Old home site find today

[fwcrawford]

My buddy and I went to a couple of sites today and got a few goodies.
The first site we tried was an old church site that was built around 1909 and had been hunted by others a few years ago.
My buddy found a 1920 merc. dime and I found a 1910 wheatie.... Lots of trash to pick through and we will go back with smaller coils next time.
After lunch we walked back to an old home site and hunted the rest of the afternoon.
The ground had been cleared recently and the top layer of dirt was pushed around a bit.
I found an 1832 capped bust dime( my oldest silver coin so far ) and new penny along with some harmonica reeds and pieces of iron including the hammer in the photo.
My buddy found a nice axe head and some bottle spouts that look quite old.. too bad they were broken.
Can anyone give me an approximate date on the axe head or the hammer? I have never found one that looked like this one.
I would guess the home site dates back well into the 1800's, but may date even further back.
That old coin really perked us up and it was found about an hour before we called it a day, but we are planning on going back and hunt it closer next time.
Thanks for looking,
Felix

 

[Percy]

Nice pictures and a great write up - enjoyed it
and hope you get a date on the axe and hammmer
head from someone !

 

[waltship]

Send a picture to your state historical society to see if they may be able to approx mate the date.

 

[Hugh Pharted]

nice finds y'all...Maybe I can go w/ next time....

 

[RelicDigger1]

Very nice finds. The capped dime has a story behind it in itself.

True or not, I've never pursued it beyond a few tech articles. But the marks on the obverse and reverse aren't simply detractors from a nice coin. The theory is that during an age of easily counterfeited coinage, traders and businessmen would "cut" the coin to verify its silver content.

I'm guessing with that many marks it would have at least once been in a major trading post or city. This is also supported by the wear on the capped Lady Liberty. Those aren't simply random marks defacing of the coin. It's similar to today's convenience store clerks marking your $20 bill with the counterfeit pen.

Very neat piece.

Richard

 

[fwcrawford]

Thanks for the info. relicdigger!!!
That definitely adds to the the value of the find as far as I am concerned.
I didn't think about that when trying to figure out how the marks got there.
By the number of marks on the coin, it must have changed hands many times
and must have been much suspicion about it being authentic.
Thanks again,
Felix

 

[RelicDigger1]

I have a couple of coins with one or two marks, Felix, that I thought were simply someone defacing the coin. But then I read in several numismatic articles of the cut marks to check authenticity.

Like yourself, I feel these coins certainly have more character than without. Sure, we'd all like to find a nearly uncirculated flowing hair or something. But if we don't, then the marks, to me, tell a bit more of the story!

Congrats again.

Richard

 

[johnreb1980]

n/t

 

[jimjimmyjames]

If I was a vendor, I would want a full coin that wasn't shaved. The weight of the silver was where the value was and those little divots could add up if you were a penny-pincher(pun not intended). If my memory serves me right, it was a common practice for people to shave the edges off of coins to save the small weights of solver and gold for themselves. That practice is what lead to the reeded edge being added to coins. The reeded edge would let merchants know that the coins edges had been shaved and therefore the coin would weigh less.