311 year old copper found by son, few relics by me

Don in SJ

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May 20, 2005
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My son and I got out on January 3rd after a big meltoff of the snow occurred, which surprised both of us, the woods were bare except for some very shady areas.

We hunted for about 3 hours and the diggable readings were far and few but even though I did not get a coin, I at least got 1/3 of an ornate shoe buckle, some buttons, small piece of a pewter spoon and a what is it that I think is a adornment for a piece of leather, the metal piece has a bunch of prongs on the reverse side, so not sure what it is.
DonDanFinds1st2011hunt.jpg
But right before we quit for the day, my son yelled he might have a coin, so went over to watch him dig and sure enough a nice green disc appeared in the dirt pile. We had no idea at the time what it might be, but by the size and the readings on the detectors was narrowing it down to a Conn copper (4 previously found at this site) or I had a hunch it might be a William III. A definite date bar started to show thru the crud as the coin dried out more, so we knew for sure it was a colonial.
DanholdingCopper.jpg
A few hours later my son emailed me to say it was in fact a William III Halfpenny and this one had a clear date! A clear date on a William III is not the norm, since they tend to have been in circulation for a long time, thus wearing down and there wear pattern almost always is, the reverse wears completely smooth, but the obverse side, usually maintains details on the left side of the coin, with the hair ribbons almost always being the last detail to wear off. So finding one with a clear date was truly appreciated by him.
1700BeforeAfter.jpg

Don
 

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Steve in PA

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Jul 5, 2010
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Yes indeed it is rare to get a glimpse of a date on a William III let alone one that clear! Nice hunt for the both of you. Your leather adornment is actually the finial for a leather strap, such as a reins.
 

spitfire55

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Sep 17, 2008
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romeo-1

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Jul 29, 2005
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To me that is a banner find. Rare to find an identifiable copper coin of that age but to find one with the date still showing and no negative effect from being in the ground...banner! The condition of that coin has nothing to do with being in the ground, that's all circulation!
 

ModernMiner

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Jan 9, 2007
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Fantastic finds as always guys! :icon_thumleft:
Congrats,
MM :thumbsup:
 

Hill Billy

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Jun 3, 2007
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romeo-1 said:
To me that is a banner find. Rare to find an identifiable copper coin of that age but to find one with the date still showing and no negative effect from being in the ground...banner! The condition of that coin has nothing to do with being in the ground, that's all circulation!

I agree with Romeo. All of the coppers I find seem to be hard to read a date off of, and their all 1800's coins.
Great hunt to you and your son Don, always a pleasure to see your posts.

HB
 

steelheadwill

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Jan 2, 2010
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New Castle NH.
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Some great Digs!
Congrats on that William!
third 1690s British copper from U.S. posted recently!! :hello2:
 

Iron Patch

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Sep 28, 2007
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Hey, it will always be easy to figure out his birthday! ;D
 

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