🥇 BANNER 80 early copper coins cache.

Aureus

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Hey everyone,

Drove down to a new area I had my eyes on for a while. There was something with that part of the woods that attracted my attention as it was a small hill surrounded by crazy old trees, near a small stream and all that in an area known for early settlements. The sun was already coming down and I only had a few hours of detecting left, so I took my trusted Deus and went right to the task of exploring the site.

Within a minute or two I hit a small patch covered with iron signals with some strong high tones coming through. Took my shovel and dug the spot where the signal was coming from. A large sized copper coin the size of 1810-1820 halfpenny token fell out of the ground which made me pretty glad since I wasn't expecting much on a 2 hours hunt. Just before covering the ground decided to check the hole again and got an other good signal. Went to check it with my pinpointer and found an other copper of a similar size. Well, that's unusual.., but by reflex checked again and an other copper coin was in the ground....What the hell.... Went over a few inches of the hole with my detector and more good signals were coming through iron noise. And the story repeated itself again and again for the 1,5 hours I spent there. At the end of the day, was leaving with the pocket heavy with large coppers, 36 in all on that first hunt.

20210926_183957.jpg



Most were in a pretty good shape, with 70% survival rate. All coins are pre 1820 with one exception of an American half cent 1828 which was a few feet a part so possibly lost separately. The coins were mostly US Cents 1802-1803, Canadian halfpennies 1812-1818, some George III, one Machin's and one beat Wood's Hibernia. The better ones are in this pic.

20210927_084035.jpg


Couldn't leave it at that, so decided to go back for an other hunt hoping to get a few that I left behind... Wasn't expecting 28 more coppers, all within a foot or two from the first hole.

In all 64 early copper coins from the same small spot which makes me think an early cache as the total coins weight is close to a pound of copper and it couldn't possibly be part of a dropped coin purse.

Better coins from the second 2 hours hunt.

20211002_115913.jpg


Did find a few early buttons (not nearly as many as coins) in the surrounding area but not at the coins spot. Was pretty happy to find colonial period spectacles with one lens still intact, never found those before.

20211002_114604.jpg


Here's the whole family reunited after cleaning.

20211002_142328b.jpg


All I can say, I wasn't expecting that... Made for a great hunt, that's for sure.

Thanks for the comments.



P.S. Went back to get the temple pieces of those glasses and found 6 more coins. So that makes for a total of 70 large coppers. One of the coins appears to be a counterfeit George III ''Bull Head'' shilling (1816-1820) made of pewter of some kind. Here's the pic of the coins that aren't in a group picture and the complete spectacles.

20211003_124722.jpg


20211003_124628.jpg

20211003_134255.jpg


P.P.S. Went there again for an other 2 hours (weather doesn't permit any more detecting time) and found 10 more coins. Two Spread Eagles 1813, Isaak Brock 1816, 1777 George III and 1837 Halfpenny which was a few feet away so probably wasn't part of the original cache. The rest of the coins were either too worn to ID or lesser condition George III halfpennies.
Changed the title of the post to reflect the updated number which is 80 at this point.

1.jpg
 

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OP
OP
Aureus

Aureus

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I really like those coppers. It would be good to know why so many were there together. As some have suggested, might be a connection to a commercial establishment. Or perhaps the contents of a cookie jar, like people used to put cents in. I've never heard of so many together before.
There's many possibilities. I doubt it was a commercial establishment as I would probably find some silver coins mixed in. There could have been some type of wishing well or stream people would throw coins into or it was just a cache someone buried for some reason. So far I've found 92 coppers, so originally there must have been closer to 100, I just can't get the rest out.
 

Gare

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AMAZING finds !!! Congratulations. Does anyone have any ideas as to why they would all be in one hole or close to it ? ALSO BANNER nonimation for sure
 

Fredy Williams

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Dec 27, 2016
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Banner vote here also. you know that a 1800's something copper sold at auctions 15 years ago for 120 k will have to look it up for you. Yeh I know its not all about the money . yehhhh right
 

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Aureus

Aureus

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AMAZING finds !!! Congratulations. Does anyone have any ideas as to why they would all be in one hole or close to it ? ALSO BANNER nonimation for sure
Thanks Gare. They were possibly buried or left at the foundation before the house was demolished or burned, but no idea why.
 

OP
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Aureus

Aureus

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Banner vote here also. you know that a 1800's something copper sold at auctions 15 years ago for 120 k will have to look it up for you. Yeh I know its not all about the money . yehhhh right
I doubt these coins have any significant value, they are much more valuable as a piece of local history.
 

pulltabfelix

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No doubt about it a banner find.

I wonder what is the value of those coins back then and what did they represent in buying power.
Few banks and at least in the US, few trusted banks, hence caches still being found today.

Now lets see you top that find.
 

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Aureus

Aureus

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No doubt about it a banner find.

I wonder what is the value of those coins back then and what did they represent in buying power.
Few banks and at least in the US, few trusted banks, hence caches still being found today.

Now lets see you top that find.
Since I've found 92 coppers so far similar in size to US early cent, I think the value was close to 8 Reales silver coin or early US one dollar (which was of the same size) . As for the period value, a soldier used to make around 12 halfpennies/cents per day (or a 6 pence coin) , so the total could be a week's salary. It was a bit different for a skilled worker, could represent around 3 days of work.
 

pulltabfelix

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Since I've found 92 coppers so far similar in size to US early cent, I think the value was close to 8 Reales silver coin or early US one dollar (which was of the same size) . As for the period value, a soldier used to make around 12 halfpennies/cents per day (or a 6 pence coin) , so the total could be a week's salary. It was a bit different for a skilled worker, could represent around 3 days of work.
yeah, kind of strange that soldiers risk the most and get paid the least. Not much different today either. I guess that is just the way the world works. Again congrats on the banner find and truly is a banner find.
 

Almy

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Some good info. I vote banner too. I have never been able to find out why so many halfpennies are found around 1700s and 1800s house sites. Having the info about the wages helps. I've searched archaeology and history articles with little info about the halfpennies. Account books and wills list values in pounds, shillings and pennies but I don't think much actual cash changed hands. If anyone knows a source that gives some idea about the abundance of halfpennies around sites, I would be grateful to know.
 

OP
OP
Aureus

Aureus

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yeah, kind of strange that soldiers risk the most and get paid the least. Not much different today either. I guess that is just the way the world works. Again congrats on the banner find and truly is a banner find.
Thanks pulltabfelix
 

diggergirl

Jr. Member
Nov 12, 2013
20
31
Hey everyone,

Drove down to a new area I had my eyes on for a while. There was something with that part of the woods that attracted my attention as it was a small hill surrounded by crazy old trees, near a small stream and all that in an area known for early settlements. The sun was already coming down and I only had a few hours of detecting left, so I took my trusted Deus and went right to the task of exploring the site.

Within a minute or two I hit a small patch covered with iron signals with some strong high tones coming through. Took my shovel and dug the spot where the signal was coming from. A large sized copper coin the size of 1810-1820 halfpenny token fell out of the ground which made me pretty glad since I wasn't expecting much on a 2 hours hunt. Just before covering the ground decided to check the hole again and got an other good signal. Went to check it with my pinpointer and found an other copper of a similar size. Well, that's unusual.., but by reflex checked again and an other copper coin was in the ground....What the hell.... Went over a few inches of the hole with my detector and more good signals were coming through iron noise. And the story repeated itself again and again for the 1,5 hours I spent there. At the end of the day, was leaving with the pocket heavy with large coppers, 36 in all on that first hunt.

View attachment 1983168


Most were in a pretty good shape, with 70% survival rate. All coins are pre 1820 with one exception of an American half cent 1828 which was a few feet a part so possibly lost separately. The coins were mostly US Cents 1802-1803, Canadian halfpennies 1812-1818, some George III, one Machin's and one beat Wood's Hibernia. The better ones are in this pic.

View attachment 1983169

Couldn't leave it at that, so decided to go back for an other hunt hoping to get a few that I left behind... Wasn't expecting 28 more coppers, all within a foot or two from the first hole.

In all 64 early copper coins from the same small spot which makes me think an early cache as the total coins weight is close to a pound of copper and it couldn't possibly be part of a dropped coin purse.

Better coins from the second 2 hours hunt.

View attachment 1983170

Did find a few early buttons (not nearly as many as coins) in the surrounding area but not at the coins spot. Was pretty happy to find colonial period spectacles with one lens still intact, never found those before.

View attachment 1983171

Here's the whole family reunited after cleaning.

View attachment 1983174

All I can say, I wasn't expecting that... Made for a great hunt, that's for sure.

Thanks for the comments.



P.S. Went back to get the temple pieces of those glasses and found 6 more coins. So that makes for a total of 70 large coppers. One of the coins appears to be a counterfeit George III ''Bull Head'' shilling (1816-1820) made of pewter of some kind. Here's the pic of the coins that aren't in a group picture and the complete spectacles.

View attachment 1983308

View attachment 1983309
View attachment 1983311

P.P.S. Went there again for an other 2 hours (weather doesn't permit any more detecting time) and found 10 more coins. Two Spread Eagles 1813, Isaak Brock 1816, 1777 George III and 1837 Halfpenny which was a few feet away so probably wasn't part of the original cache. The rest of the coins were either too worn to ID or lesser condition George III halfpennies.
Changed the title of the post to reflect the updated number which is 80 at this point.

View attachment 1983507
This is amazing!
 

OP
OP
Aureus

Aureus

Silver Member
Sep 5, 2016
4,211
8,337
Eastern Canada
🥇 Banner finds
4
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS
Primary Interest:
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Some good info. I vote banner too. I have never been able to find out why so many halfpennies are found around 1700s and 1800s house sites. Having the info about the wages helps. I've searched archaeology and history articles with little info about the halfpennies. Account books and wills list values in pounds, shillings and pennies but I don't think much actual cash changed hands. If anyone knows a source that gives some idea about the abundance of halfpennies around sites, I would be grateful to know.
Thanks for your vote Almy. I think the abundance of halfpennies (mostly counterfeits, imitations, Blacksmith's and other coppers) was due to severe lack of silver coins in British colonies at that time. The Spanish silver managed to partially fill that gap but most exchanges were made either in barter or using the coppers similar in size to British halfpennies.
 

Cletus

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Wow what a gift !! I would love to know the story behind this !!
 

Almy

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Areus, thanks for your enlightening comment about the reason for the abundance of halfpennies and scarcity of other coins. Makes sense. In Loyalist to 1850 sites I have found many halfpennies (British and Canadian tokens), 4 small (1/2 and 1 R) Spanish silvers, and some Atlantic provinces coins. No big silver and no gold.
 

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