Brian(upstateNY)
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This fella had a fun hunt ...........
- Thread starter General Ray
- Start date
Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska
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Brian(upstateNY)
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Jim West Pa
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Jim West Pa
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Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska
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Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska
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Craig in Alabama
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpYN1g4NBE8
Craig in Alabama
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General Ray
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Things this morning about the gold coin, looks like your right again Bri but somehow I knew you would be 
Wonder if he found them or not now!
Wonder if he found them or not now!Jim West Pa
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Jim West Pa
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General Ray
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1) It's possible that the leather purse was intentionally hidden and not out in the open for the weather to take it's toll on it. I would guess that different "grades" of leather may have to do with it being able to survive so well over the years. Maybe it was hidden in a high spot where it didn't have to sit in water in the rainy seasons. I've seen leather shoes found on shipwrecks that sunk in the 17th century, so all I can say is that it is possible.
2) The California Gold pieces were struck by private mints(ers) because Cal. had a severe shortage of small denomination gold coins. Coincidentally, they were first minted in 1852 (the date on the coin in question). It is rare for a cash value not to be minted on the coin but some were made as such. That's what COULD be so special about this piece, extremely rare if genuine.
3) The Indian head has been put on coins as early as 1859 starting with the penny. Although the Redbook states that the head on the penny is actually lady Liberty wearing a head dress and not an actual Indian. There was also an "Indian Princess" head used on the 1854 one dollar gold coin. There may be others but I just quickly scanned my Redbook for possibilities.
4) The "funny" color of the coin could be caused by the fact that most California Gold coins were made up of "up to 85% of their gold value" and not the .999 fine that we are used to seeing. The amount and quality of the gold in the coins soon decreased, and some were merely gold plated. The coinage act of 1864 made private coinage illegal but the law was not fully enforced until 1883. The "alloy" used to finish the coin could give it a brassy or tinny look.
All for now. I've collected coins for nearly 35 or so years and I have a deep fascination for dates. The "what if" and "who might have held this coin" has always been interesting for me. I have many key-dates committed to memory as well as mintages and values in case I see that improbable coin at a garage sale or pawn shop. You just never know.
therick
2) The California Gold pieces were struck by private mints(ers) because Cal. had a severe shortage of small denomination gold coins. Coincidentally, they were first minted in 1852 (the date on the coin in question). It is rare for a cash value not to be minted on the coin but some were made as such. That's what COULD be so special about this piece, extremely rare if genuine.
3) The Indian head has been put on coins as early as 1859 starting with the penny. Although the Redbook states that the head on the penny is actually lady Liberty wearing a head dress and not an actual Indian. There was also an "Indian Princess" head used on the 1854 one dollar gold coin. There may be others but I just quickly scanned my Redbook for possibilities.
4) The "funny" color of the coin could be caused by the fact that most California Gold coins were made up of "up to 85% of their gold value" and not the .999 fine that we are used to seeing. The amount and quality of the gold in the coins soon decreased, and some were merely gold plated. The coinage act of 1864 made private coinage illegal but the law was not fully enforced until 1883. The "alloy" used to finish the coin could give it a brassy or tinny look.
All for now. I've collected coins for nearly 35 or so years and I have a deep fascination for dates. The "what if" and "who might have held this coin" has always been interesting for me. I have many key-dates committed to memory as well as mintages and values in case I see that improbable coin at a garage sale or pawn shop. You just never know.
therick
Virginia_Relic
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leather shoes and cartridge box, just like the day they were buried...iron,4 hole underwear buttons without a sign of rust, 3 ringers as shiny as the day they were cast, bark still on the trees that were cut to build a corduroy road, and brass buttons just as shiny as if you just removed them from a uniform. Most of these items were recovered from depths exceeding 3-1/2 feet. The lack of oxygen evidently eliminates decomposition and oxidation. These things I saw dug with my own eyes, so I can honestly say that soil conditions and depth do allow almost perfect preservation of some relics. The coin purse that Rob Langdon recovered at another of the D.I.V. events was in the side wall of a hut in a winter camp and not all that deep, yet well preserved for the years it lay there. There is a similarity in items dug from graves, in that flesh is gone and bone has turned to a bendable state taking up the color of the earth and almost resembling tree roots. Clothing in many cases remains long after everything else is gone. ( Just so folks don't get all bent out of shape I want to make certain they know the following) I NEVER dig or disturb graves while relic hunting, but the reason I know what I do, is because when we were building the current visitors center at the Old City Cemetery we had to run a grid pattern with an auger to determine where unmarked burials were so they would not be disturbed when installing the drains,etc. When clothing and/or bone was brought up, it was catalogued and returned to the exact test hole it originally came from. Many of the leather items recovered at the D.I.V. events can be viewed in the photo archives of the past events, over at My Treasure Spot on the "Diggin" Forum, or if you happen to be in the area of the White Oak Museum, ask D.P. Newton to show you the items donated by Diggin' in Virginia LLC. Hope this helps to explain this phenomena a little...HH...Virginia_Relic
Craig in Alabama
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1. He said he recovered it maybe 6". Should have some kind of rot or rust but who knows 
2.As nice as the one he's got there should be an example of it somewhere
3.Indian Princess head but not a Chief and I can't find a Chief example until 1907
4.He said he had it tested (in a later post) and that it tested 22K ...I'd think it'd look a lot more gold
I hope it is real but we've seen some fake ones before. I'd be posting it as the center piece of my finds along with the other gold coin he found. But he hasn't but that doesn't mean its not real. Its been good for a discussion anyway
2.As nice as the one he's got there should be an example of it somewhere
3.Indian Princess head but not a Chief and I can't find a Chief example until 1907
4.He said he had it tested (in a later post) and that it tested 22K ...I'd think it'd look a lot more gold
I hope it is real but we've seen some fake ones before. I'd be posting it as the center piece of my finds along with the other gold coin he found. But he hasn't but that doesn't mean its not real. Its been good for a discussion anyway
Jim West Pa
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Did you by chance ever git to read the story of the territorial coin that was dug up in New Bethlehem Pa.? The story was in Western & Eastern Treasures i'd say maybe 10 years back.
A feller found it with his tector in an old church yard. It had some solder on it form bein made into a piece o' jewelry,(possibly a cuff link). Anywho, It was $1 if i'm recallin correctly but was not a United States coin. He had it inspected and appraised a few times and each time he was told it was a fake and of no value.He would not take no for an answer and persisted on havin it checked and re-checked until it finaly ended up in the right hands and they discovered that it was indeed a very rare $1 mintage by a small coin maker that, until then, was only thought to have made $10 denominations.
Anywho, some knucklehead in the numismatic world ended up with it fer a nominal fee and took the liberty of namin it after himself and takin al the credit for it. It is known simply as Kagin 1.
I tired a search for info to show ya but it seems that kagin 1 is a catagory and encompases many coins and tokens.
A feller found it with his tector in an old church yard. It had some solder on it form bein made into a piece o' jewelry,(possibly a cuff link). Anywho, It was $1 if i'm recallin correctly but was not a United States coin. He had it inspected and appraised a few times and each time he was told it was a fake and of no value.He would not take no for an answer and persisted on havin it checked and re-checked until it finaly ended up in the right hands and they discovered that it was indeed a very rare $1 mintage by a small coin maker that, until then, was only thought to have made $10 denominations.
Anywho, some knucklehead in the numismatic world ended up with it fer a nominal fee and took the liberty of namin it after himself and takin al the credit for it. It is known simply as Kagin 1.
I tired a search for info to show ya but it seems that kagin 1 is a catagory and encompases many coins and tokens.
Craig in Alabama
New member
Before everyone flips out..I dug it at a planted hunt. It was taped between 2 pennies to protect it. I didn't know what I had until I mentioned it to someone and they told me. I had just left it in my bag because I thought some kid had done it.