Another MICRO Time Capsule Stash:

mustangmanbob

$5.34

I took apart (air impact and SawsAll) a 1965 Mustang Monday.

It had a center console (somewhat rare, about $150 and up).

This one still had all 8 original Ford screws. The top plate and shift plate, over time, tended to gap a bit.

Underneath the console, on the transmission tunnel carpet, was a total of $5.34 in change.

10 quarters, 3 silver, latest was a 1982

21 dimes, 6 silver, latest was 1980

4 nickels, latest 1979

54 pennies, 17 wheats, latest is 1982, with 5 unreadable due to corrosion.

The roof had been cut off at some point, so everything had been rained on for who knows how long.

One might imagine the car stopped being driven around 1982, based on the coins entombed in the console.

All the pennies are having a Viking Funeral. The have been dropped into the top tank of a copper radiator heading to scrap. All of them are corroded, and would kick out of a coin counting machine. The quarters and dimes got a quick run on the wire wheel and off to help pay for lunch. Nickels seems to have survived well. Silver goes into the 90% stash.

$400 car, $930 in parts sold in 3 days, and a lot still to go.

Another Mustang, a 1966 comes in tomorrow.

Some of the old cars are fun, with 4 of them yielding guns (2 pistols, 2 shotguns), almost all have some amount of money (best was one that had 5 $100 bills tightly rolled (on a $100 car) that had slipped into a "known" black hole. About 20% have drugs somewhere in them.

This is what I do for fun.

ModCrewman

And numismatists everywhere start scouring Craigslist for old cars to get the coins.

kaz

auto archaeology/numismatology. Cool hobby!

Overdate

Aren't 1965 Mustangs a protected species?

seanq

<< <i>Aren't 1965 Mustangs a protected species? >>




One that had its roof cut off over thirty years ago is more like an organ donor.


Sean Reynolds

Meltdown

What a great hobby. Where are you getting your cars for purchase? Salvage yards? Auction?

lordmarcovan

That's cool.

And interesting, with the guns and drugs and coins and such.

I took the back seat out of an old Ford LTD or Cutlass I had once, and found a time capsule, too.

But not so much of note in the coin department. Mostly plastic kiddie hair barrettes, fossilized French fries, and Barbie doll shoes and accessories. Stuff like that. Plus some serious hairballs and dustbunnies.

One time I rented a U-Haul truck which had a distinctly gamey and unpleasant odor. So much so that I started looking under the seats. I was dreading the discovery of someone's escaped (and later deceased) pet hamster, but it was a Taco Bell bag with a smushed bean burrito in it, wrapper and all.

segoja

Where was that car bought? I had a friend of mine that cut the top off an early Mustang in the mid 80's to try to make a convertible. Minor issue, the car sagged and the doors wouldn't open.

AngryTurtle

<< <i>auto archaeology/numismatology. Cool hobby! >>



Sounds like the next reality show!

Jinx86

Nice! All that my 51 Chevy Fleetline yielded was a 1943 Merc Dime and 1955 Washington Quarter. And a box of .22 shells that fell in the dash.

Jeb

I have to cry a little with another 1965 gone as I have a 1965 Mustang Convertible that is a nice driver. I've done a lot of work on it but it isn't a show car. I can't wait for the warm weather and the snow to be gone here in NY.

Tomthecoinguy

I was doing an antique show one time, and an Amish man came to me and was telling me about finding a Columbian half in an old buggy. I thought that was pretty cool, too bad it was such a common coin.

AUandAG

I never even think about money in old cars....Daughter bought a used car and then a week later had a flat tire.
When she pulled the spare out of the trunk there were 5 Benjamins underneath it!

I sold a car with a batch of valid, unclaimed, lotto tickets in the glove box. Turns out that that weeks lotto
had hit for 1.3 million but nobody ever claimed the prize. Wonder to this day if I had the tickets and blew
being an instant millionaire.

bob

thebeav

That's a good story.
Interesting set of statistics too !

Wabbit2313

Great story. Too bad the car wasn't from 1865!!

ricko

Great story.... I have come across old cars in the woods here .... but usually avoid them because yellowjackets often nest in them... might have to bring some bee spray this summer and check them out.. Cheers, RickO

shorecoll

LordM...think of the toners you could have made with that burrito!

kevinstang

Cut up a few Mustangs and other Fords in my day as well. Best haul was 4 silver quarters in one under back seat- damn rust up here in NY eats most of the floors away and coins fall out. Usually found some weed or cigarettes in the defroster ducts or heater box. Never got any $100 bills or guns.

Timbuk3

Neat !!! :-)