Erik in NJ
New member
Some of you may have seen my post below regarding my maiden voyage with the Pro coil. It was kind of exciting because my first decent signal was the Large Cent. About midway into the 3 hour hunt I found half of a silver Rosie - this is the 4th "half silver dime" I've found - that is a Merc or Rosie that's been deliberately cut in half by someone and either lost or tossed. One time I was able to find the other half and one time I wasn't. This time I searched the surrounding area and the other half was nowhere to be found. That's OK because the rest of the finds were pretty good for this area and I was very satisfied.
When I got home and clean up the coins, I verified that it indeed was a silver Rosie that had been cut in half that I had found and not a clad dime. I remember thinking it was a shame that the half with the date on it was the half that I couldn't find. Later that night while looking at the coins, I had a thought. I'd found a small piece of aluminum that was still in the car in my junk pouch. Could that have been a part of the dime? Nah....but I went out to the car with a flashlight and found the little wedge of "aluminum" and took a look at it closely - HOLY $%&#@ Batman - it has a reeded edge! Under a loupe inside I could clearly see the date - 1954 and it matched the existing half perfectly. Since both pieces were found about 20' from each other I was amazed that I had located them and actually dated the dime.
The following late afternoon I decided to head back to this spot that I had done well in the day before. I found 3 silver coins in the first hour along with a nice charm - so I was pretty happy with the short hunt. The last hour was pretty much uneventful. At approx 8 PM as it was just starting to darken and I knew it was time to call it a day - just then I got a hit in the "centish" range. The depth gauge was deep and I dug a large plug and put my probe in - nothing - dug out some more dirt and put the probe in - nothing again! It was getting a little darker and now I was frustrated with my last hole. I ran the probe over the top of the plug and still got the same screetch - but a target was nowhere to be found. I pulled out my Vibra-Probe and started scanning though some dirt that I removed from the plug - OK, there's a vibration in there, but I still couldn't see anything and it was getting darker. Another buzz of the probe and I STILL can't see it......after fumbling around for another minute or so I finally pinpoint something and see a little piece of meal with a silverish color. I wouldn't let myself believe that this could be the missing piece of the dime. Then as I looked I was in total disbelief - THIS IS IT! I found it in a third hole and it was only about an inch deep. Then, somehow I managed to drop it as I was looking at it - back into the grass. Now I was angry - I scanned with the X-1 and couldn't find it anywhere! OMG what did I do - I'm tired and it's getting dark. I stood up and swept with the Pro coil and sure enough it picked it up again and the coil's pinpoint was right on. I grabbed the little sliver of silver and made darn sure I held onto it.
When I got home I cleaned it up and the silver dime was unlikely complete again after so many years - what are the chances of this???
The way the dime was cut, the two smaller pieces actually turned out to weight 0.5 grams a piece. A complete silver dime weighs approximately 2.5 grams - so each little piece represented only approximately 1/5th of the dime and the Pro coil picked them up loud and clear!
So here it is again for posterity - I'm thinking about a special display for it
When I got home and clean up the coins, I verified that it indeed was a silver Rosie that had been cut in half that I had found and not a clad dime. I remember thinking it was a shame that the half with the date on it was the half that I couldn't find. Later that night while looking at the coins, I had a thought. I'd found a small piece of aluminum that was still in the car in my junk pouch. Could that have been a part of the dime? Nah....but I went out to the car with a flashlight and found the little wedge of "aluminum" and took a look at it closely - HOLY $%&#@ Batman - it has a reeded edge! Under a loupe inside I could clearly see the date - 1954 and it matched the existing half perfectly. Since both pieces were found about 20' from each other I was amazed that I had located them and actually dated the dime.
The following late afternoon I decided to head back to this spot that I had done well in the day before. I found 3 silver coins in the first hour along with a nice charm - so I was pretty happy with the short hunt. The last hour was pretty much uneventful. At approx 8 PM as it was just starting to darken and I knew it was time to call it a day - just then I got a hit in the "centish" range. The depth gauge was deep and I dug a large plug and put my probe in - nothing - dug out some more dirt and put the probe in - nothing again! It was getting a little darker and now I was frustrated with my last hole. I ran the probe over the top of the plug and still got the same screetch - but a target was nowhere to be found. I pulled out my Vibra-Probe and started scanning though some dirt that I removed from the plug - OK, there's a vibration in there, but I still couldn't see anything and it was getting darker. Another buzz of the probe and I STILL can't see it......after fumbling around for another minute or so I finally pinpoint something and see a little piece of meal with a silverish color. I wouldn't let myself believe that this could be the missing piece of the dime. Then as I looked I was in total disbelief - THIS IS IT! I found it in a third hole and it was only about an inch deep. Then, somehow I managed to drop it as I was looking at it - back into the grass. Now I was angry - I scanned with the X-1 and couldn't find it anywhere! OMG what did I do - I'm tired and it's getting dark. I stood up and swept with the Pro coil and sure enough it picked it up again and the coil's pinpoint was right on. I grabbed the little sliver of silver and made darn sure I held onto it.
When I got home I cleaned it up and the silver dime was unlikely complete again after so many years - what are the chances of this???
The way the dime was cut, the two smaller pieces actually turned out to weight 0.5 grams a piece. A complete silver dime weighs approximately 2.5 grams - so each little piece represented only approximately 1/5th of the dime and the Pro coil picked them up loud and clear!
So here it is again for posterity - I'm thinking about a special display for it