A few weeks ago on my birthday, I took the day off from work to have a mental health day and just enjoy metal detecting. My buddy and I started off at a park that had an old school on it but it turned out to be a dud so we decided to head over to another park where we've found several interesting stuff in the past from silver coins to old relics. The ground was great since it just rained a couple of days ago but the mosquitoes were horrible. We certainly endured multiple bites everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Little did I know though that I'll be forgetting all the mosquitoes feasting on us when I dug this rolled up piece of gold. At first, I had no idea what it was since it was filled and caked with dirt. We both cleaned it up and eventually, the letters "ATES OF" showed up, and that stopped me on my tracks. One side appears to have been sanded down and scratched up hence I didn't think it was a gold coin. It came up as a 5 on my Equinox at around 8" (45.7cm). I don't usually dig those number unless they are that deep and this time, I got extremely lucky.
It may be holed, rolled and beat up but it is my first gold coin and found on my birthday! I decided to slowly unroll it to see the design on the obverse and it still looked beautiful despite being trashed like that. What I love about this piece are the stories it can tell which will always remain a mystery.
