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Posted 09/30/2019 01:19 am
Hi all. Thanks for having me as a member. I saw this post a few years back and between work and life in general this is the first chance I've had to join up and put in my Two Cents... well actually my one silver dollar. This was found by a friend of mine who, along with his wife ran a coffee house/metal detector shop in Devils Lake North Dakota. He just passed a couple of months back so this means even more to me now than it did originally and that's saying a lot.
He showed this to me years back on one of our trips over. My wife and I wanted to open a coffee shop and were still in the research stage. But as I'm also a detectorist and coin collector we hit it off and he shared his massive collection with me. This was one of those coins.
It's an 1884 S Morgan silver dollar which was found at the North Dakota School for the Deaf in Devils Lake ND which was founded on March 15, 1890. They used to hold shooting exhibitions on the grounds there back in those days. Sure enough this one was shot and never recovered. They searched for years, sadly in vain for the actual bullet that may have hit the coin. But the same day the coin was recovered and well within shooting distance from it they found the cartridge. It's marked on the end .45 Colt WRA Co. and after some research I believe it looks like the complete one I've shown in the pics.
As you see, definitely indented by the hit but did not go through. It's sad that they couldn't find the bullet and now that he's gone I don't know the exact area to even try hunting for it myself. That would have been the final part of the set. But the time period is defnitely correct... 1890 to early 1900's which is when the shooting exhibitions would have taken place. So here, at least, is one of the "old west bullet hole (well intented) silver dollars. Here's hoping some more will turn up over time.
Dan
He showed this to me years back on one of our trips over. My wife and I wanted to open a coffee shop and were still in the research stage. But as I'm also a detectorist and coin collector we hit it off and he shared his massive collection with me. This was one of those coins.
It's an 1884 S Morgan silver dollar which was found at the North Dakota School for the Deaf in Devils Lake ND which was founded on March 15, 1890. They used to hold shooting exhibitions on the grounds there back in those days. Sure enough this one was shot and never recovered. They searched for years, sadly in vain for the actual bullet that may have hit the coin. But the same day the coin was recovered and well within shooting distance from it they found the cartridge. It's marked on the end .45 Colt WRA Co. and after some research I believe it looks like the complete one I've shown in the pics.
As you see, definitely indented by the hit but did not go through. It's sad that they couldn't find the bullet and now that he's gone I don't know the exact area to even try hunting for it myself. That would have been the final part of the set. But the time period is defnitely correct... 1890 to early 1900's which is when the shooting exhibitions would have taken place. So here, at least, is one of the "old west bullet hole (well intented) silver dollars. Here's hoping some more will turn up over time.
Dan
to the Community!
Glad y'all enjoyed the post. My friend who found this was getting ready to take it to his local coin dealer to turn it in for the silver value along with a bunch of others. Just happened to be there at the right time. I just couldn't see it get thrown into the melting pot or even a cull coin box and lose it's history... especially since it's part of the history of North Dakota. All history is important... sadly it can't all be saved. At least I could do my bit with this one. Plus now that he's passed on it's a reminder of him and brings back many pleasant memories. I had the honor of detecting with him. My brother was up for a visit and went too. It was his first time detecting and he found a piece from one of the early covered wagons that used to go through this part of the country and were used on ranches and such. It was the best find of the day and he treasures it and the time we spent that day.
