Please share your stories on any coins you have found. For instance, tearing down a old house, in old furniture, in an old car, or even metal detecting.
I was in West Virginia during summer break from college about 10 years ago doing a service project. We were tearing down an old house so they could build a new one there. I found two 1918 wheat pennies in the process. I gave one to another person working on the project and kept one. I don't think the home had an owner so there was no one to give it to. More recently, I was walking to the train from my job in Chicago, and I found a Norwegian 5 kronur coin on the sidewalk. I find money on the street all the time, but that was a very unusual coin to find in that location.
Found a 1917 cent under a large elm tree in my backyard in my old house with my metal detector, found 6-7 wheats all total under that tree - the 1917 was the earliest though.
Think of the stories, was a little boy sitting down there in 1935, and that was the money he had in his pocket, it fell out, and he could not find it? You just don't know, I love things like this
While voluteering, I found a 1916 Mercury dime (no D mint mark though ) cleaning out an old church basement. I was 10 at the time and was allowed to keep it if I swapped it for a dime out of my pocket. Still have it. :smile TC
I lost a franklin half years ago in a street gutter. One day someone shall find a probably now corroded piece of silver. About 3 months ago I found a 1944 wheat cent next to a newspaper machine.
I found a $1 cheque while walking through the Mirage's poker room. Also, found a $100 bill while walking through the MGM.
I found 2 wheat "pennies" on the top shelf of my new house when I was 7. They were from the '40s, but that got me hooked on coin collecting... (BTW: I hate wheat "pennies" now, but they'll always have a special place in my heart)
Nice try, however, perhaps I should have used the word chip (instead of cheque), but chip is not the technically correct term. Also, I do live in Nevada. PS Before becoming an attorney, I worked in the dark rooms with all the monitors looking for counters and cheats.
A few, however, it is not all excitement all of the time. When I did it, we still used VHS machines and every shift we spent a couple hours changing out and rewinding hundreds of tapes. PS Sorry, Detecto, no more off topic comments.
I don't mind. I found it interesting actually. I won't bore you with all the stuff I found metal detecting. The only time I find something was: 1. I found a $20 laying on the floor of my classroom. I pocketed it, thinking someone else would. No one ever said it was missing. So I spent it. I figured if I asked "did anyone loose a $20?" a dozen hands would be in the air. 2. I found some silver Canadian coins in a dresser at an auction once. I asked the gal who bought it if she wanted to sell them, she actually gave them to me for helping her load the dresser in her van.
That is cool. What went around came back around into your pocket. I l may be a softy, but I like stories like your and the dime in the church story.
What do you do to counters? It isn't illegal if they are using their head. Guess they just want to make sure nobody wins. Counters only have a slight edge anyhow and if it was so easy, everyone would do it. I know this isn't coin related, I was just wondering.
My great grandma was digging around in some dirt in front of her house to plant crops, and she found a metal pipe. And inside was a 20 dollar gold piece, a couple bust half dimes in perfect shape, and some large cents. The was a hotel there at one time,until it burned down. Bad thing is she sold the 20 dollar gold piece a long time ago, and doesn't know where she put the other coins.
Ok, only because it appears Detecto doesn't mind. You are correct in that counting is not illegal, however, if a casino catches you, or even suspects, counting, you will be kindly escorted off property. You are also right in that it is not easy. Working alone, even should you get the cards in your favor, you can still lose. The best method is the group method pioneered by the MIT group. This is because you have a counter at 4-6 tables (betting $10-$25 per bet) like running your own casino within the casino as I like to think. When a table turns favorable, your big player comes along and puts the big money down ($500-$1,000 per hand) hoping to catch the black jack (this is where the player really gets paid - 1 1/2 times bet). When the table turns cold, the big player leaves and waits for the next hot table. When I say hot, I mean favorable count for the player (more high cards - 10, J, Q, K, A compared to low cards). Again, counting is not easy for many reasons (another discussion for later), but should you ever do this alone or as a team, the best times to do it are when big events are in town, especially fights because everyone (including surveillance) are very busy, usually catering to the high rollers.