Hello Fatty (and Scar Face too)! :thumbup:

[Erik]

Went down to the ol' park I've been hunting and decided to take some time to clean out ALL targets from an area so that I can come back with my WOT and try to get deeper. This park has shown signs of good stuff mixed in and I believe it's deep.

Anyway, I got a junk hit and dug a pulltab and then a second similar hit very close to it. I dug to remove the junk, and out popped my first fatty IH cent!! Since I'd never found one before, I had no idea they hit so low. This one was quite corroded and gave a slightly warbly sound making me think it was junk. Unfortunately the date has been obliterated - any tricks on restoring the date on these?

Dug a LOT of junk today and managed to clear out a 10' x 10' area - tiring work so I'll have to do more as time permits.

Another junky signal yielded this very nice lead Railroad Cargo Tag (same # 221 as the last one I dug last week) and this one says NJ & NY on the back too!

As I was just about to quit for the evening I got a deep hit that I thought might be a wheatie or IH (as this park seems to have more IHs so far than wheats). Out popped a silver disc to my surprise! Three young ladies were watching me from the gazebo nearby and shouted "What did you find?"

I showed them the silver dime and chatted for a few minutes - could only see the wreath on the back as the front was dirty and I didn't want to clean it there for fear of scratching it.

Upon washing it off at home it's a 1916 Barber dime in EF condition, that is, if the face weren't scratched! I didn't do it as the face was dirty upon retrieval, but you can see that it had some sort of accident probably back in '16. Aside from that it's in really nice shape - full liberty and sharp details - very little wear. A shame, but I'll take it anyhow.

Thanks for looking!

 

[alfano]

n/t

 

[mj-air23]

How do you get your scans to come out so clear and sharp?? Nice finds anyway.

 

[Erik]

Hi, I just bought a new scanner - Epson 4490 w/ ICE technology. It's a pretty good scanner for the money and I think it's a pretty new one. Thanks for your comments on my finds!

 

[Erik]

n/t

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

Too bad about the scratch. I have one 1900 in about the same shape but also scratched. But it was done by me.

Not much to do about the fatty. They are more or less the same composition as nickels. I've tumbled some (what do you have to loose?) and have had varying results. They do hit low down in the pull tab area and aren't often dug because of that.

Chris

 

[James N.D.]

I knew if you worked any of that park using the technique that you used, that you would start making some nice finds. Congrat's on that Indian Head FATTY and yes, it is a shame that Barber Dime was scratched so many years ago but it still is Barber and that says it all. If you could, can you run that FATTY across the detector in digital and see what it hits? Would like to know on a freshly dug one so I can look for them as well in a few old parks around my area. Good Luck and HH and keep raking in those great finds Erik!

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

That barber is puuurty!

 

[Erik]

Hi Chris,

Last night I was thinking about putting it in my polisher (a vibratory tumbler). I originally bought the unit to polish old parts from pinball machines - it does a wonderful job!! It uses crushed walnut shells as the polishing media - I just add a little Flitz polishing stuff and run it for a couple of days. We'll see what happens. Re the signal, yes, I would ordinarily never have dug it as it definitely sounded like junk.

The silver dime should polish up real nice too - should make it look like a proof dime...I figure since it's scratched, polishing it won't really affect the value (if it has any that is). I've polished clad quarters and they come out so nice it's unbelievable.

 

[Erik]

Thanks for your nice comments James. I have it sitting in olive oil right now, but for you I'll remove it and run it under my X-1 (or would you rather have me run it under the main coil?) for a digital reading. It was in the pulltab range and a little warbly, probably due to the corrosion on it (the face had a lot of debris stuck to it - I had to remove it with a brass brush). I was sure it was the tail to that pulltab ring I'd just dug very close to it and it was not that terribly deep. No one was more surprised that I was when I saw a chunky little coin pop out. What years did they make the fatty IH cents?

 

[Erik]

n/t

 

[Bill W.]

that does s*ck about the dime. Those fatty IHs do hit quite low. Now, you can air test it and know exactly what one hits like.

-Bill

 

[Erik]

It'll be interesting to re-scan that coin as no telling how many I have pass up in the past - probably not too many as they are Civil War era, right??? Do you have the date range in which they were manufactured? I was just thrilled to find a fatty - have seen them posted here, but they were another coin that'd eluded me.

Re the scratch, yes, it would have been a gorgeous coin without it, but what can you do? Still nice to be able to admire it again after spending 90 years under the ground.

BTW, those are cool pics in your avatar - are you into astronomy. I got a pretty big scope for Xmas a few years back, but haven't really had a chance to use it yet - looking forward to enjoying it.

 

[Eddie in Poulsbo]

Congratulations on your finds Erik.......... That barber dime is beautiful except for the scar.....( Makes you mad when you put a scratch on a nice coin like that. I'm sure we all have done it at least once. Still, nice finds......... HH.

Eddie

 

[Erik]

Hi Eddie, Thanks........re the scratch - although I have scratched a coin or two - I'm pretty certain that this damage was done back in 1916. The face of the coin was still covered with dirt when I pulled it out of the ground (I could only see the wreath on the back) - had I hit it I would have seen the silver scar immediately through the dirt. Also when I got home and gave the coin a quick rinse under water there were still remnants of dirt IN the scar. Additionally, I was digging with my Lesche and had I hit the coin, the scar would not have looked the way it does (it's too fine for being hit with a shovel blade). Lastly, there's additional damage above the eye that could not have been caused by me.

 

[jb]

Congratulations on some neat finds and especially the little Indian, Nice looking Barber also, who says perseverance doesn't pay off. All it takes is a little time and removal of trash targets.

 

[Erik]

Thanks JB! I'll have to go back and continue removing all targets - hopefully will find a few more interesting things in there. My ultimate goal is to be able to get deeper down with the WOT or something. Seems to me there's got to be some good stuff down there deep.

Regards, Erik

 

[Eddie in Poulsbo]

Sorry Erik........... I assumed that you put the scratch in her. My appologies......... I don't have my coin book at work, but I'm sure that was the last year they made barber dimes. Might have been worth something if not for that scratch. HH.

Eddie

 

[Erik]

No problem Eddie. When I first saw the scratch, I thought "Oh, my God -- what did I do :sad:," but upon closer inspection I realized that I couldn't have done it....either way, it's a shame , but what are you gonna do? I was just happy to see silver as I didn't really expect it at this point. Regards, Erik

 

[Bill W.]

Fatty IHs were made from 1859-1864. Two types of IHs were made in 1864. Fatty's and 'regular' IHs were both made. Flying Eagles (1856-185 also come up similar to a fatty IH. The come up close to alot of square tabs ... at least in my area.

Yes, I am into astronomy and astrophotography. My astro web page is at

http://webpages.charter.net/paastroman/

Pictures of my observatory and scope are at

http://www.pbase.com/bellwoodmder/skunk_hollow_observatory

Glad you like the avatar...

-Bill