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May 06, 2013, 10:23 PM
#1
A RARE 1787 CONNECTICUT HALFPENNY IN INCREDIBLE SHAPE!!!
This Victorian-era property I have been working this past weekend in my town has turned out to be a Colonial oasis. I have found many several Colonial firsts on this property which has been a real surprise and I believe is due to the remains of an old mill which is in the area. I will save those items for future posts, but wanted to share this incredible Connecticut halfpenny, which based on the decorator used in the die makes it rare or very rare coin to boot. It displayed on my Explorer SE Pro like a silver quarter, probably because it's in such good shape. Large coppers in northern NJ rarely if ever come out of the ground looking like this! I am also excited because it is my first colonial State copper in over twelve years of detecting. I have not nailed down the exact variety and have included photos and scans, neither of which really do the coin any justice. It is stuck off center and the date in cut in half, but due to the few years in which this coin was minted it must be a 1787 and there were over 200 varieties of this coin in that year! Please also note the die crack which goes through the letters "AUCT". This copper is the "Draped Bust" variety. Also note the very interesting look of the eye.
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May 06, 2013, 10:29 PM
#2
Darn nice coin, I bet you were smiling from ear to ear when you found it, thanks for sharing.
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May 06, 2013, 10:35 PM
#3
Man Eric that's in really great shape the ground has been kind to it. Very nice.congratulations buddy.Awesome
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May 06, 2013, 10:38 PM
#4
 Originally Posted by Brian C.
Darn nice coin, I bet you were smiling from ear to ear when you found it, thanks for sharing.
Hi Brian, I didn't know what it was in the field as it was green and dirty...I didn't want to damage it and didn't recognize what I saw. I thought perhaps it was a KG. When I got home I drycleaned it in warm peroxide and very carefully restored it to the best of my ability. Once I realized what I had and saw the detail on the coin I was sure smiling from ear to ear for quite a while. In determining today that it's one of the rarer varieties of this coin I was smiling even more -- I'm thinking this coin is something I should have slabbed. Thanks for your post!
Last edited by Erik in NJ; May 06, 2013 at 11:00 PM.
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May 06, 2013, 10:53 PM
#5
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May 06, 2013, 10:57 PM
#6
So many old sites to hunt....so little time.
That's an absolutely beautiful coin! Awesome!
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May 06, 2013, 11:09 PM
#7
Great coin Eric!
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May 06, 2013, 11:11 PM
#8
 Originally Posted by Evolution
That's an absolutely beautiful coin! Awesome! 
Thanks brother! Looking forward to nailing down the exact variety of this one. Book is on the way! There are so many varieties of the 1787, but that makes it even more interesting!
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May 06, 2013, 11:18 PM
#9
 Originally Posted by JohnnyMac
Great coin Eric! 
Thanks Johnny--you being in NJ know how rough our soil can be on old copper. How this one survived in this condition after 225 years in the ground is a minor miracle! I found a KG III today on the same property today that was toasted!
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May 07, 2013, 06:02 AM
#10
Beautiful Connecticut! A word of warning though, some of the varieties are very difficult to attribute. Sometimes it is just the slightest variation in the location of a punctuation mark that makes a difference. While yours has plenty of detail to attribute, it sometimes takes a practiced eye to tell the difference between varieties. Good luck!
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May 07, 2013, 07:24 AM
#11
Very very nice Connecticut copper! Congrats.
If it sounds good, Dig It 
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May 07, 2013, 07:29 AM
#12
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May 07, 2013, 07:34 AM
#13
 CASPER
Motto = "I try to hit where others cant or others wont "
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May 07, 2013, 07:42 AM
#14
Great shape that copper is in, congrats on the find as they don't come out of the ground much better than that!
How do other copper/brass items look from the site as the soils were really kind to the coin?
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May 07, 2013, 08:15 AM
#15
That is a very nice CT copper, URS-7 R, R-5 I believe which is still rare at this time, but rare in CT coppers is rather subjective, since many varieties are rare or even rarer, but still in that condition, it would be hard to top finding another one in the ground in that great of shape.
It is a 1787 Miller 37.2-k.5 variety. I hope someone else who has a book on Conn coppers can verify, but I am rather certain that is it....
Last edited by Don in SJ; May 07, 2013 at 08:38 AM.
Reason: should be k.5 not k-5
"The mantra has always been don't clean a (copper) coin or it will lose value.
For undug coins this is true. For dug coins this is untrue.
The value will increase with judicious cleaning."
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