A truly historical coin roll find

mountainman 2

Bronze Member
Aug 9, 2006
1,927
783
Extreme Northern NJ
Detector(s) used
whites classic sl,whites surfmaster,garrett ATX,minelab vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello everyone. I made a truly unique find today out of a box of cents. Only a few rolls in, i pulled a coin that caught my eye immediately. I saw three letters spread out in a triangle pattern and at 1st glance thought it was some type of modern token. Turned it over to see that it was anything but modern, it was a high grade 1909 wheat cent. The reverse was modified by some hand tooling method. The 3 letters had me stumped, what could they stand for?
Near the end of my workshift. I show it to a coworker. Suddenly he sees something i didn't notice all night. I'm certain he is correct about the letters meaning. I can only imagine a WW1 soldier taking the time to carve this and carry it with him into battle. It looks like it was in a bezel at one time and was carried as a symbol of hope. I felt a connection with that soldier of 100 years ago through his message on that single coin. 100 years later, we're still seeking it.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN4953.JPG
    DSCN4953.JPG
    26.8 KB · Views: 899
  • DSCN4950.JPG
    DSCN4950.JPG
    27.2 KB · Views: 880
Upvote 0

kingskid1611

Gold Member
Feb 23, 2015
8,135
6,681
Oklahoma
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That is really neat. I would have to have kept it myself. It amazes me that it was still being passed around in change. Congrats!
 

Twitch

Silver Member
Feb 1, 2010
2,877
2,333
Missouri
First off, really a cool find. Second, I'll bite, what do you think the WPC stands for? Very neat either way.
 

OP
OP
mountainman 2

mountainman 2

Bronze Member
Aug 9, 2006
1,927
783
Extreme Northern NJ
Detector(s) used
whites classic sl,whites surfmaster,garrett ATX,minelab vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very cool find!
Maybe his initials?
That's the 1st thing i was thinking until my friend pointed out that the W could have been the abbreviation for World and The P and C standing for Peace.
 

Molewacker

Bronze Member
Feb 9, 2015
1,537
2,552
Yacolt WA
Detector(s) used
EQ 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Nice find! Someone took their time detailing the back -
 

OP
OP
mountainman 2

mountainman 2

Bronze Member
Aug 9, 2006
1,927
783
Extreme Northern NJ
Detector(s) used
whites classic sl,whites surfmaster,garrett ATX,minelab vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Just an added note, the lines separating the letters could represent the peace symbol, or a broken rifle at that period of time.
 

CincinnatiKid

Bronze Member
Nov 5, 2013
2,079
1,220
Cincinnati Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Garrett ProPointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
What if the "carving" was done much later than date of coin?
This will be a tuff one...
Great find.
Peace ✌
 

Chizzy

Bronze Member
Feb 11, 2015
1,968
3,144
North Central PA
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Compadre, Tesoro Vaquero, Garrett Pro-Pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very unique find..........one of a kind...........
Doesn't show much wear, so it must not have been in circulation until recently.............
 

S

stefen

Guest
WAG...Would probably be categorized as a 'Love Token', possibly from WWI...:thumbsup:
 

OP
OP
mountainman 2

mountainman 2

Bronze Member
Aug 9, 2006
1,927
783
Extreme Northern NJ
Detector(s) used
whites classic sl,whites surfmaster,garrett ATX,minelab vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very unique find..........one of a kind...........
Doesn't show much wear, so it must not have been in circulation until recently.............

There is at least one feature that leads me to believe that the coin was only a few years old when it was engraved. There is a small area of original mint luster on the obverse. I'm thinking that it was mounted in a bezel and that is where it made direct contact with the coin. Then, recently, someone broke it out of it's bezel and spent it. IMO, of course. Thanks for looking and commenting everyone. Once in a while, something comes up in this hobby that's totally unexpected.
 

OP
OP
mountainman 2

mountainman 2

Bronze Member
Aug 9, 2006
1,927
783
Extreme Northern NJ
Detector(s) used
whites classic sl,whites surfmaster,garrett ATX,minelab vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I believe WPC stands for Women's Peace Crusade, a British feminist socialist pacifist movement in the early 20th century.
Google it

That is another possibility. Did this movement spread to the United States?
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top