Stunning KG III 1/2 Penny, but dated 1778?

[paleomaxx]

Squeezed in one last hunt this morning before the snow finally chased me out. It's also supposed to be in the negatives here later this week so the ground will be rock in just a few days. Not to say it wasn't a good sendoff though. I found a ton of cool relics which I'll be cleaning up and posting shortly, but this one I just had to get on here because it has me fairly excited and I could use some input.



It is hands-down the best condition colonial copper I have ever dug and that would be enough by itself to send 2017 off in style, but the date is where it gets interesting. I can't find any mention of KG III coins minted in 1778. My immediate thought was counterfeit, but then I also can't find any mention of a counterfeit from 1778 since they tended to mint them the same years as standard issue to avoid suspicion. So what on earth have I found? In any case; it's a beautiful coin and a fantastic close of the season!

 

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[Iron Patch]

Nice Machin's Mills!

1778 Machin's Mills Halfpenny - Vlack 12-78B

 

[Evolution]

Pretty quick on the draw there IP. Nice Machin's Mills Paleo. Excellent find.

 

[Iron Patch]

Pretty quick on the draw there IP. Nice Machin's Mills Paleo. Excellent find.

Very easy when it's a date outside the regal years because it's almost always going to be a MM. Non regal dated British counterfeits are much rarer than most of the Machin's Mills coins.

 

[dts52]

Tremendous find. Congrats. All I got was 2 oxshoes, 2 horseshoes and some wrought iron gate hinges. 6 inches on the ground, looks like the season is over for us.
HH
dts

 

[paleomaxx]

Thanks Iron Patch! Just started reading up on the Machin's Mills coins; the added history makes me so much happier I found this coin. And it being scarce is just icing on the cake!

 

[CRUSADER]

Very easy when it's a date outside the regal years because it's almost always going to be a MM. Non regal dated British counterfeits are much rarer than most of the Machin's Mills coins.

Yeap, my first thought as well.

OP,
Congrats on a nice dug example!

 

[pepperj]

Great looking copper for the end of the season. Your dug copper holds water to this sale example.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/2309087_2422-1778-machins-mills-copper-halfpenny-vlack-12-78b

 

[VTColonialDigger]

That is a really cool colonial copper!

 

[Centsless Detecting]

That is an awesome way to end the year!
Thought it was a counterfeit.
Hoover Boys Dug 3 in their most recent video.

 

[paleomaxx]

Great looking copper for the end of the season. Your dug copper holds water to this sale example.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item...y-vlack-12-78b

Wow, I'm definitely not messing around cleaning it further. I still can't believe it came out of the ground looking like this. And from a yard no less! I'm not even done covering the yard so fingers crossed there are more coppers and maybe they'll be in a similar state!

 

[Ahab8]

Special special find my friend. That’s a gorgeous Machins! Too bad people don’t recognize just how nice this coin is. It’s yours now and that’s what’s important

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Beautiful old copper coin, congratulations!

 

[paleomaxx]

Special special find my friend. That’s a gorgeous Machins! Too bad people don’t recognize just how nice this coin is. It’s yours now and that’s what’s important

Thank you! I have to sheepishly admit that despite the fact that most of my hunting is within 80 miles of where Machin's Mill was located; until I found this I hadn't read up on its history. Now that I have, I'm incredibly grateful to have found this piece and for the condition that it's in. For me the best part is finding a new relic and exploring the history that goes along with it and if it's local history then that's even better!

 

[Scrappy]

I’m crazy about this coin and have been looking at it daily since posted. It’s a survivor and way rarer than most people realize. I’ll be placing a vote once I get on my laptop tonight. Cheers and congratulations!!

 

[scruggs]

Congratulations in finding that beautiful coin! A lot of history in that one! Fantastic job bringing that one to light!

 

[RudyT]

Amazing find!! Keep us posted on the rest of the stuff you found.

Rudy

 

[paleomaxx]

I’m crazy about this coin and have been looking at it daily since posted. It’s a survivor and way rarer than most people realize. I’ll be placing a vote once I get on my laptop tonight. Cheers and congratulations!!

Thanks Scrappy; that's high praise considering some of the coppers you've dug in just the past year!

It occurs to me, I know Don in SJ keeps track of New Jersey copper finds, but does anyone keep track of Machin's Mills copper finds? It might be of historical interest to see where they're concentrated since they were intentionally distributing forged coins (in great quantity) so there had to be a mechanism for getting them into circulation undetected. If they're clustered around certain areas maybe it would indicate certain merchants they worked with.

 

[Bramblefind]

Thanks Scrappy; that's high praise considering some of the coppers you've dug in just the past year!

It occurs to me, I know Don in SJ keeps track of New Jersey copper finds, but does anyone keep track of Machin's Mills copper finds? It might be of historical interest to see where they're concentrated since they were intentionally distributing forged coins (in great quantity) so there had to be a mechanism for getting them into circulation undetected. If they're clustered around certain areas maybe it would indicate certain merchants they worked with.

I don't know of anyone that is doing that with the Machins but I agree it is a neat idea! There have been a lot of them found metal detecting but also many have survived that are not ground finds - same with New Jerseys - so that muddles it up somewhat.

It would be easy enough to do a search on this forum and get an idea of what was reported here at least. I have done that with a few other coin varieties I have been interested in tracking and I found it somewhat fascinating.

Beautiful find! What area are you in? I'm in the Capital Region.

 

[Scrappy]

Thanks Scrappy; that's high praise considering some of the coppers you've dug in just the past year!

It occurs to me, I know Don in SJ keeps track of New Jersey copper finds, but does anyone keep track of Machin's Mills copper finds? It might be of historical interest to see where they're concentrated since they were intentionally distributing forged coins (in great quantity) so there had to be a mechanism for getting them into circulation undetected. If they're clustered around certain areas maybe it would indicate certain merchants they worked with.

I seem to remember Don has a friend that does something with them. Maybe my memory is completely wrong. Try sending him a PM - no matter what he’s a real nice guy and will tell you what he knows.

Mackeydon is also very knowledgeable. Together I call them “The Dons”. Lol