Seated Half Dime...

[jkress]

I was suppose to go out with Dave this morning but with my niece's birthday party, sadly I had to postpone. We got home at 5:15 and in very short order I had my detector in the back of the truck and off I headed. :yes:

Went back to the spot ( HERE (http://www.americandetectorist.com/forum/index.php?topic=5165.0) ) I recently found a Shield Nickel and picked another very small portion of the yard. I am really forcing myself to slow down and grid this site. So far it is paying off. It is tough fighting the urge to wander around, but I'm sticking with the grid here.

The coin targets were sparse in tonight's 20x10 foot section. Picked up one wheat and then out came a dirt encrusted small silver disc. Like so many times in the past, the thought of a half dime popped into my head. All previous times the rush was crushed when a small token, toy money or foreign coin was revealed.
But on this one I did catch a small glimpse of what appeared to be a seated woman. This brought my excitement level up a notch and decided to walk to the truck and rinse the dirt off with some water. On the way, I decided to swipe a small clump of dirt off a portion of the edge of the coin to see if it was reeded. Sure enough it was. :shocked04: At this point I was thinking, There is no way this can be a half dime. As the water rinsed away the surrounding dirt... I was simply shocked. Shocked that I was able to find one of those small, early silver coins. <: Just a few days ago I was happy to finally get into the 1800's with a 1898 dime. You can imagine my excitement when I realized I just beat my earliest silver coin by 41 years.

The half dime has some nice detail but it appears to have suffered a little damage along it's life.

http://homepage.mac.com/j.kress/AmericanDetectorist2011/pictures/picture-25.jpg

Also picked up a very nice looking gold button. Definitely no idea of when or what it is from. Any thoughts from
the button experts out there? It is a little bit bigger than a quarter.

http://homepage.mac.com/j.kress/AmericanDetectorist2011/pictures/picture-26.jpg

Good luck out there tomorrow everyone. thumbsup01

[pulltabsteve]

Joe, She's a BEAUTY!!!! :beerbuddy: <: :happydance01: happydance02 :clapping: :clapping: Very sweet find my friend!
[size=24pt]BIG CONGRATS!!!

[dave in iowa]

My goodness Joe , this will be a fun year,,,,,, i think thats a civil war era button

[zrickkid]

Nice stuff. :happydance01:

[Ill Digger]

:shocked04: WOW!! :shocked04:
What a beauty Joe!!
Thats one on my wish list!! :yes: :drool:
:girlcry: You find everything!! :girlcry: :crying02: lol
Congrats!! :grin:

[randy]

Congrats on that sweet seated :clapping: It does seem to have alot of detail, and still looks good despite the damage.

[lasercat]

Very nice half dime fantastic find. The pictures are really nice.

[del]

what a great day you had Joe and your half dime :omg: is a looker too , mega congrats to ya :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: your button is very interesting and a good one just in the shape alone makes it very special :smitten: . let me start out by saying the backmark tells me its from 1850 to 1865 but the front makes it after the Civil War . the ISH stands for Iowa Soldiers Home a verteran organization for Iowa Civil War vets . so you batted a 1000 Joe on that hunt :peace: |:confused:) :peace:

congrats again

Dan

[silysavg]

Persistence pays off. Great stuff Joe.
Now that you found it by the 'gridding' method are you more inclined to stop the 'wandering' method? Just curious really because I have found really great finds either way and have yet to be pinned down to either.

Keep up the good finds - it's very encouraging to everyone.

Mike

[Epi-hunter]

That is truly a beauty Joe :clapping: Congratulations!!! They are tiny coins, aren't they? That is an amazing find!!!!

The button is very nice too :cheering:

[angellionel]

Congratulations Joe! That is one sweet looking half dime. :drool: :smitten: Lovely lady... just lovely! :smitten: Did your heart go full speed ahead? :happydance01:

[jkress]

Thanks for the comments everyone. :yes: I'm still pretty excited this morning about finding this coin.
I'm just not one of those guys who find old coins like that. Mostly a Merc and Rosie guy with a few late
Barbers sprinkled in. :)



your button is very interesting and a good one just in the shape alone makes it very special :smitten: . let me start out by saying the backmark tells me its from 1850 to 1865 but the front makes it after the Civil War . the ISH stands for Iowa Soldiers Home a verteran organization for Iowa Civil War vets . so you batted a 1000 Joe on that hunt :peace: |:confused:) :peace:
congrats again
Dan


Thank you Jeff (or) and Dan for the ID on the button. :yes: I really appreciate it. I did a little searching last night on the maker and scrolled through lots of buttons but just couldn't find the match. Based on the info below, would this button have been on the uniforms that the soldiers wore at this facility?

The Iowa Soldiers Home accepted its first resident in 1887 when the facility provided living quarters for displaced veterans of the War Between the States. Management of the home resembled life patterned after Army rules and regulations. Residents wore uniforms, marched in formation, stood inspections, ate at a mess hall, and went to bed at taps. They slept in open wards and needed passes to get by the sentry at the gates.

[JTGOLD]

awsome half dime find,gg.

[DaleGM]

:peace: :peace: :peace: beautiful seated coin!!!!! hit that site again and take no prisoners :white:usaflag:: :white:usaflag:: :white:usaflag::..........

[Evan/tn]

Heck yea!!! that's how you do it,great hunt and finds. That button is cool looking!

[Fire Fighter 43]

That is a beauty, it is one coin that's on my list. Congrats on a great and rare find!!

[Salty Dog]

Awsome Recovery on the half dime and the button :clapping: :clapping:,persistance pays off again,congrats you have earned it...

[milco]

WOW Joe! Congrats on that beautiful find! Keep working that area slow and steady and you will keep finding stuff I am sure. That button is a fantastic piece of history!
Congrats again!

[jkress]

Now that you found it by the 'gridding' method are you more inclined to stop the 'wandering' method? Just curious really because I have found really great finds either way and have yet to be pinned down to either.
Mike


I'm sure I'll never stop the wandering method completely. lol It is a fun way to hunt for me. A person can surely recover the easy targets quicker by wandering. Not to mention finding the hot spots. But to ensure you hit all spots of a site and find the more difficult targets... gridding is definitely best. I tend to go much slower when I grid, that definitely helps.

[staydetuned]

That's a beautiful coin; congratulations on your newest oldest silver! :grin:

Those don't come around too often; you've got a special place there...

Yeah, I'm a wanderer too. I like to have faith that some unconscious force will direct me the right way. Plus, like you said, easier to find hotspots, etc. Hopefully that whole property will be one big hotspot for you!

I think there's gonna even more coming from that place thumbsup01

[Jeff (or)]

Congrats on both finds! :beerbuddy:

[odave]

She's a beauty thumbsup01 thumbsup01

[Carver]

OMG Joe,,,,that is a beauty of a coin!!!!!! Big congrats on that one!!! I'm still looking for my first!!!!!!!

[RobW]

sweet! :loveit:

[milco]

Yeah, I'm a wanderer too. I like to have faith that some unconscious force will direct me the right way. Plus, like you said, easier to find hotspots, etc. Hopefully that whole property will be one big hotspot for you!


I like to wander, but especially on yards and certain areas of old parks, I patiently grid the area.

[li tom]

That's a great first Seated,Congrats!!

[Toadman]

:happydance01: :happydance01: :happydance01: :happydance01: Sweeet 1/2 dime ! happydance02 happydance02 happydance02 happydance02

[russellt]

what a whopper of a find .. and darnit its 4 years older than my oldest half dime. nice.

[hockeyguy]

I missed this post...that's a keeper......very nice....1857 American Silver is a great find. A half dime.....priceless!

[coinnut]

The reverse of that half dime looks uncirculate :shocked04: :shocked04: :smitten: That coin was dropped brand new and it stinks that it got clipped like that. Mint struck so hard that the reverse rim bulged out. You can even see that beautiful uncirculate glow to the reverse. :loveit: What a great piece. I can't find anything on that button, but it could be almost anything...a university, organization, local chapter, etc... Great digs :clapping:

[aloldstuff]

a 1/2 dime, people hunt forever and never find one of those. huge congrats

[silysavg]

I was suppose to go out with Dave this morning but with my niece's birthday party, sadly I had to postpone. We got home at 5:15 and in very short order I had my detector in the back of the truck and off I headed. :yes:

Went back to the spot ( HERE (http://www.americandetectorist.com/forum/index.php?topic=5165.0) ) I recently found a Shield Nickel and picked another very small portion of the yard. I am really forcing myself to slow down and grid this site. So far it is paying off. It is tough fighting the urge to wander around, but I'm sticking with the grid here.

The coin targets were sparse in tonight's 20x10 foot section. Picked up one wheat and then out came a dirt encrusted small silver disc. Like so many times in the past, the thought of a half dime popped into my head. All previous times the rush was crushed when a small token, toy money or foreign coin was revealed.
But on this one I did catch a small glimpse of what appeared to be a seated woman. This brought my excitement level up a notch and decided to walk to the truck and rinse the dirt off with some water. On the way, I decided to swipe a small clump of dirt off a portion of the edge of the coin to see if it was reeded. Sure enough it was. :shocked04: At this point I was thinking, There is no way this can be a half dime. As the water rinsed away the surrounding dirt... I was simply shocked. Shocked that I was able to find one of those small, early silver coins. <: Just a few days ago I was happy to finally get into the 1800's with a 1898 dime. You can imagine my excitement when I realized I just beat my earliest silver coin by 41 years.

The half dime has some nice detail but it appears to have suffered a little damage along it's life.

http://homepage.mac.com/j.kress/AmericanDetectorist2011/pictures/picture-25.jpg



jkress,

I remember the first one I found years ago. It was not that deep and when uncovered and the small size was seen I actually thought it was a play coin from some board game. What a great thrill it was when I cleaned off the dirt and noticed what it actually was.

I get that vicarious thrill reading of your find.

Congratulations.

Mike

[Civil War Nut]

Thats nice J. You are hunting the best way now. Takes a lot of time to cover the ground , but at least you know you have well covered it. Slow and eazy.

[jkress]

What a great thrill it was when I cleaned off the dirt and noticed what it actually was.


Boy you aren't a kidding. It was certainly a big rush for me. Congrats on yours... I would love to hear about that hunt. :yes:



You are hunting the best way now. Takes a lot of time to cover the ground , but at least you know you have well covered it. Slow and eazy.


Yeah... I'm learning. :embarrassed: Sometime this summer when I'm looking for new grounds to hunt, I'm going to head back to one of the spots I quickly wandered through before. Slowly grid the heck out of it and see what I missed. :yes:

[silysavg]

Boy you aren't a kidding. It was certainly a big rush for me. Congrats on yours... I would love to hear about that hunt. :yes:


That was a looong time ago - 7/8/1982. My friend and I had permission to metal detect the property of a long gone girl's college - St. Xavier Academy. Many acres. We were pulling seated and barber coins out daily, along with other silver up to 1964, whenever we had time after work.

After hundreds of silver coins taken there by me and him it was bound to happen that someone would find a half-dime.

To be honest, the only thing I remember about the first half-dime was how excited I was. It was totally just another normal signal with that deep sound we became accustomed to on that property. Just about anything found there was old but the Barbers and Seated were usually around 6 to 8 inches.

We were using the 12 inch coil on the Garrett Master Hunter ADS III. I still have it now, and indeed, it is running as good now as the day I bought it in June 1982. I quit detecting in 1984 and hung it on a pegboard hook in the cellar and there it hung since then.

Anyway, getting back to the half-dime.
That property ( the Sisters of Mercy established a school, St. Xavier Academy, near Latrobe in 1847) was a dream come true. It is a rural setting, old oak trees everywhere, no buildings anymore but the grounds were well maintained. There was practically no bad signals. It was either a threshold sound or a good find. But to this day I still remember that 1839 Half-Dime.

You should be doubly proud of yours because you found yours in this era, the era when most every conceivable place someone could think of detecting - was! - and heavily at that. Mine was easy in comparison.

I would love to hear that you found another tomorrow. Those great finds are like getting an eagle playing golf. No matter how bad the game is until that eagle, it's the eagle that keeps you swingin' .
Keep that coil swinging, there's another eagle waiting.

Mike