Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Kennedy Half Dollar |
Pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters are common finds. Not so common are half dollars. People don't carry them much anymore. In fact, one local store clerk didn't want to take a half dollar coin I offered him in payment. On the other hand, there is one store that gives a lot of Kennedy half dollars in change. I get the feeling one of the owners or managers must search rolls for silver.
Anyhow, it is always nice to find a half dollar coin, especially one that has a little age and has some silver content.
Franklin Half Dollar.
I decided to pull out a few half dollars today.
I've been meaning to check conductivity numbers for some silver coins but haven't done that yet.
Among the half dollar coins, I suppose the Kennedy halves would be the most common finds.
You might not find too many Franklins though.
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| Franklin Half Dollar. |
Of course, they vary in condition. One of the problems with metal detecting beaches, is the number of coins that are in poor or very poor condition. Salt water is especially damaging.
You can find coins in fresh water that have a very dark patina but have a near perfect surface. The silver coins I found in the freshwater lakes of Minnesota, for example, were discolored but otherwise fine. They had a dark gun-metal blue patina, but the surface of the coin showed virtually no corrosion. You can find old silver coins still in very nice condition and much newer coins in very poor condition.
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| Walking Liberty Half. |
I plan to do metal detector test on a variety of silver coins to check the conductivity numbers.
I recommend the loose-leaf coin holder books. They are very nice. I wouldn't use them for the finest coins, but for most dug coins, they are great.
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| Coins in Holders. |
You can label and organize them, and inspect them, in many cases without removing them from the slots.
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Yesterday it warmed up enough for the butterflies to come out. They were scarce few the colder days, but yesterday my wife and I released about ten that recently emerged their chrysalis.
Most were zebra longwings, but also a fritillary and a swallowtail was released. The Zebra Longwing is Florida's state butterfly and my favorite.
Below is one that was probably just a couple hours out of the chrysalis.
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| Newly Emerged Zebra Longwing Butterfly. |
It is amazing to see them emerge from the eggs, grow from microscopic caterpillars to inches long, create a chrysalis and then emerge as a butterfly days or weeks later.
During warm weather it takes a Zebra eight days to change from a caterpillar to a butterfly, but during less favorable weather it takes them much longer. We had one swallowtail butterfly that remained in the chrysalis (in diapause) four months before emerging as a butterfly yesterday.
Butterflys only lay eggs on specific plants. The Zebra and Fritillary lay on corky-stem passion flowers plants. The Swallowtails lay on citrus trees, and the Monarchs lay on milkweed.
They are amazing creatures. I tell you this to remind you to enjoy the nature around you when metal detecting.
It was metal detecting that got me interested in butterflies. I told you before about how that happened.
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| Source: MagicSeaWeed.com. |
Nothing new exciting, but at least there will be some surf.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net