Interesting untouched spot with 1738 Silver

[Cape Hunter]

This morning, found a clearing near a failing old pond. Pretty dried out. Lot of iron signals then buttons started showing up. Parts of a small buckle, cast pewter button and unusual chunk of lead. Then a coin! It's a 1738 British King George II Farthing. But this one is Silver. Cleaned an edge and bright shining Silver. I did not know they could be Silver. All the ones I see are copper. Then I found this: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=345&lot=2681 The bust is a perfect match, lettering is a match. Anyone else come across one of these?

 

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[WG2020]

Cape Hunter,

Very nice find, looks to be quite valuable from your link (though the coin shown was near mint condition). Hopefully Crusader will see the post, he will be able to provide you with some additional information on your find. Good luck with your hunts. Walt

 

[CRUSADER]

Cape Hunter,

Very nice find, looks to be quite valuable from your link (though the coin shown was near mint condition). Hopefully Crusader will see the post, he will be able to provide you with some additional information on your find. Good luck with your hunts. Walt

No such thing as a silver farthing, unless you go back to the hammered silver period, none in the 1700s.
PS. the 'Proof' in the link is extremely rare & not a coin as such, ie. not circulated

 

[CRUSADER]

''struck en médaille''
The one found at the link stated the above, which means it was struck at the 12 o'clock axis, or otherwise known as the medal orientation. Suggesting that these 'proofs' were more like medallions than coins, as the farthing (copper only) was produced with the 6 o'clock axis like most coins (not all) of that period. So what axis is yours?
I don't know of the list of dates that these proofs were made but I highly doubt its your coin of 1738.

 

[Red-Coat]

Could we see it in close-up... both sides please?

There were no farthings minted for 1738, apart from those for Ireland which have the Irish harp/Hibernia reverse, not the Britannia reverse. In copper of course.

The rare silver proof you linked to is dated 1730 and the nature of proofs is that they were struck as test/experimental pieces or as an archival record of a design (often in a more prestigious metal than the general issue) at the time a new design was being proposed or introduced. The Britannia copper farthing was first introduced in 1730, hence the corresponding date for the silver proof.

 

[CRUSADER]

Could we see it in close-up... both sides please?

There were no farthings minted for 1738, apart from those for Ireland which have the Irish harp/Hibernia reverse, not the Britannia reverse.

The rare silver proof you linked to is dated 1730 and the nature of proofs is that they were struck as test/experimental pieces or as an archival record of a design (often in a more prestigious metal than the general issue) at the time a new design was being proposed or introduced. The Britannia copper farthing was first introduced in 1730, hence the corresponding date for the proof.

That makes sense, the start of a new design, hence saving a silver version of it & why they were less bothered about die axis.
I wonder how they ever got out of the Mint or Royal collection!

 

[Cape Hunter]

Thank you Crusader! I am not not very good with coins. I mostly find less valuable items as our area of the cape was very poor in the 1700's. I did clean the coin as best I can. I'm still wondering why it's does not look copper like? I have several old copper coins of the period this size which I compared the ring on our marble table top. The non copper coin is by far the winner. Does have a high ring. I attached a of better image.

 

[toasted]

George II copper farthing. Nice find as they are much less seldom seen vs the halfpence

 

[Jeff H]

Looks like a cast counterfeit to me......which makes it extra cool.

 

[Cape Hunter]

Thank you Jeff. Interesting. When I found the coin. It was sandwiched between two pieces of very rusted iron. I thought that was really weird. Now I wonder if that was a casting mold. May explain it's non copper color.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I agree--it's cast counterfeit. It's silver colored? Not sure what it's cast of. It's a very cool find.

 

[Tuberale]

Interesting discussion here.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Do you still have the two rusted pieces? I agree that’s probably the casting mold. Perhaps thrown in a pond to avoid being busted for counterfeiting. Would be cool to restore the mold and I think a banner find if you can. I assume the coin is cast out of a lead alloy.

 

[Cape Hunter]

Along with a lot of iron signals there were chunks of brick where I dug the coin. Two large iron targets turned out to be parts of a cast iron pot. I also have what looks like a bar of metal which is in my pic upper right. That was in the immediate area along with a number of long slag strips which I saved but not posted. I will look closely at the metal bar today and clean a section of it. The slag strips were stiff, I don't think they are pure lead.

 

[Cape Hunter]

I will head back to the spot this week and retrieve what I can of the iron parts. I have found a couple of crude home made coins in this area with just a number on top. I'm going to clean one to see if it's of similar metal.

 

[Jeff H]

Thank you Jeff. Interesting. When I found the coin. It was sandwiched between two pieces of very rusted iron. I thought that was really weird. Now I wonder if that was a casting mold. May explain it's non copper color.

I've dug a few over the years Cape Hunter. They all are a bit off color. I think the counterfeiters use what ever cheap metal they have on hand. Yeah that iron could have been part of the sand mold. Really is a nice find.

 

[Cape Hunter]

I check the metal chunk/bar? Found close by and cleaned one end. Perfect match to the coin. Much harder than lead, tombac type pewter? Coin reads 24-25 on my Equinox 800.

 

[dts52]

Do you still have the two rusted pieces? I agree that’s probably the casting mold. Perhaps thrown in a pond to avoid being busted for counterfeiting. Would be cool to restore the mold and I think a banner find if you can. I assume the coin is cast out of a lead alloy.

Great thought about the avoidance of being caught with the mold. Remember that counterfeiting was a hanging offense back then.
dts

 

[Cape Hunter]

Yes dangerous profession. The map of 1856 show no roads anywhere near this spot. It's still remote today. The pond has certainly shrunk or filled in over the centuries. Where I'm digging is sloped and may have once been underwater.

 

[deepseeker3]

Found this farthing last week, and the patina made it look like silver. Had me confused for awhile. 1828