I was in New Orleans last week and stopped by to tour the museum in the old US Mint. Although I find a lot of old coins detecting I am not really a coin collector. Most of what I know about coins I have learned from a friend who is a collector and here on the forum. I am a big history buff and go to many museums, and I have to say I really enjoyed this self guided tour. If you get the chance I would highly recommend visiting this museum. Here's just a very small sample of what I saw there.
Minelab Equinox 600 & Whites Coinmaster, Garrett Propointer, Lesche Digger
Oldest silver: 1853 Half-dime & 1876S Seated Quarter / Oldest coin: 1849 US Large Cent / 1854 Upper Canada One Penny Bank Token
That's a cool trip! Funny how the coins are just mounted any which way, and many of those half dimes are in such worn condition.
Equipment:
Minelab: CTX 3030, GPX 4800, X-Terra 705. Whites TDI SL.
2024: Silver 1, Gold 0
Best finds: 28 silver dime spill, 1800s Dutch customs seal.
Oldest/best coins: Late 1700's Chinese Cash Coin, 1837 Upper Canada large cent, 1877 Seated Dime
Oldest Relic find: 1800 Sailors Luck token
You Tube: Rediscovering America
Quote: Treasures are like potato chips, you can never have just one!
Very interesting read. I have only found one coin in 22 years of detecting from the New Orleans mint. It is my only Half Dime, an 1856-0.
XP Deus
Great post! I found one of those 1838-O half dimes with no stars in a cornfield here in Illinois. Only 70,000 were minted before they got the telegram from the Philadelphia mint telling them to stop because the coin had been redesigned (with stars)!
Oldest Coin: 100-60 BC Gallic bronze coin (Sequani Tribe)
Oldest Silver Coin: 1156 hammered Pfennig from (now) Bavaria
Oldest U.S. coin: 1805 Draped Bust Large Cent
Best Coins EVER: 1625 4 Sols from Kingdom of Chateau Renaud, France
1662 15 Kreuzers, Leopold I, Austria
Best Relics: Bronze Age Arrowheads & Spearhead, 2c Roman silver ring, complete medieval knight's spur (x6)
YouTube Channel: Full Metal Digger
That would be a cool place to visit for sure. I have been fortunate to find 4 coins with O mint marks...1839 O Seated dime, 1840 O Seated Quarter, 1896 O Barber Quarter and 1899 O Barber dime.
Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
Favorite finds I have made:
1,000+ silver coins
92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
My wife (probably should have started with that one)
That's a great peek into the past. The more you know, the better.
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