Fused Coins

Wanted to share something unique/unusual I experienced yesterday. At the very end of a fun hunt in the backyard of a home built in 1938, I got one last signal. As I put the caked object in my pocket, I initially thought it was part of a pocketwatch, or maybe a brooch of some kind. After getting some crud off of it at home, what I had was a 16mm coin "welded" to the face of a 25mm coin. I'm just starting my 11th season of coin rescuing, and I have never come across this scenario before. Now, what are the coins?? After cleaning, researching, and more cleaning for about an hour this morning, I was shocked to find that, despite the age of the house and the location (Buffalo, N.Y.), the small coin is a Swiss 1 Rappen coin from sometime between 1850-1941 (the reverse that I can see is very similar to an IH), and the large coin is an English Halfpenny from 1868 - not my oldest coin, but among my oldest. Both are firsts for me. I remembered NASA Tom's article on the home page involving this scenario, so I'm not sure of the rarity of this, but I had definitely never experienced it firsthand. My double coin combo does not appear to have magnetic property, but maybe a stronger magnet would bring something to light. Was wondering who else has come across this "fused" situation.

Yes I've dug a few fused coins in my time..

They corroded together..

Copper coins will fuse in soil when touching especially stacked style..

Never found any silver fused ..Yet I think they will in salt water.

the

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Also have dug fused coins in most cases clad..However I did dig a Kennedy 64 silver half and a common nickel fused. In the case of saltwater silver.. no silver to silver but some rust in between..

Keep them fused together. Makes for a wonderful showpiece. I have 3 Wheats and 1 Indian all fused together.

Dug 2 wheat heads fused with one IH.

Another place dug 3 wheats fused with one IH..figured some children playing in the front yard dirt buried.

One of my fused specimens definitely fused moreso than the other.

I wish I would have left both as they were,,, but in both cases the IH coin was hidden.

And curiosity got the best of me.

Tom & TNS, it's funny that you two replied in that manner - for the record, I plan on keeping them as a fused pair. However, I am very much a date driven hunter, and it KILLS me that I can't see the obverse of a coin that is fused to a coin with an 1860's date on it (I only find 2-3 19th century coins per season). To add insult to injury, on yesterday's outing, I freed 3 buffalo nickels - only one of which has a discernible date. %$#%$#!! This is probably why I'm not a relic hunter - I need a date stamped on every target. It also occurred to me that if I could pry the coins apart successfully, I still may not get a date off of the Swiss coin due to corrosion, or I would, and it would be 1941. Tom, your 4 fused coins - it would drive me nuts not knowing if that was the 1877 IH I've been waiting for...............

One of my wheat's could be a 1909 S VDB........... and yes...... the Indian could be a 1877. It is a mystery/risk that I take....... by keeping them all fused together for a show-piece.