Some thoughts about the old coins we find....

A farmer I spoke with in a rural area told me he expected I'd find very little nearby. Back then, he said, a coin was a big deal.

But we all know how easy it is lose something if we drop it in grass or loose soil - even if we see it fall. They didn't have asphalt out there back then...even now!


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Don’t forget that the dominant forms of transportation got spooked, required more care, and required breaks to eat/drink. A common form of injury was due to horses, which would definitely be a way to lose coins.

People didn’t always carry swim suits and didn’t have public restrooms either. People also walked a lot more from place to place. They also had to gather firewood and collect water. They had less clothing and therefore had more wear and tear on their clothing. They also repaired clothing rather than throwing it away.

Overall, I feel like there were more opportunities to lose coins and way more coins in circulation since paper money wasn’t the dominant form of payment until the early 1900’s.

-D

I have thought about this a lot. I am surprised in the mid to late 1800's they even carried coins in their pockets when working say on a farm or around the house/cabin. I always figured they would keep it in a jar or something until they went to town. I also would think a change purse would have been the ticket for holes in the pockets. Kind of like the equivalent of a billfold today.

At certain places like very old large homes where the people obviously had to have money to live in these large homes I can see finding coins. On farms and around cabins it blows my mind you can even find coins. My two oldest coins a seated dime and a two cent piece were found where there must of been a cabin because a cistern was very near where I found them. They were within twenty to thirty yards distance apart, but maybe at best ten yards left to right. I was flabbergasted that whoever lost them was so careless.