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I found a gold coin on the ground today! Pictures added, a real 1856 California $1/4 gold coin.

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Comments

  • DorkGirlDorkGirl Posts: 9,994 ✭✭✭
    image
    Becky
  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭


    << <i> I can get a PSA 10 puking patty or adam bomb >>




    lol keep the gold!


    Steve
    Good for you.
  • 53BKid53BKid Posts: 2,174 ✭✭✭
    A once in a lifetime find! WOW!
    HAPPY COLLECTING!!!
  • mdwoodsmdwoods Posts: 5,557 ✭✭✭
    Very cool! Grats
    National Register Of Big Trees

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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,673 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I liked Lord Marcovan's picture of the tornado. Looks like the scenery in the part of Texas I live in. >>

    I reserve that for the suckiest of suckers. Dunno where the pic was taken- it was a Google Images grab.



    << <i>...I'd guess finding one in a storm drain is probably a R-7 occurrence! >>

    Indeed. We detectorists of pure heart have two ways of rating a find- one is the more traditional method of consulting its monetary value, but the other, and the one that I usually go by, is by how rare of a find it is- in other words, how rare the chances of finding it were. For instance, as a collector, I could see a beat-up Morgan dollar in a junk silver bag, and think of it as nothing but bullion and wouldn't look at it twice, but if I were to dig the same coin out of the ground, I'd be ecstatic and treasure it, because silver dollars are rare detecting finds- big coins like that didn't stay lost as easily. A silver dollar find is often a once- or twice- in a lifetime find for a digger, and I haven't dug mine yet.



    << <i>My guess would be that it fell off someone's bracelet, or was lost from a collection somehow. It would have been lost fairly recently. It would be a real leap to think that this was an actual circulation loss from the period. >>

    I do agree that the odds favor it having been a much more recent loss than the date of the coin. But sometimes that is the fun of finding stuff "in the wild"- you never know how long it's been out there, or how it got there, so you can speculate about it and make up your own mental movie.

    Oh, and FWIW, I believe the story completely. The detail that clinched that for me was where he talked about thinking it was a brass tack and rubbing on it. I've dug those tacks with the octagonal head on 'em- the detector really likes 'em and they'll ring in the "coin" range almost every time. So I would have had an identical reaction at first. I thought this was a key fob or tool check when I dug it on a construction site.




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  • GritsManGritsMan Posts: 2,599 ✭✭✭
    Amazing find--and story!
    Winner of the Coveted Devil Award June 8th, 2010
  • Wow; finding 1850s fractional gold kind of trumps the wheat penny I found in the parking lot on the way to Disney World. You are now King of Found Money! All hail TexasToken!
    Improperly Cleaned, Our passion for numismatics is Genuine! Now featuring correct spelling.
  • BBQnBLUESBBQnBLUES Posts: 1,803


    << <i>Amazing find--and story! >>


    DUDE ! You should've bought a lottery ticket the day of that find image
  • ambro51ambro51 Posts: 13,930 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Great find! A good read too. (thread archeology )
  • Wow, I regularly find gum someone has spit out on the ground when I kick the dirt! Nice work!
    "When I die I want to go peacefully in my sleep like grandpa did, not screaming like the rest of the people in his car."
    --- Jack Handy

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  • mkman123mkman123 Posts: 6,849 ✭✭✭✭
    crazy to find someting valuable in the weird places.
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  • metalmeistermetalmeister Posts: 4,592 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'll bring my metal detector too! Seriously go back over that ground with a nice iron discrimating metal detector.
    email: ccacollectibles@yahoo.com

    100% Positive BST transactions
  • Now I'm going to get hit by a car because I'll be staring at the ground all the time looking for one! GREAT find!
    Let's try not to get upset.
  • RegistryCoinRegistryCoin Posts: 5,117 ✭✭✭✭
    Very cool. Congratulations!

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