1817 LC, My Oldest Find Ever!

terpfan · Jan 9, 2009

WooHoo! Finally stumbled onto large copper! I have the privilege of hunting an old home owned within the same family for more than 150 years, though the family really doesn't know its exact age. They told me it was originally the largest of 5 tenant homes to a much larger estate perhaps half a mile away. All that remains is this house. The home and its adjoining family cemetery are now surrounded by a 1980's subdivision of tightly spaced homes. I asked to MD the home and offered to return all relics to the family, who are friends.
This two hour search only yielding 5 coins, but what great coins they were! The 1817 (15 star) Coronet Large Cent was my oldest find ever, beating the previous best by more than forty years. I have never unearthed a large cent before, and was shocked by its size, nearly as large as a half dollar. How did they lose these things? It was only about 2" in the ground, and came out nearly as green as in the picture. Though it is not in very good condition, I can clearly make out the "7" in the date, and the star pattern is consistent with the 15 star variety of the 1817. The other four coins were a 1902 IH in fantastic condition and three wheaties (1916, 1919, 1934).
After finding the large cent I could no longer focus on anything so I wrapped it up for the day. Can hardly wait to return to this place. Though I've turned up perhaps 20 wheaties and a silver Rosie in three previous visits to this site, nothing before today was older than 1917. Maybe there are more oldies around. I don't plan on stopping here until the signals are all gone. I love this hobby!

hogge · Jan 9, 2009

Alright Terpfan!!!!! WTG! That's the good stuff. Congratulations. Hogge :thumbsup:

crazyjarhead · Jan 9, 2009

Nice story and finds terpfan. Hope you can pull some more out of there :thumbsup:

Golden1 · Jan 9, 2009

Nice post terpfan! Awesome story and very sweet Larg Cent!!!!
Congrats to you :headbang:

G1

Ohio Jerry · Jan 9, 2009

Congratulations on your first big copper!!! That IH is in great shape,can't wait to see what else you pull out of there :thumbsup:

Jerry

BuckleBoy · Jan 9, 2009

Top Notch. :thumbsup:

seger98 · Jan 9, 2009

Congratulations on some nice finds! :thumbsup:

ringfinder · Jan 9, 2009

Congrats on your first Coppa great looking coin and you can even read it. That is Fantastic.

So many guys show there "Coppas" that they find, and they say they are Coppas but heck I can't
even see anything on the coin. At least yours you can read. Great Find.

HH,Ringfinder

SilverDreams · Jan 9, 2009

Congrats!

terpfan · Jan 9, 2009

hogge said:
Alright Terpfan!!!!! WTG! That's the good stuff. Congratulations. Hogge

Thanks, Hogge. Means a lot coming from you. Good luck at the auction next week!

terpfan · Jan 9, 2009

Ohio Jerry said:
Congratulations on your first big copper!!! That IH is in great shape,can't wait to see what else you pull out of there
Jerry

Thanks, Jerry. Some of the relics were really nice as well. Unfortunately I gave them back to the family before photographing them. My favorite piece was a silver set of wings that looked to be some sort of military medal. The owner thought it was from a distant uncle. What a blessing it was to be able to give something back to descendants of the actual folks who lost it.
Steve

terpfan · Jan 9, 2009

ringfinder said:
Congrats on your first Coppa great looking coin and you can even read it. That is Fantastic.

So many guys show there "Coppas" that they find, and they say they are Coppas but heck I can't
even see anything on the coin. At least yours you can read. Great Find.

HH,Ringfinder

Thanks Ringfinder. Quite honestly, I never before could understand what was so darned exciting about finding a worn out green disc. Clearly, there are lots of folks here who live to find them, I just didn't get it. I certainly believe I understand better now, and hope everyone gets the chance to find old coppers like this. After finding this worn-out looking large cent, my first, I spent most of the evening trying to learn what I had found. I really enjoyed doing the research. It was something like a CSI episode. After piecing together the shards of evidence and looking at photos over the internet, I finally concluded it could only be an 1817 15 star coronet. The next day I took the coin by a local dealer. He took one look and quickly said, "Oh yeah, you have and 1817!" I was glad to have the confirmation, but wish he could have come to his conclusion a little slower!
Steve

coinstar · Jan 9, 2009

great finds ,keep hitting that place.

dfx willy · Jan 10, 2009

people are crazy if they dont understand the thrill of finding a old copper. i didnt know about the 15 star thing. thanx. willy.

beetle662 · Jan 10, 2009

Great finds! I'm sure there's more there waiting to be found!

Congrats!

Lowbatts · Jan 10, 2009

That's a nice hunt man!
Congrats!

Goes4ever · Jan 10, 2009

so do you have to give the coins to the family too, or just the relics? sweet finds!

terpfan · Jan 10, 2009

Goes4ever said:
so do you have to give the coins to the family too, or just the relics? sweet finds!

I give back all the relics, and just keep the coins. In the beginning, the family probably would not have cared if I had kept everything. Since the property had only been owned by one family, though, I thought the relics would be especially meaningful to them. That has been the case. For instance, the very first target I unearthed was a very old cookie cutter. Which generation of the family used this? How old is it? In addition, the number of harmonica reeds found now totals 8. It must be pretty cool to know how much your ancestors enjoyed music. I believe the family will appreciate the relics for generations to come.

Brian in MA · Jan 10, 2009

Terpfan, Congrats on the large cent. It is funny to think of how these big coins could have been lost. You would think with them being so big the person would be able to hear it hit the ground

But it's obvious, by looking at all the great posts on TN, that large coppers were lost in very large quanities.

terpfan said:
Goes4ever said:

so do you have to give the coins to the family too, or just the relics? sweet finds!

Click to expand...

I give back all the relics, and just keep the coins. In the beginning, the family probably would not have cared if I had kept everything. Since the property had only been owned by one family, though, I thought the relics would be especially meaningful to them. That has been the case. For instance, the very first target I unearthed was a very old cookie cutter. Which generation of the family used this? How old is it? In addition, the number of harmonica reeds found now totals 8. It must be pretty cool to know how much your ancestors enjoyed music. I believe the family will appreciate the relics for generations to come.

I think its great the way you rationalized letting the family keep the relics. I'm sure they're thrilled to have them.

I bet you're very anxious to get back there. Who knows what you might find next? Keep us posted....
Good luck !!!

Brian in MA