So, I pull out this coin from about 5-6" deep, it's silver, yay! Ok, what the heck is it... I see what looks like a 106? It's bigger than a dime, thicker too with nice strong reeding on the edge... maybe one of those Philippines 10 centavos? No, wait, maybe it's a Barber dime? No, too big. Philippines... no, keep looking at it... Holy freaking crap, it's a BUST DIME in AWESOME condition!
I walk back to the car, gingerly place it on a soft towel I had in the trunk, try to calm my nerves and head back to detecting. Tried to stay focused, but did not find much else, a few modern coins. So, I come home, praying the whole way that I didn't hit this coin with the digger. I gently rinse it under the faucet and pat it dry. Turns out to be my oldest and best coin after 19 years detecting, an 1833 bust dime in awesome condition.
On a side note, there are at least 10 different dies/types for 1833 dimes. The book that identifies these types is Early United States Dimes 1796-1837, by the John Reich Collectors Society and these types are generally referred to by their "JR" number. A member of the John Reich Collectors Society was kind enough to look at my photos and identified this dime as JR-9 which has a rarity level of 2, so while not a rare type, it's still great to have this information.