I do miss spending some time detecting at the parks, but I can't pass up the opportunities for old coins and gold rings that shallow water detecting can also offer, like what I picked up during this early morning's hunt.
There were no gold rings this time, but I did find an old sterling silver ring, twelve silver coins - six quarters and six dimes, plus several old nickels, wheat cents, and an air corps bracelet.
The quarters are dated 1909-O, 192?, 1926, 1930, 1935, and 1941. It was great seeing three Standing Liberty quarters emerge from the water, two with full dates, but the best quarter is the scarce 1909-O Barber. Only 712,000 were minted.
Here is the 1909-0 Barber quarter after removing most of the heavy sulfide using the baking soda and aluminum foil trick. I was careful to leave some of the tarnish intact, which still gives it the desired 'aged' look. The quarter had been lodged between a small and large rock, so it took some effort prying it out of there while balancing in neck deep water. Unfortunately the contact marks across the face appear to have been caused during this effort. Out of the 119 silver coins I have pulled out of this lake it had to happen to this one. She is still a beauty though!
The dimes are all mercs, dated 1937, 1937-D, 1941, 1942, 1942, and 1944.
I love how well the nickels hold up while in the water. They are dated 1911, 1915-S, 1916-S, 1929, 1938-D, and 1943-P. The 1915-S nickel is also a scarce date coin.
This is a neat sterling silver ring, and it screams old.
This 12k gold filled air corps bracelet is a neat find too. The back is engraved with To Helen from Jerry.
The rest of the finds, a junk ring, pendants, and wheat cents.
HH!