A little silver and a little gold

Found a men's 10k gold ring and a 1920 Mercury dime today. I have allways read about detectorists hearing those faint "whispers" in their headphones. I allways wanted to know exactly what that sounded like. Well, toady I heard that "whisper"!

I was swinging my coil and heard a faint, unsmeard, solid tone, $ on the meter. Got a four way and a depth of 6". I dug a 10" round plug 6" deep. Removed and swept the plug, nothing. Swept the hole nothing. Stuck my 8" coil 1" down the hole and pinpointed, got a real loud sound. I looked into the hold and saw a dime sized target dead center, it was about the same color as the dirt. I picked up the target and it looked to me a clad dime due to its tarnished color. I rubbed one side of the coin a bit to see, and recognized the bundle of sticks and vines one sees on the back of a Mercury!

The silver dime was remarkably tarnished. You would never recognize this as a silver dime do to it's color. I took it home and washed it under some water and rubbed the coin so gently, still very tarnished.

I am guessing the chemicals in the lawn must of got to the dime and discolred it. Maybe due to its tarnished surface was the reason I did not get a loud beep? I was very happy with the find! I also removed my Fisher coil cover before the hunt today, just because. Now a coil cover will not ever go back on my CZ 3D agian!

I know there are some who use coil covers, I ALLWAYS did. You take the thickness of the coil cover and it's area, and I bet you are loosing a good 1/8" + of depth. I know it sounds insignificant. But todays find(Mercury)with the faint wisper, and the 2" of grass, I bet I would of missed it with a coil cover on.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2009 12:18AM by coinhunter.

Use about a 2-ounce bottle. Fill it 1/3 full with regular household salt. Then fill the bottle about 3/4 full with water. Shake the bottle VERY well. Let it sit overnight. Shake the bottle again. There should be slightly too much salt in the bottle for it to be all soluated into solution. Keep this bottle for future re-use.

Now, take your tarnished Mercury dime and drop it into the bottle of saltwater.
Acquire a piece of regular household aluminum foil..... about 3" x 3" square. You will notice there exists a shiney side and a dull/brushed side. Use the shiney side. Place 2 drops of saltwater in the center of the foil. Remove the wet dime from the saltwater and place it on the 2 drops of wet saltwater.... and immediately fold the dime up ... in this 3" x 3" sheet of aluminum foil. Squeeze it very tight just once.... then immediately let go of the mass. Set it down on a surface that is not metal. Have a clean/used/old sock ... or old cotton T-shirt ready. After the dime has spent 2 minutes in the foil,,,,, remove it and IMMEDIATELY wipe it off with the sock/T-shirt. Do NOT let the dime sit in open air (oxygen) for any length of time...... or the silver oxide will re-harden back on the coin...... and becomes nearly impossible to remove.

....... While the dime is in the aluminum foil; you should notice 3 things:

1. It should get quite hot.
2. It should mildly fizzle/crackle whilst inside the foil.
3. You shold smell a strong sulfer odor.

You may need to do this two or three times with your silver coins..... as your learning curve comes up to speed. The silver coin must be clean of any dirt before you perform this operation.

Tom