A unique, rare, and.....UTTERLY WORTHLESS coin find! :)

[sgoss66]

Well, I was out hunting last night, and I dug a coin that I will probably never dig again; one that I've never seen anyone dig before. I'm sure it has happened, but it's RARE. The only problem is, this find is COMPLETELY WORTHLESS, from a dollar-value perspective. The only "worth" it has is the story that goes with it.

So, I'm hunting along, and I got a somewhat crappy, not consistent, but occasionally good-sounding tone last night...suggestive of a wheat penny or possibly silver dime at about 6" deep. So, I cut a plug, and popped it out. I stuck the Pro-Pointer into the hole, and it started beeping, but as I was doing that, I saw what appeared to be a wheat cent in the loose dirt at the base of the plug I just popped. Realizing then that this is probably what I heard, but also knowing that there was another target in the hole, as announced by the Pro-Pointer, I left the wheatie in the plug alone for a minute, instead going after the other target. Shortly thereafter, I popped out the second target, and had a look. Well, it was a round disk, exactly the size and shape of a penny, but it was completely TOASTED. It almost looked like thick rust on the faces of the coin; I could see one section of "rim," and it looked almost certainly like a penny...

Confused, I removed the other coin lying in the plug, and it was a '37 wheatie, in decent shape. So, why the other penny-sized coin was in such horrible shape, having been directly adjacent to the other one, I couldn't figure.

Then, it dawned on me. I waved the other "penny" over the coil, and got a dead "null" in my threshold. Running IM-22 as in Bryce's settings, that told me it was definitely "iron," OR.....STEEL!!! It was a 1943 STEEL wheat cent! What's cool about it is, there's NO WAY I dig that target, if it is not part of a "pocket spill." And, the fact that my machine was able to detect the OTHER wheat cent, in that hole, adjacent to the nulling steel cent, was pretty cool as well. I'm not like Bryce, in that I don't always dig my coins from holes filled with nails...but maybe I'm LEARNING!

Anyway, just thought I'd share. I'd add a picture, but it would qualify as the most UGLY coin ever posted here...

Steve

 

[samuel_schumaker]

I figure thats the only way i will ever find one, if its in the hole with another coin. Good job

 

[MikeO]

Interesting Steve.
The plus side is no you can say you have dug a Steel Cent.

 

[Hotcz70]

we find the coolest stuff by part skill and part luck.

In your case it just might have been all skill...you just never know...and that's what makes is even better.

 

[dewcon4414]

I picked up one of those last month .... on the beach of all places. Why? Because i was using and playing with a PI. Makes you wonder how many we leave there. Good find.

 

[Dave-IL]

That is a cool find.

 

[bugg]

running a mini pro, the detector had minimal disc. Small iron and small foil only. As the discrimination got better on the detectors, steel cents get disc'ed out.

 

[MNCoinhunter]

I have yet to find a "steelie" ... and likely won't unless it is also in a coin spill. Makes you wonder how many have been passed over ..

 

[Gold Nuggets]

The only '43 steel cent I have dug that was in good enough shape to read the date Steve,
was sandwiched between 2 other wheat cents. And like you, I was listening to a really wierd
tone from the SE Pro and decided to dig it anyway. Nice find.