I took Maurice down to Riverside park again today at lunch. I decided to return to an area that appears was a pond at one time. The earliest aerial photo I can find, from 1938, shows that the pond was already dry by then. Anyway, I’ve found a few old coins along the erstwhile bank so I thought I would try again.
Not too long into the hunt, I got a deep squeak and I decided it was worth digging. Around the eight inch mark I pulled this, my fiftieth silver coin of the year.
It’s another 1899 Barber dime with no mint mark (which means it was minted in Philadelphia). Two things to note here: The coin was laying against rusted iron and the coin was at one time, exposed to water for a considerable time. I thus deduce that this coin was dropped when there was water in the pond. Brilliant, I know.
Before I covered the hole, I scanned it with the pinpointer and I got another hit! Unfortunately, it was a piece of ancient barbed wire (I think) and possibly the piece of rusted iron the dime rested next to.
I did a cursorily cleaning on the coin and this is the best I can do for now:
After my mandatory 30 minutes, I called the hunt done:
The half round object near gave me a stroke. It was at the bottom of a 9 inch deep hole and I thought for sure I had a large cent! Alas, it is a piece of a very old pocket watch. It is decorated (it is cool how long ago we even decorated pieces that were not meant to be seen) and the holes and pits you see is where this piece fit with the other parts of the watch. The wheat cent is a 1944 and the square nail is the millionth square nail I have found in our city parks. I will never know for sure why there are soooo many square nails in our city parks.
Now, I only need to find another 50 silver coins between today and New Year’s to meet my goal of 100 silver coins for the year.
Thank you for looking!
The Dirt Is Good To Me 
Brilliant indeed! Congratulations on the big fifty!
Thanks man. That park just keeps on giving