Coin Find Stories Contest

[2centsal]

Over the years I've read some really great stories of people finding Coins or Currency in cases of doing Renovations, buying antiques and finding currency taped to the bottom of a desk drawer or receiving old Coins at a store thinking they were a foreign coin and many other stories. The Coin story at a Convenience store was an unusual one. A cashier gave a guy his change back and found out one of the so called pennies was actually a Flying Eagle Cent. The cashier thought it was a Canadien Coin and gave it to the Customer. I used to work at Home Depot a long time ago and worked on a Cash Register when I was hurt. I was amazed at how many Wheat Back and Silver Coins and old Currency I got from Customers . Of course I traded the Coins and Currency with regular Coins and Currency with permission of course.
The story can be Metal Detected related also. I love MD'ing stories !


If you have an outstanding story, please tell us about it. The best story will win a Prize !! A Nice 1960D/D Penny and NO it's not a Doubled Die. Worth about $7 on Ebay you Pay . :l Two Great stories and You'll win a BONUS : A Mercury Dime , a year of my choice.

I prefer a personal story if you have one. Also, the Contest is for member only with at least 10 posts. I'll run the Contest until next Friday and I'll pick my favorite.
Take Care. Sal

[Daniel]

I am going to start off with a story of my own, but not for a prize, since I am the admin and acting referee of these contest.

My dad called me up about a small coin collection he purchased and I went to visit and go through it with him. As he we were looking through the coins I saw a small weaved basket with coins, costume jewelry, and empty coin holders. Dad say me looking at it and he said it was just a bunch of junk the seller added in. I decided to go through it anyway.

In this junk basket I found 2 authentic and 1 fake 1914-D Lincoln Cents, and two 1931-S Lincoln Cents and several teen date Wheats. I didn't see any junk as the person who sold it claimed, there where useful coin holders and some costume jewelry worth a couple dollars a piece. I guess the dust was the only junk and maybe that ugly wood basket. lol

[sidingguy]

When I was in Jr. High School I worked in the Student Store for awhile...I mostly just sold candy bars and one kid handed me an unusual 50 cent piece (50 cent pieces were commonly spent in those days)...It was an 1893 Columbian half dollar...being a coin collector I immediately exchanged it for another of my own and I still have it to this day...It had been circulated several times judging from its condition, but a prize never the less.

[sidingguy]

When I was in Jr. High School I worked in the Student Store for awhile...I mostly just sold candy bars and one kid handed me an unusual 50 cent piece (50 cent pieces were commonly spent in those days)...It was an 1893 Columbian half dollar...being a coin collector I immediately exchanged it for another of my own and I still have it to this day...It had been circulated several times judging from its condition, but a prize never the less.

[dipper13]

I walk into a WAWA(convenience store like 7-11) and there is a young clerk there. It is early as I am going fishing and need my morning tea. The person ahead of me is kind of arguing with the clerk. The clerk tells him that he only takes American money. I look and I see a handful of Walking liberty and Franklin halves, seven of them. " These are not real money, I cannot take them." The guy says look this is Ben Franklin, a famous American.
The clerk says he will get fired if he takes bad money. I tell the customer that I will exchange him money for these. The guy says ok. I told him how about 10 bucks, you ok with that? He says, sure thanks a lot, that is nice of you! I walk out with my tea, the halves and a big smile. It is great to be at the right place at the right time. My conscience did not bother me, he was trying to spend them dollar for dollar, so he got more than he expected. The coins were well worn except for one, a 1955 BUGS BUNNY that graded MS63.!! Dan

[Paul]

1995. North Shore of Chicago.
I owned/operated a custom remodeling kitchen & bath company. A small time operation, just me & 6 employees. This was a complete gut/remodel kitchen project. During the gut, I found 5 Morgan Dollars down under the base cabinets. I gave these to Mr. Homeowner. He was ecstatic. Locations such as these, did not permit ‘dumpsters’ in the fancy, cramped, UP-SCALE neighborhoods. Upon this type of job completion, the guys used my crummiest panel van to ‘haul off’ all the debris. The following morning was ‘police up’ time, clean out/straighten up/re-organize ALL the work trucks. This was not their favorite job. Of course, I always had to go back over them the following day & vacuum them out. To my surprise, I found a 1852 Three Cent Silver, & a 1857 Flying Eagle Cent laying in the truck. They must have been coins trapped in a drawer crevice. As I was/am a FE collector, I was very happy. I scooped them up, & placed them in MY TRUCK CONSOLE. I was thinking to include them with my standard ‘Thank You’ note I sent customers a week after the job was completed. Naturally, I received a call from the ‘plumbing supply’ company regarding this homeowner’s $8600 un-paid bill. Knowing this was going to be just another big waste of my time, I DID NOT include them in the ‘thank you’ note. A few weeks pasted, & they made it into my office center desk drawer. It was not until several weeks later, while on the phone with a VERY LONG WINDED prospective customer, & I was looking through the accumulation of crap in the small partitions of my center desk drawer, when I pulled them out to look at them under a loupe. OH MY! Here is THAT EXACT COIN!

[2centsal]

:greatfind: Everyone ! Keep the Stories coming . I can't believe I haven't heard a Metal Detecting story yet though. I may have to tell my own. LOL.

[mhonzell]

In Illinois, you must obtain a state permit to conduct metal detection on public grounds and they will almost never give a permit. So, those of us who detect our long ago coins buried within the dirt must ask homeowners for permission to traverse their property. You never ask if you can dig, because that gets an immediate "No". And, you never suggest that you'll share what you find, because greed comes to the forefront of the owner's mind when they think there must be riches to be had just below the surface. If you skip these two topics, most people will wave their hand and say "Go ahead." Then, you never see them again. It is a truly deceptive hobby.

Alas, one day I found myself sweeping the grounds about a fallen barn on some farm land when the metal detector let out its ominous screech that something had been found. Mostly I was finding nuts and bolts from farm equipment. But, in this instance, I had poked the ground with my gardening spade and hit something semi-solid. A wooden box that was mostly eaten through by the local bug life. Inside was my treasure... 81 Indian Head Cents. None were in good shape as the ravages of rain, dirt and bug debris had destroyed most of them. The few that were identifiable were all in the "common" range dates of 1885 through 1902. I put the coins in my cloth baggie with a location marker, reburied the box and tamped the ground. As I started to sweep again, I immediately got another squelch. I figured I missed a coin in the box.

I dug the box up again, but it was empty. It did not even have a metal hasp or hinge. I swept again with the box out of the ground and came to realize there was something outside of the box still in the ground. Eventually, I found two more Indian Head Cents that must have fallen out of the box. An 1878 cent that was in bad shape, and an 1877 cent that was in fairly good shape. After cleaning it up, it turned out to be my best metal detecting find ever.

A few days later, I sent this coin in to authenticate it and was rewarded by ANACS a "grade" of F15 Details.

I've posted the picture before:

[Paul]

VERY
:greatfind:
Paul-Fushsh say: "Even blind squirrel find nut now 'n again"

[2centsal]

I want to Thank the 4 Contestants for their GREAT stories . Since there are only 4 stories, I'm giving away a PRIZE to each Contestant.

Here are the Winners in order and Prize Won :


1st Place - PAULH1 ( 1960D/D Lincoln Cent ) :trophy:

2nd Place was a Tie - dipper13( 1941 Beautifully Toned Nickel in MS ) and sidingguy ( 1962D Washington Quarter ) :yourock:

3rd Place - mhonzell ( 1930 Buffalo Nickel ) :thumbsup:

Thanks Again and Congrat's all !

[Daniel]

Thanks Sal, great contest and very generous of you. Congrats to everyone who get's a prize!

[mhonzell]

Wow! I actually won something! (I never win anything.) You could put me in a room full of cases of Coca-cola with the "1 in 6" chance of winning a free soda under the lid and I wouldn't find a single one.
Thanks 2centsal!

Just a follow-up note:
Someone asked me why I reburied the box...
When metal detecting, you have to dig up your treasures. Usually, it's just a plug of soil that you fit right back in the hole you made. In this case, it was a small box. Likely a cigar box. Since I was on someone else's property, I reburied the box so that I wouldn't leave a small sinkhole in the ground. It's a good policy and keeps the farmer's from chasing you with a shotgun.

I was also asked about the 1878 cent I found since typically, they are worth a bit more than the common coin...
The 1878 cent was badly corroded and pitted. Even after cleaning the coin, I could only make out a couple of feathers and the "78" on the obverse. That was enough to identify it, but not a keeper. Apparently, the 1877 was in just the right spot to keep it from being so badly damaged.

[Paul]

TY Sal,....must be 'karma'....goofy, but raffels, drawings, so on,....the 'blind luck things', have always been good to me. WHY?? People used to 'rub their tickets' on me for 'good luck'!

[sidingguy]

Sal it was fun to read the 4 stories here....they were all great stories...no wonder it was hard to choose which one is first place...I am almost envious of mhonzell's find of that 1877 IHC...it is one of the only 2 I need to complete my collection...the other being the 1909-S...and I don't count the 1856 FEC as a necessary one to complete my collection...my album doesn't even have a space for one...and I probably would never put out the funds necessary to obtain one anyway...
Thanks for a great contest and it is nice to win one once in awhile too...
Dennis

[dipper13]

Sal, My prize came this morning! Thanks for the generous prize and a great contest!! Dan

[mhonzell]

Sal,

Thank you so much for the wonderful prizes! This is my first Buffalo nickel (in my collection of coins.)