8/22/18 Report - Interesting Numismatic and Treasure Story All In One: Henning Nickels. Alligator Deaths.

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

Source: See numismaticenquirer.com link below.

Did you ever hear of the Henning Nickel?  Francis LeRoy Henning, of Erial, New Jersey created a bunch of counterfeit nickels.  As counterfeits go, they were pretty good.  About 100,000 were thought to have been put into circulation.  There was one problem with some of them that resulted in their discovery.

Genuine 1944 nickels have a big Philadelphia mintmark (P) above the illustration of Monticello.  Henning's 1944 nickels did not have that mintmark.

Henning also made 1939, 1946, 1947 and 1953 nickels.  They aren't as easy to identify, but if you weight them, you'll find out that they weigh more than authentic nickels produced by the U. S. mint.  The genuine nickels will weigh around 5 grams, while the Henning counterfeits will weigh closer to 5.5 grams.

There are also other signs that will help you identify a Henning nickel.  The "R" in Pluribus will have a tell-tale depression in the verticle bar, for example.

You can look into that more on your own if you want to.

Henning nickels commonly sell for $10 to $30, but to me it is an interesting bit of history, and I'm going to take the time to scan some of my nickels, particularly the war nickels to see if I have one.

According to various sources, about 100,000 Henning nickels went into circulation, but it is said that 200,000 were dumped by Henning into Copper Creek, and another 200,000 were discarded in the Schuylkill River.

If I were in the area, I'd do a little research and hunt for those.  I like hunting creeks and waterways anyhow, so I'd do the research to try to narrow down where Henning might have dumped them and look around a little.

That is an numismatic story that provides a good treasure hunting lead.

Here is a source link.

http://www.numismaticenquirer.com/TNE/Henning%20Counterfeit%20Nickel.html

There is another reason I mentioned Henning nickels.  It tells you something about how to identify fakes and counterfeits.  The weight of a coin can sometimes tell you if it is fake or real.

Many fakes will be made of metals that are less dense than silver or gold so they will weigh less than a genuine coin.  Remember, though, that if you find a silver cob on the beach, it could weigh much less than when it was made. Silver beach cobs can be half their original weight due to corrosion.

Another easy test that is too often neglected is the magnet test.  A silver or gold coin will not stick to a magnet.  If a cob sticks, it is not a genuine cob, but if it does not stick to the magnet, that does not tell you that it is a genuine coin.  Some of my fake treasure coins are magnetic and others are not.  I have one made of lead that, of course, is not magnetic.

I've explained in the past how a silver coin can be influenced by a strong magnet even though it will not stick to the magnet.  That is also a good test, if you know how to do it.

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.A woman was killed in South Carolina by an alligator.  That story follows.

I also read one telling of a lady in Florida that was killed by an alligator but I lost track of that link.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/08/20/south-carolina-woman-killed-by-8-foot-alligator-while-walking-dog/23505782/ake

Not long ago I warned of the danger of rattle snakes and other poisonous snakes in Florida.  I once had a close call with an alligator.  I could only see one yellow eye sticking up out of the muck.  I was nearly on him when he suddenly thrashed and gave me a good scare

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Concerning the mystery item found by G.J. that I posted a couple days ago, Brian M. said, , Hard to say but to me it looks like it could be out of a thermostat. The small hole lets water pass through till it gets warm enough to open.

Thanks Brian.
That seemed like a difficult item to identify.  I only got Brian's response about it.

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No storms at this time.  Summer conditions continue.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/13/18 Report - Mexico Half Reale With P Assayer and Nice Monogram. Coin Patinas and Crust.

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

Mexican Half Reale With Mint Mark.

Yesterday I showed a very small half reale. Here is one that is closer to normal size. It was found during the same November 2013 hunt as the small one.

If you look closely at this one, you will see the mint mark and assayer initial. Just to the left of the bottom half of the big P is the M mint mark over the assayer initial of P. This is not the most common assayer initial for the 1715 Fleet. More common would be the OMJ mark, which I showed some examples of in the past few weeks.

This cob does not show a date,but we can narrow it down to somewhere between 1634 to 1665, when this assayer initial was used. It would have been minted during the reign of Philip IV.

According to Sewall Menzell, "Assayer P worked as a lieutenant for Sebastian Carrillo Madonado and possibly others." The name of assayer P is unknown.

Here is the basic design of the monogram during this time.  

Source: Sewall Menzel's
Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins.

You can also narrow down the date of a half reale from the monogram.

This particular cob gives a good view of much of the monogram but the crown is missing.

Here is the other side of the same cob.

Other Side of Same Mexican Half Reale.

A good part of this side is covered with a thin encrustation.

I'll show another half reale with nice monogram from the same hunt as well as a one reale in the near future.

That is the second of four cobs found during a November 2013 hunt.

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I've started thinking about patina's and how they can be classified.  So far it seems to me that useful descriptions would include color, thickness, coverage, and coarseness or consistency.

The two sides of a coin can have very different types of patina.  I believe that happens when the coin remains in place for a long time in the same position.

When I get a system of classification developed, then it might be possible to correlate the patina with some variables about a coin's composition and history.  I already believe that I can tell a little about where a coin has been from it's patina.

Some coins are covered by a very hard thin layer such as that seen on the left side of the above cob, others are covered by a crust composed of pieces of shell or sand.  The cob above has a few of those.

I'd like to hear what you might add to the classification scheme.

Here are two coins with different color patinas.

Patinas of Different Colors.

And here is a thick patina composed of coarse sand and shell.

Thickly Encrusted Coin.

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Chris is now gone and what is left of Beryl is out in the Atlantic up by North Carolina.

On the Treasure Coast we'll have a one to two foot surf for a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net