1856 Liberty Quarter

[TomB]

Returned yesterday to the same location where I have been finding musket balls. I recovered two musket ball . I then recovered a third musket ball and a smaller ball was in the same hole. This is referred to as a "Buck and ball". Normally there are three smaller balls with the larger ball. Thanks to the help of some friends on another forum all the musket balls I have recovered have been identified as .69 caliber.(actually 66 caliber designed to be fired in .69 musket) Also recovered a couple of pieces of melted lead. I then made the fine of the day. I recovered my first 1856 Sitting Liberty Quarter. Its the first silver quarter that I have recovered that did not come out of the ground showing silver. As you can see in the pic the coin is not in good condition. Can any one explain why the coin is white. I would like to try and clean the coin but not sure how to do it right. HH TomB

I have found 18 musket balls at this location.

 

[Digger]

Congrats on the finds Tom. Ya know, 99% of the silver coins I've dug around here come out of the ground looking bright and shiny. However, last night I pulled out a 1920 Merc that is white, just like your SL quarter. Tell you what I'll do........ I'll try a little bit of my "D-cell electrolysis" on it and let you know how it works out. In the meantime, don't do anything with it that you might regret later. HH Randy

 

[7centsworth]

Congratulations.

 

[Idaho PRB]

That is So COOL! I would be on cloud nine, congratulations!

 

[utmike]

Great finds! Congratulations on the awesome coin!

 

[Beale]

Congrats on the sweet silver find! Very good hunt, Beale.

 

[david - white oak]

I have found seated coins encrusted like that before at street constructions sites, had been under
brick streets for around 100 years. Had to use electolysis to find out what the dates.

 

[Goes4ever]

the quarter pic is not showing up for me?

 

[TURNMASTER]

I think it is the one that looks to have been hit with a meat tenderizing hammer.

I am looking forward to the pics after cleaning (if you do clean it).

 

[wally]

the quarter pic is not showing up for me?

Try clicking on the photo square I have to do that to get pic
Wally

 

[Digger]

When looking through a pretty good magnifying glass, my "white" Merc" was badly pitted. I tried the electrolysis anyway, followed by gently rubbing it in my fingers with some toothpaste. The combination did clean it up. Now instead of a white Merc with pits, it is a silvery white Merc with pits. You might take a real close look at that quarter with some high powered lens. May not be much you can do for it, if the white is actually pit marks like my Merc. was. Thought I'd let you know how it worked out, since I told you I would. HH Randy

 

[TomB]

Thanks Randy...I think I am going to give electrolysis a try. The quarter is not pitted and I can't figure out how the lines were made in it. TomB