Father's Day Antique Store Finds

For Father's Day, my brother and I took our father to his favorite Texas BBQ joint, City Market in Luling, Texas.Whenever we go to Luling, we also always go to a little antique store to look around. We have bought vinyls, Pyrex bowls, furniture, and other odds and ends there in past. This time, I took a dig through the coins.

I bought two foreign coins:

1907-D Germany - 1/2 mark


This coin was minted in Germany before WWI, when the Mark was actually worth something. How cool is that? It is also in pretty good condition. The internet tells me the mint mark "D" is for Munich. This coin is 90% silver and weighs 2.77 grams. I paid three bucks for it, which is only about 50 cents more than the melt value, but I managed to find the same coin in similar condition on ebay and it sold for twenty bucks!
EBAY Listing

1909 Ottoman Empire - 40 para (a subunit of the Ottoman currency)


I just liked the way this coin looked. I didn't know where it was from or how old it was, but I thought it was from either Egypt or Turkey. I got it for a buck. I was very happy when I got home to do some research and it turned out to be from 1909! It is made of nickel.

And now for the American coins I bought:

1945-S Jefferson "War" Nickel - 5 cents


Many people don't realize that Jefferson nickels from 1942-1945 were actually 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese. The nickel from the original 75% copper, 25% nickel composition was taken out for the war effort. 35% silver isn't much, but a Jefferson "War" Nickel is always worth at least the melt value of the silver, which as of this writing is $1.61. I paid two bucks for this "War" nickel, because it still has some of the shine that is usually worn away in circulation.

1976-S (Proof) Kennedy Bicentennial half-dollar - 50 cents


This coin is a real beauty. As you may know, after 1964, coins meant for circulation no longer contained any silver. However, the US Mint sells what they call "proof sets" directly to anyone interested. The coins in these sets are mint condition and sealed. Generally, coins in the proof sets were not made of silver until 1992, when they started issuing both silver and non-silver proof sets. However, in 1976, they made silver proof sets. This coin is the silver half dollar from one of those proof sets! It is 40% silver, meaning melt is around $4.25, but this coin carries a premium since it is from a proof set. I got it for five bucks, but I see a ton going on ebay for eight or more. Score!

1877 Seated Liberty Dime - 10 cents


Yes, this is a coin. Yes, it has seen MUCH better days. BUT, this 1877 Seated Liberty Dime is now the oldest coin in my collection. It is ugly, I know, but was a steal at a buck. It is 90% silver.

So I paid a total of $12.00 for these five coins. I think I made off pretty well, and added some nice coins to my collection!

Don't Stop Digging!
Krakken

Lee Elementary, Visit #1

So the desire to find silver has driven me to try older schools further away from my own neighborhood. My next visit took me to Robert E. Lee Elementary.


Lee Elementary was built in the 1930s but has had many additions since then. There is a field that has been practically untouched by construction, but my lack of finding anything there leads me to believe the back of the school had been hit by metal detectors in the past. Lucky for me, the front of the school hadn't been detected lately.

Here is episode #3 of my video blog, which covers my time at Lee Elementary:


Unfortunately, I am still skunked on silver coins. Here are my clad totals:



I am very happy with that dollar amount. I was really surprised I pulled 83 pennies; I was picking them out of that gravel so fast they all kind of blurred together.

Thanks for reading and watching!

Don't Stop Digging!
Krakken

Ridgetop Elementary, Visit #1

This past weekend was very muddy but I had an itch to do some metal detecting. I decided to hunt what we metal detectors call "totlots". "Totlots" are essentially the areas around playgrounds or swing sets or any other structure that has gravel, sand, or woodchips on the ground. Hunting these areas make for easier digging and item recovery after heavy rains. While you may not get many old items, you recover items faster and holes are a gazillion times easier to fill neatly.

This is an aerial view of Ridgetop Elementary in Austin. Ridgetop was built in the 1930s and is about five minutes from my house.


The grounds themselves are likely to produce older items, but for the most part I focused on the "totlots" due to all the mud.

Let me tell you, this was the first time I ever hunted a gravel playground, and it was EASY. I didn't have to worry about making a mess, cutting through roots, or making it look like I was never there. I dig as much as I want, then I just push the gravel back in the hole. It was just too simple.

I did manage to get off of the playground and onto some of the sidewalks, so all of these finds are either from the gravel or from some of the sidewalk areas.


This toy NFL ring about made me have a heart attack. When I dug it out of the playground, for a split second I thought it was a gold class ring. Unfortunately, it is likely brass or pot metal. The gold colored finish is already tarnished on the other side.


This cool little copper colored crown pin still has the backing on it. Kinda weird, since it means it was not being worn when it was dropped.


These little religious charms were found about two feet apart from each other in the gravel. They are tiny - about half the size of a dime. I was surprised that my F2 with the stock coil pinpointed them so well.

Here are my finds:


This was a day of many highs and firsts: Not only was this the most dimes I had ever found in one hunt, but this was also the most jewelry I had ever found. Lastly, the 1992 50 Centavo piece from Mexico is the first foreign coin I have found.

I am very happy with my trip to the "totlots" at Ridgeview Elementary and plan on revisiting the grounds as soon as the ground is drier! Still hunting those silver coins!

Don't Stop Digging!
Krakken