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| Silver Coin Eye-balled by Russ P. Photo by Russ. |
After a heavy rain, I took a close look at a pile of dirt at a construction site. I was thrilled to see the rim of a silver quarter. This is an old site and I could tell from the condition of the rim that the quarter was in nice condition, so the possibility of a nice Barber or SLQ crossed my mind. It was a 1963 Washington but I'll take it! I also found a 1948 Roosevelt dime laying on the surface like it was just dropped.
Always check out newly disturbed dirt. You never know what might be in it. Eye-balling can be especially good after a rain, which can uncover items that were dug up.
Always check out newly disturbed dirt. You never know what might be in it. Eye-balling can be especially good after a rain, which can uncover items that were dug up.
Thanks Russ.
Coastal erosion uncovered a wood circle referred to as "Seahenge." Interesting story.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/03/prehistoric-circle-dated-same-seahenge-2049-bc
Beaches move. That is what they do. Items on a beach will be moved and items under a beach will eventually be uncovered by storms or rising water. Those items will be lost if not recovered or protected. The beach is a high energy zone that will wear down or destroy anything in time.
I previously did posts on the transposition and muling of cobs. Overstrikes can also be found on cobs.
One type of overstrike you might find is the date. A die from a previous year might still be in use and the date would need to be corrected. The new date would be cut into the old die. The result being one or two numbers being cut over the previous number or numbers. An entire run of cobs with overdates would then be produced.
Examples shown in Sewall Menzel's book includes a 7 struck over the 6 when a date was changed from 1676 to 1677, and a 1 struck over a 0 when the date was changed from 1670 to 1671.
Check the dates on your cobs for overstrikes.
Assayer initial overstrikes are known too. When one assayer would replace another, a die might be recut with the new assayer initial cut over the old initial.
Known examples include L over B, C over P and P over T on Potosi cobs.
Watch for these anomalies or errors on cobs just like on modern coins.
If you sell your silver and gold it matters when you sell it if you want to get the best price. That being said, it is very difficult to time your transactions. Nobody knows which way prices will be headed. It they did they'd be richer than Midas.
You will hear ads claiming something like silver or gold can double in price in the next six months. Of course it could, but it could also go down to practically nothing.
Here is a chart showing thirty years of silver prices.
The chart on gold prices has a very similar profile.
Notice the spike back in 1980. That is when the Hunt brothers tried successfully to manipulate the price of silver.
The chart does not adjust for the value of the dollar. Fifty dollars was worth a lot more in 1980 than today.
If you were lucky enough to sell silver back around 2011 you would have got a lot more for it than you would today, but if you sold back in 1991 you would have received a lot less.
As I write, the spot price of silver is just over $21 per troy ounze.
Don't sell anything for melt value that might have additional value. That is a mistake that people sometimes make. They even sell rings for melt that have good gems that they receive nothing for.
On the Treasure Coast we're stuck with more days with a 1 to 2 foot surf. There is no tropical activity expected in the Atlantic for the next 48 hours.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net.
