1787 Fugio Cent

Clad2Silver

Bronze Member
Jul 17, 2018
2,052
5,648
Eastern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/ Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Ace 400/ Garrett Pro Pointer 2 / Garrett Z-Lynk AT Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
On Sunday, we hunted an old, no longer used football field that dates back to the 1950's. The old rusted goalposts and scoreboard still stand as does one set of rusted bleachers. We hunted for about two and a half hours and in that time we dug 75 clads with a face value of $10.23. About a half hour before we left I got a solid hit on my AT Max with a VDI reading of 87 which generally means a clad quarter. The depth reading was at four bars which means somewhere between six and eight inches deep. I dug the plug and at seven inches i could see the coin in the plug and my first thought was a clad half or a token. After rubbing some dirt off the coin I could see that it was a Fugio Cent minted in my home state of Connecticut in 1788 but dated 1787. Unfortunately, it's pretty well toasted but it's my oldest US coin find ever.
 

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Upvote 46
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Clad2Silver

Clad2Silver

Bronze Member
Jul 17, 2018
2,052
5,648
Eastern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/ Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Ace 400/ Garrett Pro Pointer 2 / Garrett Z-Lynk AT Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Congrats on the Fugio. I've never seen or heard of one being dug in SW PA, but I sure would love to find one.
Thanks Steve.....I'd guess that most of the Fugios that are dug were found in the New England states and possibly parts of New York state.
 

Digger RJ

Gold Member
Aug 24, 2017
19,315
33,467
SW Missouri/Oklahoma
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030; Minelab Equinox 800;
XP Deus 2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
On Sunday, we hunted an old, no longer used football field that dates back to the 1950's. The old rusted goalposts and scoreboard still stand as does one set of rusted bleachers. We hunted for about two and a half hours and in that time we dug 75 clads with a face value of $10.23. About a half hour before we left I got a solid hit on my AT Max with a VDI reading of 87 which generally means a clad quarter. The depth reading was at four bars which means somewhere between six and eight inches deep. I dug the plug and at seven inches i could see the coin in the plug and my first thought was a clad half or a token. After rubbing some dirt off the coin I could see that it was a Fugio Cent minted in my home state of Connecticut in 1788 but dated 1787. Unfortunately, it's pretty well toasted but it's my oldest US coin find ever.
Awesome Find!!! Congrats!!!
 

Jeff H

Bronze Member
May 5, 2008
1,609
2,118
Detector(s) used
XP Deus
Thanks Steve.....I'd guess that most of the Fugios that are dug were found in the New England states and possibly parts of New York state.
Nice find! I had no idea they were scarce in PA. Certainly not rare detecting find here in MA, RI, CT. I'm always happy to dig one though. Yours is really not in bad shape for a dug Fugio.
 

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Clad2Silver

Clad2Silver

Bronze Member
Jul 17, 2018
2,052
5,648
Eastern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/ Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Ace 400/ Garrett Pro Pointer 2 / Garrett Z-Lynk AT Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Nice find! I had no idea they were scarce in PA. Certainly not rare detecting find here in MA, RI, CT. I'm always happy to dig one though. Yours is really not in bad shape for a dug Fugio.
Thanks Jeff......
 

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Clad2Silver

Clad2Silver

Bronze Member
Jul 17, 2018
2,052
5,648
Eastern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/ Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Ace 400/ Garrett Pro Pointer 2 / Garrett Z-Lynk AT Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Congrats! I can remember as a kid reading the Red Book and dreaming about having a coin like that!
Thanks.....I actually owned one in nice condition back in the early 1960's. When I got drafted into the Army in 1965 I sold my entire coin collection and after I started collecting again I never got another one.
 

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Clad2Silver

Clad2Silver

Bronze Member
Jul 17, 2018
2,052
5,648
Eastern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/ Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Ace 400/ Garrett Pro Pointer 2 / Garrett Z-Lynk AT Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Awesome coin! I've yet to find one, im jealous. Congrats!
Thanks.....They're not easy, especially away from the New England/New York area. Even though I live in New England, it took me 39 years of detecting to get one. :tongue3:
 

rhedden

Sr. Member
Mar 23, 2003
362
451
Eastern NY
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Simplex
Congrats on finding a desirable colonial that most of us will never dig!

On a lighter note, just how old is that stadium? I can imagine the fateful coin toss at the colonial football game in 1787. "Who won the coin toss?" "I don't know, the Fugio rolled away and got lost!" The Whigs won the second coin toss with the Continental Dollar, going on to defeat the Tories 28-20 to win the division.
 

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Clad2Silver

Clad2Silver

Bronze Member
Jul 17, 2018
2,052
5,648
Eastern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/ Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Ace 400/ Garrett Pro Pointer 2 / Garrett Z-Lynk AT Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Congrats on finding a desirable colonial that most of us will never dig!

On a lighter note, just how old is that stadium? I can imagine the fateful coin toss at the colonial football game in 1787. "Who won the coin toss?" "I don't know, the Fugio rolled away and got lost!" The Whigs won the second coin toss with the Continental Dollar, going on to defeat the Tories 28-20 to win the division.
Thank you.......I don't know the exact age of the football field other than sometime in the late 1950's based on my Historic Aerials search. It's not an actual stadium, it's just a football field that had a couple of sets of bleachers. I'm thinking it was possibly used by a local high school at one time for their games even though there's no school nearby. The town this field is in has a relatively new high school across town with a football field.
 

bologna321

Bronze Member
Aug 26, 2017
1,153
2,816
SW MO
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT PRO, Garrett Ultra GTA 500, Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Just finding one away from any colonial buildings or farms has to be lotto like odds, congrats!
 

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Clad2Silver

Clad2Silver

Bronze Member
Jul 17, 2018
2,052
5,648
Eastern Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/ Garrett AT Pro/ Garrett Ace 400/ Garrett Pro Pointer 2 / Garrett Z-Lynk AT Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Just finding one away from any colonial buildings or farms has to be lotto like odds, congrats!
Thanks Bologna.....though it was found on a 1950's football field, the spot where it was lost may have been a farm or possibly had an old house on it back in the 1700's or 1800's.
 

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