Unusual Barber Dime

Silversmith45

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May 15, 2009
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10,730
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Wichita, Kansas
This past week-end a friend of mine and i hunted a sidewalk tear out in a small town. (He knows the mayor) We found several coins and I believe the only one newer than 1900 was a Mercury. It was strange because in my over forty years of detecting I have never seen coins come out of the ground in such poor shape. I found two Indian Heads that were hard to make out the dates even after cleaning them as much as I could. I believe one was an 1888 and the other was an 1892. The one that I really found strange was an 1897 Barber. Even after cleaning it, it still doesn't look like silver. I also found a dime sized coin so worn that both sides were smooth. Has anyone else found silver coins that looked like this. All of the ones that I have found before looked like they had been lost the day before.
Barber.jpg
 
Try rubbing that Barber with water and baking soda. Congrats on the old finds.
 
sidewalk demo's can be a curse or a blessing to the shape of the old coins: A "curse" if the exact placement of the coin kept it perpetually trapped in moisture (since the sidewalk "cap" keeps it perpetually moist, or next to a pipe, etc...). Or conversely a blessing if the exact placement had been a perpetual dry spot, then the sidewalk "cap" keeps it from ever getting rain/wet.

The same phenomenon can be seen in park hunting: a coin next to a sprinkler greener part of the lawn will be in different shape than a coin that was in a part of the turf that is perpetually dry. So "cacoon" preservations can be either good or bad depending on moisture content of the exact spot.
 
I found a Liberty Half once the same way, it was ate-up and pitted. It came from dirt that looked like coal, and the coin was black as well.

I had to use electrolysis on it to even attempt to get a date off it. I'd posted it a week or so ago on some older finds, and was surprised no one commented on its poor condition.

IMG_20170814_103126.jpg
 
Is it possible those old coins were exposed to fire or high temps?
 
Might be the result of a soil compactor pressing sand/grit into the surface of the coin, plus the corrosive chemical action of the cement mix, as well as possible salt water seeping into the soil from melting ice.

GC-C-WNC-VibratoryPlateCompactor20-large-1-a.jpg
 
Might be the result of a soil compactor pressing sand/grit into the surface of the coin, plus the corrosive chemical action of the cement mix, as well as possible salt water seeping into the soil from melting ice.

GC-C-WNC-VibratoryPlateCompactor20-large-1-a.jpg


Ya stole my thunder CJ! Salt being applied to sidewalks and subsequently seeping into and eating the coins...as stated also....fertilizer will eat the living you know what out of coppers of ANY kind. Fire ain't good either...

I've got a super smooth 1883 seated dime...the front is BARELY legible in a few spots including most of the date,the back is BARE for 90% of it.
 
You know, I wonder, I to have found some coins that are just odd colors or unusually pitted, coated etc. There's a phenomena called galvanic reaction. Something along the lines of two dissimilar metals, close to each other, in an electrically conductive environment. Like salt, wet lime (concrete) etc will generate a slight electrical current. Similar to how a battery works.
So picture this, a silver or copper coin is buried under concrete near re bar or some other metallic substance, even a mineral rich soil. The soil is constantly bathed in salt and water, kept damp and the reaction begins. Basically electrolysis. Granted it's a weak electrolysis but over a long time it could explain some of the weird coins we find. Even those odd balls we find in soil. Depending on the PH and make up of that soil. Add in fertilizers, agricultural lime etc and who knows.
 
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