Flintlock mechanism, circa 1750-1840; 1917 Type A Lady Liberty Quarter
While detecting a local creek for the first time, I found this surprising old flintlock mechanism likely dating from approximately 1750-1840. The signal from my detector was showing iron, which generally means trash, but I dug it anyway out of curiosity. As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it was, even in its corroded state . . . which just goes to show that it pays to dig, even when you think the target is just going to be trash.
I brought it home and gently cleaned the loose rust with a small wire brush. Then I ran it through an electrolysis bath, which is a method of removing rust by submerging the rusty metal in an electrolyte solution and passing a small electrical charge from a battery charger (or battery) through the rusty metal to cause an exchange of ions, which flakes off the rust and draws it to the anodes. After 24 hours or so, I took the mechanism out, washed it off well, and immersed it in a hot paraffin bath, which removes any excess water that could cause further deterioration.
In 1822, the percussion cap rifle was invented to replace the inefficiencies of the flintlock, especially the fact that it didn’t perform reliably in wet weather. Percussion cap rifles became popular in the 1840’s, widely replacing flintlocks. Rather than buying new rifles, many men learned to replace the flintlock mechanism with the new percussion mechanism on their existing rifles. Since the stock, barrel, and trigger were not found in the same location, I believe this may have been a switched-out mechanism that was discarded. Whatever happened, it’s a really cool find, and one of my favorite display pieces.
I found this rare Type I Standing Liberty Quarter at a nearby park in September 2018. I knew it was a nice quarter, but didn’t know its significance until I got home and read about it in my Red Book.
This quarter is unique because the original design, which was first minted in 1916, displayed a bare-breasted Lady Liberty. This partial nudity offended many, and the design was quickly restyled in mid-1917 to show her clothed in a coat of mail. At the same time, the reverse was redesigned to show the stars in a new configuration of five each on the right and left of the eagle, and three below. This was a representation of the original 13 colonies, and replaced the original design of seven stars to the left of the eagle and six to the right. The placement of stars on the reverse is the easiest way to tell if the coin is Type I or Type II because the front is often too worn to tell the difference between styles.
If this had been a 1916 coin, it would have been worth thousands of dollars, especially in this condition, because only 52,000 were minted! I would definitely have to place this find in the top 10 of my coin finds.
So cool! Really interesting post, can't wait to read more!