~1796 Liberty Cap~

[SouthJerseyJim]

Well I got out today for some detecting on a farm near my work that has been hammered to death. Spent close to 4 hours there with nothing in my finds bag except some water from all the rain I was dodging. My buddy Matt met up with me and we decided to check out a little section of grass we havn't really detected. Nice solid 87 on the T2 and I was thinking can. NOPE 1796 Liberty Cap! I was psyched. Even more psyched that I could actually read the date. It was in a watery area and the corrosion did some weird things to this coin. Almost outlining what I need to see to ID It! This is my second liberty cap and at about 100,000 minted and 1000 or so known to have survived Im pretty happy about the coin regardless of its damage. Was about 5 inches down in some jet black watery soil

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[bearbqd]

Cool find, that IS weird how it outlined it. Good for you though.

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

nice ! just enough detail clung to identify it.i dug a KG II like that.everything else corroded away but the outline clung for some reason

 

[Tuberale]

WTG! Bet you're glad you and Jim hunted that "grassy" area.<G>

But the post is only half posted. You've got to let us see the other half too!

 

[goldencoin]

Interesting idea, a circulated coin will build up debris in the recesses of the coins (take an older coins out of your pocket and you'll see grime around the features) This can protect the coin from deteriorating a little bit over time and probably gave your coin that look

HH
-GC

 

[JW15]

NICE!!

 

[SouthJerseyJim]

Thanks all that idea does make sense guess this thing was used a lot before it was lost.Im kinda embarrassed to show the back. The grass was so nice I didn't want to open the plug up more so I shoveled the inside on an angle and sorta scraped it a bit Mine you I was in a farm field with my big shovel and moved to this grassy area.

 

[jerseyben]

Holy crap Jim, that's awesome! Gonna be a killer season for sure. Congrats!

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Awesome find, in any condition!

 

[Tuberale]

Thanks all that idea does make sense guess this thing was used a lot before it was lost.Im kinda embarrassed to show the back. The grass was so nice I didn't want to open the plug up more so I shoveled the inside on an angle and sorta scraped it a bit Mine you I was in a farm field with my big shovel and moved to this grassy area.

No problem, Jim. Scrapes happen. We just have to learn to deal with 'em.<G> But I'd still like to the the obverse. It might be a rarer "'One Cent' high in wreath" variety.

 

[SouthJerseyJim]

Ill take a pic of the back but there is nothing left.

 

[SouthJerseyJim]

Ugly Back

 

[NolanTheExplorer]

very nice!

 

[Tuberale]

You are right. I can't tell any features of the back that should be there.

I very curious now. How is it that both sides are in such poor condition, but especially the reverse?

 

[Don in SJ]

You are right. I can't tell any features of the back that should be there.

I very curious now. How is it that both sides are in such poor condition, but especially the reverse?

Evidently his ground conditions were not conducive to preserving a copper large cent, compared to other spots in the area. To answer why the reverse being in worst shape, rather simple to explain. Here are segmants from Breen's book which explains why the reverse would be first to go in my opinion.
"Scot made at least six obverse dies for the 1796 Caps. The exterior outlines of the device punch match the 1795 head, but the hair contours are different and the relief is higher. It is slightly more likely that Scot altered a 1795 matrix and had Adam Eckfeldt raise a new device punch from it. than that he merely reworked the hair and deepened the relief on each 1796 working die from the 1795 device punch."
"Whatever Scot's rationale, the net effect was that the heads are in too high relief, and central reverses are weak more often than not. Understandably, the 1796 Caps wore down quickly , far more quickly the the 1795."
So, that seems to explain the condition as far as the wear factor, the reverse will disapear first. I have not had that with the 1796's I have found, mine were in rather great condition wear wise, so they must have not circulated long at all.

By the way, Jim - Congrats on least getting an identifiable 1796 Large Cent!

Don

 

[SouthJerseyRyan]

Great find! Sweet digs!

 

[Hunthicks]

One of my 179X large cents has that same "outline", it's in worse shape due to inexperienced cleaning but all you can see is that rim. Neat find!

 

[Tuberale]

So, that seems to explain the condition as far as the wear factor, the reverse will disapear first. I have not had that with the 1796's I have found, mine were in rather great condition wear wise, so they must have not circulated long at all.

By the way, Jim - Congrats on least getting an identifiable 1796 Large Cent!

Don

That occurred only on the 1796 Liberty Cap Cent?

Cause it apparently didn't happen on the 1796 Draped Bust Cent. My coin's date can barely be seen, while the reverse is in pretty good condition. Not sure that this is the correct place to put photos of it, though.

It really should be Jim's place to shine, for any kind of 1796 Large Cent.

 

[Sniffy]

A Liberty Cap Large Cent is an awesome find in any condition. I've persistently hunted cellar holes for a few years and only found 2.

 

[detectahead]

A find of this type is awesome in any shape! Congrats on a wonderful find!