To find it right in my own mother's back yard of a house that was built in the 1950's was pretty strange.

I sure wish Rockyredbaron was right, and that it was worth several thousands of dollars, but I don't believe the 1886 s is a key date. My outdated 1995 Red Book of US coins puts it at $250 or so, which is what I saw one in very similar condition up for sale for on ebay at the time I found this coin.

I just did another search on ebay, and there is one in MS64 condition for sale for $750.

Oh well, I have no intention of selling it anyway, as it has too much sentimental value to me as my best find ever!

Jim
Unfortunately, you're right. PCGS tends to inflate the price on their coins. My slightly newer Red Book puts it at around $250 as well... hold on to it, it's a thing of beauty.
 

time4me said:
Thanks everyone for your comments on my gold coin. It definitely was the high point of all my countless hours of detecting. I just wish it could have been at an old foundation out in the woods or something. To find it right in my own mother's back yard of a house that was built in the 1950's was pretty strange.

That is a sweet coin. I wouldn't spend too much time lamenting about where it was found, it's GOLD!!!!

Thanks for sharing.
 

Amazing coin, absolutely gorgeous! I take it you scoured that backyard for the next several weeks straight...? If not, where's your Mom live? :)
 

Those 2 nicks qualify that coin for the finest necklace that you would wear proudly! A decent jeweler should be able to put it all together for $500. Thats the ring and rope chain. The coin as it stands by book is worth $425. To quantify that I'll send you the funds immediately if you should care to part with it. There were 800,000 plus coins with that date minted. Gold spot today is 663.5 +/- change. Excellent find, one of those to keep "close" to you. Here is the answer for a comment you will hear if married: Hunny are you going to make that into a necklace for me? No dear, it could be too heavy for you and will be bothersome, but if I ever find a 5 dollar coin we can sure do it then. Around my house, the approach would be "what do you think about making this into a necklace". I find its a better trap and less pouting. lol All in good humor of course but the offer is real. HH
 

One word comes to mind... WOW
That is one unbelievable find and a lesson for all of us.
I was looking at the value and it looks like it might be worth around $420.
Great find, I am officially putting myself next on the list to find a GOLD coin.
 

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