Silver Streak! Walking Liberty Half, Seated Quarter and Dimes

[Tommy G]

There is an 1867 home on the Virginia coast that I've wanted to hunt for years, but the owner kept putting me off to the point that I had all but written it off my list of possible permissions. So, I'm at work last Friday and I get a call from the owner saying, "If you still want to metal detect this property, you'd better get out here because I am putting it up for sale." Well, I dropped everything and headed for the coast. I began late that afternoon and finished up at sundown on Sunday. The property has about 5 acres in manicured lawn surrounding the home, so I was basically in frantic cherry picking mode the entire weekend trying to cover as much ground as possible, not knowing if I would be allowed to return. I dug a mountain of clad and wheats, but the real surprise was in the amount of silver I found - to include several firsts for me. I pulled 19 slivers, total, including a war nickel that is not pictured. The finds included 5 GW quarters (1934, 1942,1943,1954, 1956); 5 Mercury dimes (1917,1935,1941,1942,1944); 3 Rosie dimes (1947,1952,1954); 1 Walking Liberty Half (1945), 1 Seated quarter (1873), 2 seated dimes (1876, 1890), and what may be a silver shilling of unknown date. Any ideas on that one (bottom row, far right in the first photo - see the last photos for close ups) would be appreciated. The Walking half and seated dimes were all firsts for me, so needless to say I had one heck of hunt! The Walker half, a Mercury dime, a Rosie and four wheats were a coin spill out of the same hole which was the second target I dug when I got there on Friday afternoon. Little did I know that I was just getting started!

 

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[Steve in PA]

Both you and testing123 are calling the mystery silver a reale. If this is a reale, it' my very first. How certain are you?

It is pretty easy to tell it is a Spanish silver based on the bust and the word Carolus, which you can easily see. And you can tell it is a one real versus a half real based on it's size relative to the two dimes next to it in the one pic.
I guess this is your first Spanish, so......

 

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[JerseyDigger19]

walker is XF-45 in my opinion. what a beautiful coin! Way better than the 1943 walker I dug which looked beautiful until I noticed an old dig by the sun. still a walker is a beautiful sight coming out of the hole! The Seated is the true jackpot of the group, if you can carefully get the deposits off (maybe by using the put coin on tin foil, cover with baking soda, pour in boiling water trick) it could be worth 100 or more. i'd almost be too scared to try it on that, so as is, at least $50... way to go!

 

[Tommy G]

wow! look at that 1873 seated quarter! that is the much scarcer 1873 NO ARROWS variety (open 3) - only 1 no arrows 1873 was struck for every 10 1873 quarters with arrows. congratulations on a scarce and beautiful quarter, and of course, the 17 other silvers and half reale!

Whoa...I need to go back to the red book. I picked up on the open 3, but didn't notice anything about the arrows. Thanks for the feedback, JerseyD.

 

[Tommy G]

It is pretty easy to tell it is a Spanish silver based on the bust and the word Carolus, which you can easily see. And you can tell it is a one real versus a half real based on it's size relative to the two dimes next to it in the one pic.
I guess this is your first Spanish, so......

Thanks again, Steve. Yep, this is my first reale. Honestly, I never thought I would ever find one, so the possibility that this coin might be a reale never occurred to me and I was ready to just accept that it may never be identified. Boy was I wrong! TNet experts strike again!

 

[Johncoho]

That is a hunt of a life time. Everyone's dream silver and more silver. Congrats.

 

[Steve in PA]

Thanks again, Steve. Yep, this is my first reale. Honestly, I never thought I would ever find one, so the possibility that this coin might be a reale never occurred to me and I was ready to just accept that it may never be identified. Boy was I wrong! TNet experts strike again!

You thought you would never find a Spanish Silver? You live in Virginia don't you? LOL More Spanish silver is found in Virginia than anywhere in the US .
I guarantee you haven't found your last!

BTW, despite the fact that I have found 65 Spanish silvers over the years, I have only ever found one seated silver. You found more seated in one day than I have in 30 years of detecting!

 

[Tommy G]

walker is XF-45 in my opinion. what a beautiful coin! Way better than the 1943 walker I dug which looked beautiful until I noticed an old dig by the sun. still a walker is a beautiful sight coming out of the hole! The Seated is the true jackpot of the group, if you can carefully get the deposits off (maybe by using the put coin on tin foil, cover with baking soda, pour in boiling water trick) it could be worth 100 or more. i'd almost be too scared to try it on that, so as is, at least $50... way to go!

I admit, I'm very tempted to clean that seated quarter as you describe, and most likely will soon as I have so many others that could use the same cleaning. For now, I'm just enjoying looking at it!

 

[Tommy G]

You thought you would never find a Spanish Silver? You live in Virginia don't you? LOL More Spanish silver is found in Virginia than anywhere in the US .
I guarantee you haven't found your last!

BTW, despite the fact that I have found 65 Spanish silvers over the years, I have only ever found one seated silver. You found more seated in one day than I have in 30 years of detecting!

Never looked at it that way, Steve, but you are certainly correct. I live in some prime territory. To date, most of my hunts have been pre-civil war and colonial sites. I've gotten so used to finding old coppers and buttons that I just don't think about silver that much. I had never found the elusive seated either prior to this hunt. To dig so many firsts in a single hunt was something I'll never forget, and most likely will never get to experience again. Got to get out there and start looking for the draped, capped busts, trimes and others that are still on my bucket list!

 

[Tommy G]

put the Walker at MS60 or better--at least $35- 50 bucks. put up some crime scene tape---you made a serial killing on that hunt

Probably should have, because by the end of this hunt I was feeling like I just robbed the place! The cool thing was that the owner had no interest in the coins whatsoever. He was more interested in the crotal bell and ox knob that I dug. I left those with him without getting any photos, but with a clear conscience!

 

[The Dirt Pirate]

I think I would be living on that site until I made sure it was cleared out. Awesome finds.

 

[JeffInMass]

Simply a dream site- Congrats on all that silver!!

-- Jeff --

 

[Silvermonkey]

Never say never! Congrats on your persistence with this permission, and all of your outstanding finds!

 

[gold panner]

Awesome spot!!

 

[ShortbusElite]

So I don't know if you can vote a whole hunt for banner, but if so, this gets my vote. Great job!

 

[Agent Green]

 

[park pirate]

Outstanding....

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[wkrp43]

Intense hunt!

 

[BTV Digger]

Congrats on a wonderful silver haul. I'm not sure which of the silvers would be my first choice as the Walker is in fantastic shape. Seated Q probably ranks #1 imo. Congrats nonetheless. Looks like you capitalized on two cardinal MD rules of finding good stuff...location and opportunity! Well done.

John

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Wow, Killer permission!

Congratualtions on the "mountain" of silver coins!

The last one appears to be a Reale.