Erik in NJ
New member
I was able to get out and do a little detecting during my recent vacation. I got permission to hunt a yard which has on it a 1850's era house. Apparently this property has had an even more varied history than I thought. 
Some of you may remember my post about 2 weeks ago where I first tried my luck in this yard for an hour and a half in the evening while my wife went shopping for groceries. What transpired was nothing short of a hunt that I will never forget and I fear may never duplicate!
While my wife was still there, I turned on my SE and stepped onto a small area of grass near the back door of the house. Within about 10 seconds I got a nice deep hit that resembled a quarter hit. Coins in this general area sink quite deep as I learned from prior hunts in the area, so I was simply expecting a clad quarter, but dug to reveal what it was. From 6" - 8" down I popped out this large brown disc...I thought perhaps a large cent and I was stoked that I had unearthed a find like this on my very first signal! I couldn't recognize the design on the coin so I got even more excited that I'd found something unusual. Since my wife was still there I ran over and showed it to her, and though she was much less excited by it than I was, she thought she saw a date of 1837 on it! I couldn't spend too much time looking at it as my time for detecting was short -- identification would have to wait.
I dug another signal nearby which turned out to be junk and then I got a 4" hit in the wheat cent range. Out popped this very thin dark disc. I had no idea what it was or even if it was a coin. I gently brushed away a bit of dirt after applying some water and a corner of the disc turned silver! Wow, I could not recognize the design on this coin either as it was almost black and quite worn. Wasn't sure it it was Seated or maybe even a Bust dime. It too would have to wait till I got home!
I walked around the front of the property and got another very deep hit with that warbly sound we all like to hear! At about 10" in dry soil out pops a huge copper disc that was on edge, thin, about the size of a half dollar! It had a very ornate design on it which was a ring of 10 sets of leaves and flowers between two concentric circles of tiny dots. On the back I could see a folded over loop which told me it was a button. OMG! This was a gorgeous Colonial flat button in beautiful shape! My first one ever!
[attachment 169641 ColonialFlatButton1Front.jpg][attachment 169642 ColonialFlatButton1Back.jpg]
My daylight was starting to go away and I worked my way up along the driveway. I then get a hit in the pulltab range about 3" deep, but it sounds "clean" for lack of a better term. I decide to dig since this site had been so good to me so far. I was in awe when I see a chunky little disc pop out of the ground - an 1863 Fatty IH cent! This was only my second Fatty IH cent ever!! I started to feel as if this was a dream site, and it was....but then my wife returned and she was my ride back!
Here's the uncleaned fatty:
[attachment 169643 FattyIHCent1863Obverse001.jpg]
The only good part about leaving this site was that I could find out what the other two coins were!
On the large copper disc, I could read the words "I Follow in the Steps of My Illustrious Predecessor" with a picture of a donkey. The other side reads "Executive Experiment Fiscal Agent 1837" with a picture of a turtle with a strongbox on his back.
Here are the uncleaned pics:
[attachment 169646 HardTimesToken1837Reverse001.jpg][attachment 169645 HardTimesToken1837Obverse001.jpg]
Thanks to Google, I was able to identify it pretty quickly as Jacksonian-era Hard Times Token and a real beauty too! My oldest token to date and most interesting by far!
http://www.cointalk.com/users/6647-albums203-84642/
Next, the thin disc astounded me. I cleaned it with soap and water and with a jewelers loupe I could see a worn disc that it appears someone tried to hole, but didn't succeed and a clear date of 1779!! It's about the size of a dime and I realized it had to be a half-reale!! My first Spanish Silver and by far my oldest silver coin. Just think, this coin was minted just 3 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed and is more than 100 years older than the typical Barber silver we all like to find. Just this coin was enough to make me happy about finding something exciting on vacation. The Hard Times Token was just icing on the cake - really good icing!
[attachment 169652 HalfReal1779Obverse.jpg][attachment 169653 HalfReal1779Reverse.jpg]
As time permitted I would make more short trips back to this property and a few more coins and some fascinating Colonial-era relics would surface. Ironically, the half-reale would be my only silver coin, but I will show the rest of my finds in a follow-up post or two. I will leave you with this appetizer (of which I found two, it appears to be made of pewter and was gilted....any ideas?):
[attachment 169655 BridleDecoration1Front.jpg][attachment 169656 BridleDecoration1Back.jpg]
Thanks for loking!
Some of you may remember my post about 2 weeks ago where I first tried my luck in this yard for an hour and a half in the evening while my wife went shopping for groceries. What transpired was nothing short of a hunt that I will never forget and I fear may never duplicate!
While my wife was still there, I turned on my SE and stepped onto a small area of grass near the back door of the house. Within about 10 seconds I got a nice deep hit that resembled a quarter hit. Coins in this general area sink quite deep as I learned from prior hunts in the area, so I was simply expecting a clad quarter, but dug to reveal what it was. From 6" - 8" down I popped out this large brown disc...I thought perhaps a large cent and I was stoked that I had unearthed a find like this on my very first signal! I couldn't recognize the design on the coin so I got even more excited that I'd found something unusual. Since my wife was still there I ran over and showed it to her, and though she was much less excited by it than I was, she thought she saw a date of 1837 on it! I couldn't spend too much time looking at it as my time for detecting was short -- identification would have to wait.
I dug another signal nearby which turned out to be junk and then I got a 4" hit in the wheat cent range. Out popped this very thin dark disc. I had no idea what it was or even if it was a coin. I gently brushed away a bit of dirt after applying some water and a corner of the disc turned silver! Wow, I could not recognize the design on this coin either as it was almost black and quite worn. Wasn't sure it it was Seated or maybe even a Bust dime. It too would have to wait till I got home!
I walked around the front of the property and got another very deep hit with that warbly sound we all like to hear! At about 10" in dry soil out pops a huge copper disc that was on edge, thin, about the size of a half dollar! It had a very ornate design on it which was a ring of 10 sets of leaves and flowers between two concentric circles of tiny dots. On the back I could see a folded over loop which told me it was a button. OMG! This was a gorgeous Colonial flat button in beautiful shape! My first one ever!
[attachment 169641 ColonialFlatButton1Front.jpg][attachment 169642 ColonialFlatButton1Back.jpg]
My daylight was starting to go away and I worked my way up along the driveway. I then get a hit in the pulltab range about 3" deep, but it sounds "clean" for lack of a better term. I decide to dig since this site had been so good to me so far. I was in awe when I see a chunky little disc pop out of the ground - an 1863 Fatty IH cent! This was only my second Fatty IH cent ever!! I started to feel as if this was a dream site, and it was....but then my wife returned and she was my ride back!
Here's the uncleaned fatty:
[attachment 169643 FattyIHCent1863Obverse001.jpg]
The only good part about leaving this site was that I could find out what the other two coins were!
On the large copper disc, I could read the words "I Follow in the Steps of My Illustrious Predecessor" with a picture of a donkey. The other side reads "Executive Experiment Fiscal Agent 1837" with a picture of a turtle with a strongbox on his back.
Here are the uncleaned pics:
[attachment 169646 HardTimesToken1837Reverse001.jpg][attachment 169645 HardTimesToken1837Obverse001.jpg]
Thanks to Google, I was able to identify it pretty quickly as Jacksonian-era Hard Times Token and a real beauty too! My oldest token to date and most interesting by far!
http://www.cointalk.com/users/6647-albums203-84642/
Next, the thin disc astounded me. I cleaned it with soap and water and with a jewelers loupe I could see a worn disc that it appears someone tried to hole, but didn't succeed and a clear date of 1779!! It's about the size of a dime and I realized it had to be a half-reale!! My first Spanish Silver and by far my oldest silver coin. Just think, this coin was minted just 3 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed and is more than 100 years older than the typical Barber silver we all like to find. Just this coin was enough to make me happy about finding something exciting on vacation. The Hard Times Token was just icing on the cake - really good icing!
[attachment 169652 HalfReal1779Obverse.jpg][attachment 169653 HalfReal1779Reverse.jpg]
As time permitted I would make more short trips back to this property and a few more coins and some fascinating Colonial-era relics would surface. Ironically, the half-reale would be my only silver coin, but I will show the rest of my finds in a follow-up post or two. I will leave you with this appetizer (of which I found two, it appears to be made of pewter and was gilted....any ideas?):
[attachment 169655 BridleDecoration1Front.jpg][attachment 169656 BridleDecoration1Back.jpg]
Thanks for loking!
