11/10/18 Report - Holed Mercury Dime. Holed 1851 Dollar Gold Piece. Silver Penny. Fronts Bringing Bigger Surf.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

"Holed" Mercury Dime

Find and photo by SuperRick.

Yesterday I was talking about "holed" coins.  SuperRick found the one shown above.  Here is the story that goes with that one, as told by Rick.

Coins with holes we all have found a few of them but last year one of the beaches that is right by our condo has some homeless staying on the beach at night. One guy told me that if I found a mercury dime with a hole in it that it was the one that he lost!

I'm coming off the beach one night and one of the guys said that he lost the keys to his car! So I said that I would try to find them for him and while doing that I get a hit on a dime and it turns out to be the mercury dime.

The guy that told me many months ago was sitting there on the beach and I told him that I had something for him! Here is the photos of the dime and me giving it back to him. The dime was given to him by his father who had passed away the look on his face was priceless, he couldn't thank me enough for giving it back to him!

Owner Showing Returned Dime.

Photo by SuperRick.

I find these guy quite interesting and when there are on the beach I always stop and talk to them. They have some very interesting stories to tell about how they became homeless. Basically, if you are living week to week anybody can become homeless! I learned years ago that you can learn from anybody and being homeless is a problem that can be overcome with some help.

Thanks SuperRick!

When hunting something for somebody else, it seemed like I always found something else good.

I was saying yesterday how "holed" coins have a story.  This one not only had a story but also a real emotional significance for the owner.

Notice the hole and how it is crudely made.   That adds a bit to the story.

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Silver Penny and "Holed" Gold Piece
Photo by Sebastian Steve

Sebastian Steve sent the photo of the silver dime and "holed" 1851 one-dollar gold piece.

He said the penny shows no trace of copper - not even on the rim.

I don't recall if I ever mentioned it, but one day I got some very shiny quarters in change at a Dollar Tree store.  They really stood out as something special.   Turns out they were silver plated.

The United States Mint sells both colorized and silver and gold plated coins.

See https://www.usmint.gov/news/consumer-alerts/consumer/colorized-and-plated-coins

You can also buy plating kits and do it yourself.   Some jewelers do it.

Rio Grande Jewelry Supply sells all the necessary supplies and equipment that you might need.

See https://www.riogrande.com/category/tools-and-equipment/plating?c=0af4596e-db4a-497f-82c4-a7b80157fbc8&pageNum=1

Other Side Same Coins.

Photo by Sevastian Steve.

Here is what else Steve had to say about the gold coin.

A small addition to your story on “holed” coins. This 1851 $1 gold piece (type 1) was the -only- coin I ever found that was holed, in my thirty plus years of salvaging shipwrecks. This includes over one hundred wrecks in four of the five Great Lakes, and all the other regions of the world. You seem to have a lucky touch!

This very small coin... again picture being down at 160 feet deep in total darkness other than your hand held light, the swirling mud is all around you, as you gradually work away at a two foot vertical edge of rotting organic material. One of these $1 gold pieces flys by and behind you in an instant, and you just catch an instant of a “glint” of gold and it’s GONE. And you just sit there and go...”Oh Shoot!” Yeah right. Because now you have deposited this minute object into the “tailings” pile behind you! Good Luck!

Know this...just as any detectorist (worth his salt) knows... a site is never, ever totally barren of targets. Just the same principal applies on shipwrecks! And -that- is good news!

It’s ironic and funny in a way, that when I went to the web to locate a quick outline of these $1 gold pieces, up first came a “for sale” listing. And looks what it says! (Cleaned and x-jewelry). See what I mean?

These coins were designed by James B. Longacre and were only minted from 1849-1854. This Type 1 Liberty Head Gold $1 coin has been cleaned or may be ex-jewelry.

Interestingly... this holed coin that I found was on a small woman’s bracelet. Total junk, fell apart up in the boat already. But of course I saved the coin for “ show and tell” in my wallet. Along with an 8...in my wallet...makes good bar talk...


Thanks Steve.

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It's about that time of year when we often get some good fronts moving through and historically have had some pretty good metal detecting days.

I could feel a west wind this morning and there is more to come.

Here are the surf predictions: three to five feet this weekend and then up to eight feet later.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net