Grounders or Coins from the Dirt

A coin unearthed is called a grounder.

This cent has been "flooded" with green corrosion.
Thick debris has snagged amidst the stars and date with
a washed out area in front of the face, running to the rim.

   It possesses a certain charm. Unfortunately, this charm is obscured by our biases. If a grounder is placed in your hand at a coin club meeting, you are apt to perfunctorily examine it and pretend to be interested. After all, it is important to be polite. But after this practiced display of prosocial behavior, you quickly hand the coin back having barely given it the study it deserved.
   Too bad (for you) that you allowed the Angel of Numismatic Correctness to crush your natural inclination to be curious. An old coin is always interesting. And the fact that someone else set it aside is also interesting.
   A coin from the ground is special. Just ask an archeologist. A dug coin is worth a shovels-up celebration every time. So let's hear it: "Shovels up!"
   Too often, we inhibit our raw curiosity. Too much GABA? Too many coin experts? Too afraid to confront the unknown?
   But if you did actually look at the battered and corroded coin that was placed in your palm, you would see that grounders can stimulate our imagination in unexpected ways. Corroded metal conjures up all sorts of images.
   The corrugated fields remind you of a flood plain. Hollowed out trenches stretching to the rims, swallowing stars and letters -- this is cool. And clumps of green stuff cling to whatever landmarks remain.
   Yes, it was a flood!
   Your brain goes into over-drive trying to figure it out. Is there a pattern to the corrosion and decay. Did the waters flow this way, or that?
   Suffice to say, corrosion is the hallmark of a grounder. A coin lost in the soil is on a direct path to ruin. The earth eats coins and the people that made them. Electrons are spewing out in all directions.
   This is a saga that strikes the root of our fascination with old coins. Namely, we are enamored with objects that have outlived our forefathers (and mothers). This is why we trek out to see the ruins.
   Necromancers always take the time to study grounders -- it is our wont.