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Hunting Threepences


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Congrats on the hunt, very nice old coins in that bunch you found.

Good luck on your next hunt!

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Awesome coin's Phoenix,

Looks like you dialed in the Nox just right! Good luck on the next hunt!👍👍

 

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10 hours ago, Phoenix50 said:

For those who don't know, a threepence used to be Australia's smallest silver coin before converting to decimal currency in 1966.  They weigh about 1.3 grams and are 16mm in diameter.

That's very close to our (USA) half dime (silver 5 cent piece) in both size and weight.  Unfortunately for us detectorists, they quit minting those in 1873 so you have to be at a pretty old site ('old' by American standards, not Europe's) to even have a chance of finding one.  14 silver coins in one day's hunt -- you are doing a lot of things right, particularly your research.

10 hours ago, Phoenix50 said:

I didn't get back to put in other hunt for larger coins as it persistently rained for the next three days and I was lucky to get my vehicle and caravan out through the resulting boggy bush tracks.  Still, I have narrowed down several old homesites and, what I believe was, an old pub site.

Can't wait for your next report!

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Wow you smashed that small silver ! You must have hit some undetected ground , which is a feat just in it's self ! Great research equals great results . Will you post them on AMDRH ? Finding 4 Groats is outstanding and would take you straight to the top of the tally board ! Congrats . WH

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1 hour ago, Hunterjunk said:

Wow you smashed that small silver ! You must have hit some undetected ground , which is a feat just in it's self ! Great research equals great results . Will you post them on AMDRH ? Finding 4 Groats is outstanding and would take you straight to the top of the tally board ! Congrats . WH

G’day WH. Yeah, no. I tried to post on AMDRH but the app wouldn’t let me upload photos. I have detected this particular goldfield since the early 1980’s and had some spectacular finds, including gold.  I usually stay at a mates property on the river and went down there last year to help him repair fences and tend to stock during the horrific bushfires last year. Through him I met another farmer who owns property across the river. That farmer invited to detect his property, should I be interested.  There is a long abandoned township smack in the middle of his holdings that has never had a coil over it.  That’s where I had the success.  Getting there is problematic and I was extremely lucky to get out during the heavy rain.  In hindsight, I shouldn’t have dragged my caravan in there in the first place. It took me an hour to travel 5 kilometres to a better track and another two hours to travel the 53 kilometres to bitumen.  Needed a little lie down after that.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.😁

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That's a pity mate , i am sure the weird things that TT inflict on that forum are killing it . That town sounds amazing , hope you make a killing there and post it all here . Best of luck .

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Excellent job with those beautiful little silvers. Here in the US we love getting our tiny Trimes and 1/2 dimes. Definitely a sense of accomplishment when we do get them.

Strangely enough,  yesterday I had a hunt (here in Maine, USA) along a wet, rocky saltwater shoreline and I also pulled out a 1919 threepence. Coming from literally under rocks in salt water it is not in as good shape as your little babies. It even had a cup to it. Definitely a big surprise though. 

The 6 inch coil on the Equinox did a very good job. It came in loud and clear in beach2.

IMG_20200713_154154.thumb.jpg.b928e9b973a589c4d19c4656b255f34c.jpgI'm wondering what the difference in your Australian three pence and the UK three pence is? The front of my coin looks to be just like your 1917 on the top right. I'll try to post both sides of this coin when I get it cleaned up. 

Thanks very much for your help and good luck when you get back out in the field.

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22 hours ago, Maine_Capt said:

Excellent job with those beautiful little silvers. Here in the US we love getting our tiny Trimes and 1/2 dimes. Definitely a sense of accomplishment when we do get them.

Strangely enough,  yesterday I had a hunt (here in Maine, USA) along a wet, rocky saltwater shoreline and I also pulled out a 1919 threepence. Coming from literally under rocks in salt water it is not in as good shape as your little babies. It even had a cup to it. Definitely a big surprise though. 

The 6 inch coil on the Equinox did a very good job. It came in loud and clear in beach2.

IMG_20200713_154154.thumb.jpg.b928e9b973a589c4d19c4656b255f34c.jpgI'm wondering what the difference in your Australian three pence and the UK three pence is? The front of my coin looks to be just like your 1917 on the top right. I'll try to post both sides of this coin when I get it cleaned up. 

Thanks very much for your help and good luck when you get back out in the field.

G’day MC.  Until 1910 we used English coins, with the exception of gold sovereigns (Full and half.). Australian sovereigns have mintmarks that differentiates them from the English mints. Your threepence is the same as we had.  If you are interested, you should google ‘proclamation coins’.  When first colonised, Australia had a mix of coins, one a Spanish dollar which had the centre punched out.  It was referred to as a holey dollar and dump.  Very valuable, if found now.  English coins still circulated here after 1910 and it is not unusual to find them still.  David.

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