Totally Unexpected Find Today

[Compass]

I can't really call this a bucket-lister because as recently as last week I thought to myself that I was probably never going to find one of these.

I was using my White's Dual Field at the beach today and finding a little clad down in the wet sand but not much and nothing very old. After a few hours I started working my way back towards my car but hunting down closer to the water since it was nearly low tide. I started finding lead fishing weights and to my surprise I scooped out a couple of silver Rosies, '62 and '64.

Now I don't find many silver coins on this particular beach so the 2 Rosies were welcome sights. I was now running a bit late so decided to dig one last target before calling it a day. A shallow target turned out to be another silver dime but this one looked different. At first I thought it was a Merc but when I saw the "One Dime" on the back surrounded by a wreath I was shocked that I had found a Barber dime. I flipped the coin around and went from shocked to disbelieving when I saw a seated liberty coin, my first in 52 years of metal detecting!

Even without my reading glasses I could see "1873" pretty clearly. Despite being blackened by seawater and being 150 years old the dime seems to be in pretty good shape. I believe that I have only found 1 other coin that was older - an IH penny from the 1860's. I can't make out any mint marks on the coin but the black patina is hard to see through.

I wonder how this coin got here? Was it dredged up as part of a sand reclamation project? At this beach I have never found anything even close to being this old.

[GB_Amateur]

29 minutes ago, Compass said:

I can't make out any mint marks on the coin but the black patina is hard to see through.

Two varieties that year -- with and without arrows on the date.  I don't see arrows on yours -- this would be the earlier minted of the two varieties.

Now, concerning the mintmark:  only Carson City of the branch mints (i.e. outside of Philadelphia) produced coins with that date for the no-arrows variety.  Turns out only one(!) of those -CC mintmarked coins is known to exist, so....  If yours is the second then you can buy that beach!  There are also two versions of the no arrow Philadelphia ('plain' meaning no mintmark) from that year -- closed 3 (~1.5 million minted) and open 3 (~60,000 minted).  So if you didn't win the big lottery prize you still have a chance to cash a good sized ticket (well, in the latter case it depends on how well this cleans up...).    You can find photos of both here.  The difference does appear to be pretty subtle.

Nice find, regardless.

[Compass]

Thank you GBA! You really know your coins. I guess I should take it to a coin shop to get a professional opinion. 

[Sirius]

The sea always finds a way to provide. As long as the conditions of not being sanded in is met, and plenty of beach erosion to keep all heavy stuff in one spot. Stuff refreshes daily unless there's rocks blocking the waterline. So it might be worth doing multiple searches of the same area until it gives up!

[Compass]

1 minute ago, Sirius said:

The sea always finds a way to provide. As long as the conditions of not being sanded in is met, and plenty of beach erosion to keep all heavy stuff in one spot. Stuff refreshes daily unless there's rocks blocking the waterline. So it might be worth doing multiple searches of the same area until it gives up!

Thanks Sirius, The tides improve over the next couple of days so I will try to get back there as soon as I can. Here is a picture of the reverse. Not seeing any mint mark. 😬

[F350Platinum]

Compass, a seated is a great find anywhere! 👍 Nice 3 silver haul.

I'm always finding bullet shells at beaches I go to, my theory is this:

A lot of times beaches get replenished from "sand pits" that are often used as ranges. I was on a beach in Savannah where I found a lot of 30 caliber bullets on top (the big stuff), and unless someone went nuts there with a rifle, I surmised the beach had been replenished as such.

Yours must have come from what was a training place a long time ago. Congrats!

[schoolofhardNox]

Beauty of a find. I don't recall ever seeing a 1873 dug before. Nice score!

[mn90403]

That is a great coin.  I've never found one.  I got a 1933 Wheat today.

[King-Of-Bling]

Definitely a great find. Pretty rare to find something that old that still has some good detail. The ones I've found were never that nice.

[Compass]

3 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Compass, a seated is a great find anywhere! 👍 Nice 3 silver haul.

I'm always finding bullet shells at beaches I go to, my theory is this:

A lot of times beaches get replenished from "sand pits" that are often used as ranges. I was on a beach in Savannah where I found a lot of 30 caliber bullets on top (the big stuff), and unless someone went nuts there with a rifle, I surmised the beach had been replenished as such.

Yours must have come from what was a training place a long time ago. Congrats!

Thanks F350, Yes, I have heard that there was a lot of military training on our local beaches and have found many bullets and shell casings.

3 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

Beauty of a find. I don't recall ever seeing a 1873 dug before. Nice score!

Thanks School, Because of age and condition I think I would have been less surprised to scoop out a silver dollar or gold coin.

1 hour ago, mn90403 said:

That is a great coin.  I've never found one.  I got a 1933 Wheat today.

Thanks Mitchell, Nice! If I found a coin as old as 1933 on this beach I would be surprised but 1873 just seems crazy. I don't think I've even found any Mercs at this location and really not many silver coins at all.

15 minutes ago, King-Of-Bling said:

Definitely a great find. Pretty rare to find something that old that still has some good detail. The ones I've found were never that nice.

Thanks KOB, The condition of the coin is just as shocking as finding it. It must have had some nice detail when it was lost.