Scarce & Rare Find 1861 S Mint Dime

[lostmypassworddude]

Not sure how often such finds occur to other detectorist but for me this one was a cool find. I balance out nuggethunting with relic hunting. This day I decided to just chill ans swing my little Nokta Simplex Ultra and see what I could find in some old placer grounds I hunt. I never expect to much, but we are hopeful, right? After digging up trash first few hours  I got a nice high tone, 80 range on vdi. I expected some rusty tin from a can, after a few swings with my pick I saw a small round object. I knew this was a coin, and a silver coin. Picked it up and I saw the date 1861, didnt make much of it until I researched this coin ans realized how scarce they really are these days. Out of 172,000 minted in San Francisco only about 250 survive in all grades. Here is mine in pics below. So when you dig out coins, you may get a good one.

[mntnflyr4fun]

very cool

[Mike C...]

Nice coin just checked ebay and there was few on there for 2-3 hundred-Not bad for a dime 👍

[JCR]

That’s not only a scarce coin, it is in wonderful condition too.  Congratulations!

[F350Platinum]

That's a good one Dude, great job with the Simplex!

Another great find that shows you need to get out there. 🏆

[lostmypassworddude]

The other coin a  1854 quarter  was found  2 feet from the 1861 dime. Obvious 1860s coin spill,  dates of the  coins also very close. Thanks for the comments, Good Hunting to you all in the upcoming 2026.

[Tom_in_CA]

Utterly Beautiful.  And the soil was kind to it.   Nice job !

[Lodge Scent]

Oh man, that's a nice one! Excellent find!

[lostmypassworddude]

2 hours ago, Tom_in_CA said:

Utterly Beautiful.  And the soil was kind to it.   Nice job !

Yeah, I had one claim it wasn't dug because it was so clean. Most of my silver I have dug out comes out this way, nice and clean. The soil was moist as we had rains last few days. I also removed some dirt and placed them both in my jeans pocket before I took them out for a photo . We are fortunate that most parts of California the soil is kind to silver. Here is another coin I found in the goldfields just a few weeks ago. Pretty clean, just depends which part of the country your digging.