ANOTHER 1600S COIN, CHARLES II HALFPENNY!

[coinman123]

Update: After some cleaning I IDed it as a 1696 William III Halfpenny
I went to a place where I have found countless colonial era buttons, some large coppers, shoe buckles (including a silver monogramed shoe buckle), musket balls, and other various colonial relics. Today I went there and noticed some of the ground in the parking lot was frozen. Once I got into the woods I then noticed that the ground was perfect there, apparently the leaves insulated the ground which kept it from freezing. I started metal detecting and one of my first targets was a blank flat button. After that I ended up finding some shotgun shells, some pieces of iron that showed up really good on my metal detector and then faded away into iron as a dug (not shown in photos), at least one of the pieces of iron turned out to be an ox shoe. I than found a beautiful gilded flat button with an ornate design. I continued finding junk and shotguns (many shotgun shells not pictured) until I dug a large copper coin, I knew it was most likely colonial because I could not see a big wreath on the back which indicates it's a large cent. I continued metal detecting and ended up find more junk before I left. When I got home I was able to ID it as a King Charles II Halfpenny based on it's unique Britannia.

In the photos you can not see as much detail as you can in hand, such as the "BRI" in Britannia, and the OIVS in Carloivs.
New photos after cleaning in olive oil for only a few hours:




Thanks for Looking, Coinman123

 

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[Ahab8]

Very nice Coinman! 17th century coins in the states are a tough find. You've nailed some early ones. That early silver is somewhere out there

 

[Westfront]

A really good place to hunt! Congrats!

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[ironhorse]

Seems like the oldies are just spilling out of the ground these days!

When you're finding them that old you are getting back there in time a pretty good ways, not many show up, you did well!

 

[Scrappy]

Nice coin find, and nice job on the ID. I spent a week pouring over a coin that I finally identified as a Charles 2nd a few weeks ago. It's a tough process.

It's amazing these coins can be identified after so long in the ground. Imagine what would be left of one of today's coins.

 

[Iron Patch]

What you outlined for the bust makes it more likely being William III and not Charles II, being that close to the lettering.The reverse on each are very similar.... Did you rule out a William III 1st issue? I think you might have a few wires crossed in that ID ...but still be a 1600s coin.

 

[coinman123]

What you outlined for the bust makes it more likely being William III and not Charles II, being that close to the lettering.The reverse on each are very similar.... Did you rule out a William III 3rd issue? I think you might have a few wires crossed in that ID ...but could still be a 1600s coin, or just shorty after, at worse.

After cleaning it I could read the letters "CVL??MVS" in the legend on the left side, which means it's William III which is "CVLELMVS". I'm wondering if it's a William III, or a William and Mary Halfpenny, any thoughts based on the new photos. I can see a date, but it's to crude to read. It's either 1690, 1696, or 1700.



Thanks Iron Patch, even being from 1702 (the last year William was a ruler) would still being my oldest Britannia.

 

[cjon455]

Man early early coins and relics have been popping up here alot lately, I'm in Pennsylvania which is a major part of this country's history but in a lousy part of it lol, I need to move up to the new England states to find those kind of goods!!

Many congrats sir!!

 

[Iron Patch]

I figured out what it is using simple math. I measured the angle from The letter "S" to the tuft on the back of William's head, and compared it to the angle of a William III Halfpenny and a William and Mary Halfpenny. It was a perfect match for William and Mary. William and Mary had an Acute angle, and William III had an obtuse angle, it had the exact angle as William and Mary. I will put this update in my thread shortly.

Coinman123,

You can't judge that way because there is many different William III halfpenny varieties.... different dies, so they don't all match. What we know is it's William III, and if the date is at the bottom, Britannia's hand being raised tells us if it's not William & Mary, it's a 1st issue William which dates 1695-1698. (So you do have a 1600s coin for sure) The main thing to look at is the wording on the right side of the bust... if you can match just one letter you'll likely have it. ET MARIA or TERTIVS.

 

[WheatWaffle]

Nice find

 

[coinman123]

Based on these photos I took after soaking in olive oil for a day can you tell if it's a William and Mary or a William III.


Coinman123,

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Based on these photos I took after soaking in olive oil for a day is it a William and Mary or a William III.
View attachment 1080875 View attachment 1080876

Coinman123,

It's hard to tell from your pics, but I'm having trouble seeing the double bust that's associated with the W&M halfpenny. If that's the case then I guess through the process of elimination it would be a Wm III. I found a nice W&M last March which was a pleasant surprise. But the only Wm III I've dug was a 1697 shilling which is one of my all-time favorite coins as it was the first time I broke into the 1600s.

 

[coinman123]

After around a week of olive oil soaking I found out what it was, not just that but the date. It is a William III 1696 Halfpenny.

Coinman123,

 

[jewelerguy]

cool find!

 

[The Patriot]

nothing wrong with a nice early find like that….congrats on another one!