A Story To Tell
Published by Larry on Tagged 1700's Coins, 1800's Coins, Coin shooting, Relic Finds, Research, Site Areas
I am always amazed as a treasure finder at where I find coins with my metal detectors. The unusual places and circumstances of how that coin(s) got there has led me to believe that many of those coins have their own story to tell. Let a few of these coins tell you their stories.
Hi! I am a very fine 1861 Indian Cent manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I was dropped by a Union soldier from Fort Brooke in Tampa, FL in 1862. Just last night two men escaped from the fort. Word got out that the two Confederate escapees were headed west through the Trail of Pines, now called Pinellas County. My owner and a small squad of about 10 other calvarymen caught up with them on a small knoll overlooking the the Anclote River, on one side, and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. Their steps were easy to follow through the sandy soil and our horses made great time in catching up with them. I have to admit that they, tired and weary from running, did a good job of making this 30 mile trip across this unsettled area. My owner, Captain Charles Vincent, lost me while setting up a hangman’s noose on a tall pine tree on the knoll. I saw their lifeless bodies hanging there on what is called Deserter’s or Hangman’s Hill in rustic, beautiful Tarpon Springs, FL. My owner did not know that I fell out of his pocket or he would have searched for me as I was about a soldier’s daily wage in 1862. Soon I was covered up with pine needles and disappeared into the soil. In the summer of 1988, this man walked near me for about nine weeks time. He had a treasure map and was using a variety of stange looking instruments called metal detectors. He was digging up stuff everywhere and actually called for a backhoe and at about eight feet deep dug up the front end of a Jeep from another war time. I saw him dig up more than 3000 items that he called relics of WW1 and WW2. He never did find that Spanish Treasure but one day just before dark, I saw the light of day for the first time in 122 years. My new owner is Larry and he treats me real nice. I live in a nice case with my story on it and he says I am priceless. He believes in me and let me tell you my story, or at least a part of it. I have much more to share but that is another story.
SPlish, splash I was taking a bath! A very, very long bath of almost two hundred years in the ocean. Let me introduce myself. I am a counterfeit 1796 Spanish Eight Reales Coin. No, I am not a reproduction! I was made of pewter instead of silver by a member of the Spanish navy somewhere aboard ship in 1796. several coins just like me have been found in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico my treasure finders using metal detectors. I, in fact, am more valuable to counterfeit collectors than the actual silver pieces manufactured by the spanish government that year. Why? I am very rare! My collector value is between 300-400 dollars depending on my condition. I do look pretty nice after about a 200 year salt water bath. My owner found me using a Fisher 1280 in the Gulf of Mexico in 1990 after a winter storm moved me close enough to the surface to be detected. He took me home and put me into a tumble machine until I was very dizzy, but I came out pretty handsome to say the least.
I am an Extra Fine 1882 San Francisco Mint Silver Dollar. I could well be a Vam. Most people don’t even know what a Vam is. There is this guy who appraises silver dollars that have special pedigrees. If he or his team feels the coin is really different, it can be declared a Vam and given a distinctive code. Vams are consistently worth more than other coins of the same mint and year. I was found with a Fisher 1260 metal detector in Tarpon Springs FL in 1995. My owner was admiring my good looks one day as he was going through his silver dollar collection and noticed that there were some very distinct differences in my body. I have doubling on both sides in the lettering, stars, date and parts of my face too. I was taken to a coin shop and a team of dealers said I am a goodie and my owner needs to submit me for possible classification as a Vam since there are no known 1882 S’s like me. I am very valuable and Larry says I will be offered for sale on the world wide net soon.
I am confident that many of your metal detecting finds have stories to tell too. Are these accounts 100% accurate. Probably not but who knows? Do you believe everything you are told? My Hangman’s Hill 1862 IC was the only coin predating 1919 found in a ten week period of over 400 hours of hunting and it came from the ground where the pine tree fell that the soldiers were hung from. I am convinced that the penny was lost in the escape episode.
How about this one! A 1920’s era Macy’s Department Store weighing scale of more than 200 pounds found in a wilderness area called the Jungle in Tarpon Springs, FL. at about two feet deep in 1971. There are no roads and never were there any roads there. My coins tell some pretty good stories but with a great imagination and love for mysteries, I cannot figure out this one. What stories can your coins and other finds tell?
January 4th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Very interesting blog on your finds. I too metal detect but I use a Tesoro
January 12th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Arlene,
Thanks for responding. Fisher detectors are my favorite but I love Tesoro too. Target separation and depth on nickels make Tesoro my relic and older nickel favorites. Keep on diggin!
October 11th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Hi Larry,
Did you find any coins inside the scale itself?