I dug a 1896 Barber quarter today.....

I was at a local zoo, which is the oldest zoo in the Southwest. I really wasn't into hunting today because the ground is still a bit hard, but decided to hunt a spot I haven't tried before until today. I got a good repeatable hit at 6" and the numbers where jumping a little, I got a little sloppy because all I was digging was clad. Of all the coins to hit today I swear I can see a s mark, but, it's tarnished pretty bad and I don't want to clean it. I can't get a good picture with my Canon to accent the mint mark. All opinions are welcome.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2016 11:49PM by Dan(NM).

That is awesome.....

Bucket lister for sure. Nice save!

I think I see what you are seeing. Have you done a water rinse? You are going to have to have it checked if it might be a s mint. I dug one a couple year's ago out of a old fairgrounds up in Mn and found out there were counterfeit 96 s's around. Mine, according to three coin dealers, is legit. Good luck, that is a pretty special recovery. HH jim tn

Always sucks when you sign a nice coin, but still it's a nice find!

Get it cleaned up so we can see if it has a mint mark

Dan,
Don't take this as me attempting to rain on your parade, in the least. I am also definitely not a professional grader, etc, but I do actually collect Barber quarters and have looked through my books and samples on that particular coin again tonight. David Lawrence' book shows the position and type of the "S" mark of the only two die pairs for the 1896-s and the position of the 1 and 8 numbers in relation to the below denticles for those two die pairs.

The first die pair has the 1 directly centered above its denticle and the 8 is over the left side of its denticle. The first die pair also has the mintmark centered but HIGH between the R and D on the reverse....your coin does not appear to match either aspect of the first pair.

The second die pair has the 1 centered over the right side of the denticle below, and the 8 almost centered over its denticle, which yours appears to be. This second die pair is what your coin looks like to me.

The second die pair mintmark is also centered between the R and D on the reverse, but the very bottom edge of the mintmark should line up almost exactly if you drew a line from the top edge of the R to the top edge of the D.

This is what concerns me. If that darkish line which appears to be a tail of an S is indeed part of the mintmark, it looks too low and not quite centered like my pictures and my 1896-s. If that dark line was actually the tail of the mintmark that was moved down just a bit due to damage, that might explain it, though.

Since the coin though has suffered a LOT of physical damage way before your shovel got it, it can be that some of the silver of the mintmark has been moved like other parts...like the eagle's wing tip which has on the E in United...that has been shifted down quite a bit due to some sort of damage.

It sure LOOKS like a worn out, beat up S, and could definitely be labeled as such, but I would be careful to sell it as such, since they get such a premium, even in that condition.

If you ever do try to have it graded let us know the results, please, for sure !

Rod-PA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dan,
> Don't take this as me attempting to rain on your
> parade, in the least. I am also definitely not a
> professional grader, etc, but I do actually
> collect Barber quarters and have looked through my
> books and samples on that particular coin again
> tonight. David Lawrence' book shows the position
> and type of the "S" mark of the only two die pairs
> for the 1896-s and the position of the 1 and 8
> numbers in relation to the below denticles for
> those two die pairs.
>
> The first die pair has the 1 directly centered
> above its denticle and the 8 is over the left side
> of its denticle. The first die pair also has the
> mintmark centered but HIGH between the R and D on
> the reverse....your coin does not appear to match
> either aspect of the first pair.
>
> The second die pair has the 1 centered over the
> right side of the denticle below, and the 8
> almost centered over its denticle, which yours
> appears to be. This second die pair is what your
> coin looks like to me.
>
> The second die pair mintmark is also centered
> between the R and D on the reverse, but the very
> bottom edge of the mintmark should line up almost
> exactly if you drew a line from the top edge of
> the R to the top edge of the D.
>
> This is what concerns me. If that darkish line
> which appears to be a tail of an S is indeed part
> of the mintmark, it looks too low and not quite
> centered like my pictures and my 1896-s. If that
> dark line was actually the tail of the mintmark
> that was moved down just a bit due to damage, that
> might explain it, though.
>
> Since the coin though has suffered a LOT of
> physical damage way before your shovel got it, it
> can be that some of the silver of the mintmark has
> been moved like other parts...like the eagle's
> wing tip which has on the E in United...that has
> been shifted down quite a bit due to some sort of
> damage.
>
> It sure LOOKS like a worn out, beat up S, and
> could definitely be labeled as such, but I would
> be careful to sell it as such, since they get such
> a premium, even in that condition.
>
> If you ever do try to have it graded let us know
> the results, please, for sure !


Hey Rod, no problem, after getting a higher grade magnifier, I'm having my doubts due to the location of the blob or mint mark ??? I'm beginning to think it is an 1896 plain date Barber. Also, after closer examination, there is tarnish in the groove on the face side of the coin. I'm thinking I didn't whack it as bad as I previously thought.

I want to know how in the world you got permission to detect in the zoo?!!

shoveler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I want to know how in the world you got permission
> to detect in the zoo?!!


There aren't any laws or restrictions on metal detecting on or in any city properties here, yet I haven't seen a single other person hunting in the last 2 years.

Dan(NM) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> shoveler Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I want to know how in the world you got
> permission
> > to detect in the zoo?!!
>
>
> There aren't any laws or restrictions on metal
> detecting on or in any city properties here, yet
> I haven't seen a single other person hunting
> in the last 2 years.

Nice Quarter. Haven't dug one of those in awhile.