Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED X-RAY PHOTOS

1liquigirl

Sr. Member
Jun 13, 2005
393
13
Bellefonte, PA
Gambling in Atlantic City is a thing of the past. You'll make out better on the shoreline. I run with a Garrett Ace 250 and came back with this and a few pieces that I think are bayonets, various sand pennies and the mouth of an 1800's amber brown whiskey bottle. It stormed with thunder and lightning the night before, and the surf was really pounding. The beach opened at 6AM and out I went. I turned the stone over and there it was, a chain and a shiny silver coin sticking right out at me. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and after the shock wore off, you should have heard me whooping it up. I put it in my bag with the shells I had been collecting prior. I didn't care at that point about breaking any of them, to me I don't think I'll ever find anything better. About a minute after I put it in my bag, an ATV cop went by me, and I ecstatically said "Hi" to him. It was probably pretty out of place, but I couldn't help it. I held onto that bag like my life depended on it all the way back to the hotel room, to show my sleeping partner the treasure I had truly found. I wonder how long it takes to embed coins and chains in to sandstone? More than 30 years, I'm sure. We didn't head straight home, we went to a friend of ours that owns a stones and gems shop. He'd never seen anything like this before. He told us that as is, we are looking at a value of at least $400. We plan to get the stone X-rayed at some random dentist's office to see if there may be a pendant or even a gem on the chain and if we're lucky, there may be more coins. There is an indent in the rock underneath the area that the coin is showing that could have held another coin, it is completely round and about the size of a dime. There's alot of MDing that goes on along the shores of Atlantic City and alot of iron content out there, so I bet this stone could possibly have been overlooked by others more than once. I want to get all of the sand removed that is concreted on this coin, but I'm afraid to hurt it in any way. I carefully removed some of the grains of sand with a razor blade and I am sure I didn't scratch it. It is just enough to see that some letters are still present, but not enough to identify them. I refuse to do anything more to it. I trust someone out there can get it clean. The chain located in the top left of the stone in picture one and on my finger in picture four is handmade, the ends of each link are wrapped over the next loop. It is non magnetic, but has been tested for 14 ct gold and dissolved right away at our local jewelry store, so it's more likely to be bronze. A few more links are showing on the other side of the stone from where it hangs out on the other, so most of the chain could be wrapped up inside the stone. The coin is smaller than a dime, about 16.6 millimeters in diameter and thinner than a dime. I live in Central Pennsylvania and I doubt there is anyone around here that could identify this coin, it it thinner and smaller than an American Dime.

Update: For the latest info on where we are at in research and IDing this coin, and it's continuing story, check out my post of the same title under Today's Finds. It's been pretty popular, and I'm proud to call you all my friends. I will continue to check this post for possible IDs and suggestions. Thanks to all.
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

Congrats on your find ! :icon_thumleft:. It looks so kool the way it is, I'd leave it like that for a display case at some future point in time. :icon_thumleft: :icon_thumleft: Extractor :coffee2:
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

Very cool find and it would be a nice display as is (though, personally, I couldn't resist the temptation). How was your gem friend able to appraise it without seeing the face and knowing exactly what it was? Was he able to speculate? Just hungry for details. Again, great find!
 

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As a stone and gem collector, he's saying as a curiosity piece, it is worth at least $400. The buyer might not be able to resist the urge to crack her open, but an X-ray, is all you need to see what's in there. Any ideas on an ID for the coin? Help me out here, it's such a bugger.
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

Amazing Find :hello2: . I looks like something that would be in a Museum :notworthy:
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

1liquigirl said:
As a stone and gem collector, he's saying as a curiosity piece, it is worth at least $400. The buyer might not be able to resist the urge to crack her open, but an X-ray, is all you need to see what's in there. Any ideas on an ID for the coin? Help me out here, it's such a bugger.
Sizewise, it looks like a half dime but an odd place to find one. Do you want it in that stone forever? If not, dunk it in your tub and let the spigot loose. Don't mess with Vasseline and all that. Just hit it with high pressure water.
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

Cool find!! X-Ray it or clean enough of that one coin to see what it is(if you really feel the need to). If you take it apart you can never put it back. It was probably in a small purse and hidden on the beach while someone frolicked in the surf, or it somehow came from a ship/boat (WRECK?) , Tony

PS The clumps of coins found on the Treasure Coast are worth more than the singles!!
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

Tony in SC said:
Cool find!! X-Ray it or clean enough of that one coin to see what it is(if you really feel the need to). If you take it apart you can never put it back. It was probably in a small purse and hidden on the beach while someone frolicked in the surf, or it somehow came from a ship/boat (WRECK?) , Tony

PS The clumps of coins found on the Treasure Coast are worth more than the singles!!

+1 This is such a cool piece the way it is, but I would try and clean enough to get a positive ID, but LEAVE IT ENCASED!!! Awesome find chica!
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

that is just so so cool looking.. nice nice find.. :thumbsup:
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

I have a few Spanish colonial silver coins from Central America and the Carribean that are smaller and thinner than a US dime. Can you tell us the letters? It may be old shipwreck. It looks to be some iron rust. Does it stick to a magnet?

I agree with the others. Leave it together in a clump for value.
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

No, the magnet has some pull in only one area where the rock is reddish brown in color, but the chain and the coin are not magnetic. My partner thinks the coin is 16.6 millimeters in diameter, I think it's closer to 17.3. The edge is either flat or it's possible from a few repeating patterns that it had a square pattern on it. A square on one end of the edge, then a square on the other end, then a square on the first end of the edge, then a square on the second side of the edge, etc. As to the letters from left to right facing inwardly towards the middle of the coin and wrapping close to it's edge. We think there's a V, then coming out of some concreted sand a possible D, the next two, most likely IA. Then a Trident looking symbol, but missing the middle stake. Then the space for about two letters are under the concretion and then an I is showing through the sand, but it could be just part of a letter. I know there is more to it than that, but its all that shows. At another angle it looks like it says METAH. If you hold it upside down reading the letters if they were facing outwardly towards the edge of the coin, the letters look much larger but I can't make out the letters, they're oddly shaped. It could be a small capital D, then a line that goes to the edge of the coin that could be attached to a odd shaped and crooked and oversized R and an O or U. And that's the thing, it's hard to tell what you see, the sand on it needs to go away. Hope this helps you all, please give me more suggestions on what you think, so I can narrow the possibilities down a bit and research into this more. Thanks for the responses it's a very exciting piece of history.
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

1liquigirl said:
No, the magnet has some pull in only one area where the rock is reddish brown in color, but the chain and the coin are not magnetic.
Thats what I thought. I realize the coin is silver and the chain is brass. There is a severely corroded ferrous object holding the clump together. My guess is still shipwreck. I hope someone will solve it by the letters. When I get a chance Ill look at some of my old small Carribean silver coins.
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

Heres is an 1800's Cuban coin (bottom left) I found on the beach. I have several other silver coins smaller than a dime.
 

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Hers another small 1800's silver I found (top) may be a possibility. I think it has an IA.
 

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1liquigirl said:
I think the letters are similar to the cuban coin any pics of a clean one?
I belive my Cuban coin is like the one pictured here. spanish_real_coin edge.jpg
There is also a smaller than dime Hong Kong coin. http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,176576.0.html



1liquigirl said:
The edge is either flat or it's possible from a few repeating patterns that it had a square pattern on it. A square on one end of the edge, then a square on the other end, then a square on the first end of the edge, then a square on the second side of the edge, etc.
Are you saying there is something on the edge?
cubansilver40centavos2.jpg








1liquigirl said:
As to the letters from left to right facing inwardly towards the middle of the coin and wrapping close to it's edge. We think there's a V, then coming out of some concreted sand a possible D, the next two, most likely IA. Then a Trident looking symbol, but missing the middle stake. Then the space for about two letters are under the concretion and then an I is showing through the sand, but it could be just part of a letter. I know there is more to it than that, but its all that shows. At another angle it looks like it says METAH. If you hold it upside down reading the letters if they were facing outwardly towards the edge of the coin, the letters look much larger but I can't make out the letters, they're oddly shaped. It could be a small capital D, then a line that goes to the edge of the coin that could be attached to a odd shaped and crooked and oversized R and an O or U.
If you could draw the letters next to your coin pic showing the correct order may help a lot. Im a bit confused.
 

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Re: Treasure Set in Stone UPDATED NEW PICS

BigCypress, I have seen what I thought was DIA on the coin, or something close to it like you said, you saw IA. It's illusional, the one way you hold it, you see a 2 or a Z and you see the 2 or the Z to the left side of the coin if it's reading inward to the center of the coin. But I wrote in a couple of posts prior what I thought I was seeing. This may be a very rare coin, but it may not, I don't want to get my hopes up, just yet. But, regardless, it has alot of history to it and if it could only tell it's story....well.....

I did post about five posts back about what letters I think I can see on it, Reading inward left to right facing the center of the coin and reading left to right outward facing to the edge of the coin.

Last night, we used a suggestion from a post in Today's finds and placed Goo Gone on the concretions of the coin to remove it, then ran it under warm water of the sink spigot to remove some of the curtain. The center of the coin is removing itself and I would have never thought it would start there, but it is. The Goo Gone has been on the coin tonight for 2 hours now, about ready to run it under the spigot again. We will see what this coin is, we will see it. About this Treasure Stone, we now have a rating of 5 coins in My Best Finds forum. I gotta get someone to post a suggestion on the Treasure Set in Stone (It's pretty far down on the first page) on Today's Finds to get me back to the top for more views, so I can get more suggestions on what to do with this piece. Please post something for me there, since it was in that forum that I received the suggestion that is removing the concretions. Thanks all, for your interest in this piece.
 

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