Old Silver?

[hockeyguy]

Interesting that we all find pretty much the same stuff, but as far as late 1700's or early 1800' Silver, I see very little of this in American Currency. I wonder why....too deep? Not as much around? I sure would like to see one of us with a super find like that..

If someone has found these in the past, maybe re-post it here for all to see.

Aaron

[coinnut]

Early American silver is rare for a couple of reasons. Mintages were low and much was melted as time went on. Most of the early silver went to seaports and river towns. So if you live by early, larger, bustling cities, you may find some more. Also early areas are developed, so some silver is under skyscrapers and parking lots. The best I can do for early silver is 2 Capped Bust Dimes I found. Not quite very early 1800's but close.

[del]

yeah American silver was a scarce commodity back then , i think they held onto it more and used the spanish silver ( which was legal tender up until the early 1850's, then it was outlawed) this is all the early silver i have aquired so far . 2 half dimes and a trime

[z118]

Here's something my great grandfather wrote of his youth, which would have been in the 1880's. He grew up in rural Vermont:

Currency was scarce and there was still considerable barter and exchange of labor. Some hard money came into the village on Saturdays which were called market days. The buyers came to the village stores and paid cash for tubs of butter, eggs, and maple sugar. One dollar for a ten hour day was considered top pay. The governor of the state received fifteen hundred dollars a year and the proletariat considered it a scandal.

So you can imagine if currency was scarce in the late 1800's it was likely only more so in the early 1800's. I'd agree that the most likely place to find it would be in what was the larger cities of the day.

[coinnut]

We need to find out where that Governor lived lol I bet he had silver :rolleyes:

[hockeyguy]

Those r really beautiful coins! great job!

[RickO]

Old silver is very interesting, and it comes out of the ground usually looking good. RickO

[coinnut]

Here's a couple more a bit newer than my other ones. The first Half Dime was slabbed by PCGS. After sending that one in with 5 others, I learned that they don't slab too many coins from the ground lol An expensive lesson at 25 dollars a pop :crying02: The other Half Dime and Three Cent Silvers would be unslabbable. Not that old like capped or draped silver, but scarec to find as well.

[RWJR13]

Very nice coins.......Awesome..... :) :twirlingeyes:

[Stang1968]

Early American silver had issues will bullion content (either over or under) and was melted down quite often. As already stated, foreign coins (especially spanish) circulated freely in the USA until 1857.
American coins also weren't made in large quantity for a number of years.