First Hunt 2014, first Colonial copper,1786 Vermont Baby Head variety

Don in SJ

Silver Member
May 20, 2005
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I rode my Mtn bike to a site less than a mile from my house that my son and I have been very successful at since the mid to late 80s! I have hunted this place many times with zero finds and other times will find buttons and a colonial coin or two. It has been very good to me. Yesterday I hunted in the afternoon after the thick fog burned off and was happy to get 3 items that were not the numerous shotgun casings that abound at this place. Nice to get a Button, a Relic and a Colonial, good mix for a short hunt close to home.

The copper only read 07/26 on the Explorer SE, so I knew it was not a NJ copper and most likely not a counterfeit KGIII, since most are almost pure copper but less of it. However I have quite a few cast counterfeit KGII and William III and some CT coppers have read that low.

Upon cleaning I saw INDE ET LIB, so I was happy to start off 2014 with a State colonial copper, BUT, I assumed it was a CT copper, since that is the second most common state copper I find. But on the Obverse side I started to see the letters VERM --- so it was not a CT copper, better still a much harder to find Vermont copper! I wish it was in better shape, but the ground where it was found was next to a swampy area, so it is what it is. The great news is that it is a Ryder 9, known as the Baby Head variety. I did not have this one, so all the better. This is my third VT copper found in South Jersey, a Ryder 9, 16 and 21. My son has found a Ryder 1 and Ryder 16, so we now have 5 between the two of us.
Don
 

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Upvote 8
Great to see ya post, being you was limited to digging because of your back. it's good to see you found a Vermont variety that you hadn't found before and I know for you that is really saying something. Very Nice, Bill
 

Nice find Don, and I'm glad you were able to get a hunt in.
What I liked even more is you biked to the site which I often do, got to love a reasonably nearby site...that is somewhat reliable.
The photographic work is even more cool than that...Thanks, cool post.
 

Greats finds. Gotta agree on the close by sites. Walking a few hundreds from the house sure beats hiking 5 or 6 miles. I had the same thing happen with a liberty cap half cent and a connecticut copper. At most they were 20 feet away but the half cent was toast and the connecticut was my best detailed copper.
 

Still a good way to get the year going and at least it's good enough to get the variety. A CT might have been a little tougher.
 

Glad to see you had some time to hunt. Well deserved day. A variety that you don't have, I thought you had them all...:laughing7:
 

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