New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

greetings all,
i'm over the moon,
don't get me wrong.
WOO-HOO.

again,
(my reaction this time, not as quick as it sounds though...)
-agh, a one dollar coin?
-no, it's a bit wider?
-why is that monarch facing to the left?
-oh shit.
AAA-AAA.

i'd love to say it was 18-inches deep, but it wasn't.

what i can't fathom is that it was in the middle of at least twenty
pre-decimal coins from, at the earliest, the 1940's.
it had a face value of 20 shillings (old = one pound) in those days.
a lot of money. (wages=need to look it up)
i guess paper notes spelled the end of the sovereign, some time in the fifties.
some numismatic weirdness, where did the sovereign go after decimal change-over?
your thoughts would be most welcome.

mickey.
(photos next post, if i can figure the upload)

Edited by user Monday, 16 December 2013 11:33:37 PM(UTC)  | Reason: it's late

1-blurry phone camera
2-micro
3-micro

Edited by user Tuesday, 17 December 2013 12:24:30 PM(UTC)  | Reason: attach files experiment

Congrats! The coin of a metal detectorists wet dream..... :)

I found a 1958 one and was similarly puzzled about their use. Here's what I've worked out so far:

They stopped being legal tender in 1967 when we went decimal but their use faded out early last century because the gold value was greater then their accepted "face" value. For example imagine using one in a shop and having to negotiate with the shop keeper the gold value. Notes of course never had this problem. But they were commonly used in the 1800's especially for paying off loans on land etc. In WWII they were carried by airmen so that if they crashed landed in enemy territory they had a form of currency to use to make their way home.

Even though mine doesn't have any markings of being mounted I now think it was used as a part of some sort of jewelry like a pendant. Yours could have been the same which would explain the age of the surrounding targets.

Now stop holding and looking at it and put it into a coin case before you wear it out! :)

Congratulations!!!!!!. What a great advert for the new detectors.

That, RIGHT THERE, is the proof that gold is a form of currency, and one that is better than the various fiat ones floating around right now. Gold value is suffering because of manipulation of very powerful people, but once they run out of puff the true value will be restored, so HOARD IF YOU CAN.

To say I am green with envy would be an understatement… great find!

thanks for all the comments. much appreciated.
after fumbling around with cameras all day,
i thought i'd try it on the scanner, a cracker.
i think you're definitely right Shilo, no holder markings here either,
but it must have been some sort of pendant/necklace from the 50's.
i see now i may have dinged the horse in the flank with me trowel (?)
good luck and happy hunting.

Edited by user Saturday, 21 December 2013 11:38:34 AM(UTC)  | Reason: jpg

What a coin,was that a blurry camera or a bad case of the shakes haha.....congrats well deserved