Ancient Copper Coin?

[seychik]

Found this very thin copper? coin? at a park (with 1960s house around) about 1/2 down with my White's MXT. The VDI was 37 (like a pull tab). The coin just fits inside the rim line of a dime. Any help on what this is? I posted 3 pictures of the one side and 2 of the other side. Cindy

 

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[Iron Patch]

Not sure I like the cleaned version that much (although it is easier to make out some of the detail), but here it is:

They are suppose to be silver, but I bet they cheated the metal sometimes so ended up being more like a billon coin... because that's usually what dug billon coins look like. You basically just revealed what was below, and at least more of the letters show.


PS: I have hunted early French sites for over a decade and have never got a coin that old. Close... but not quite!

 

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[seychik]

Thanks for all your help Iron Patch! I'm learning so much. I never heard of a billon coin, but could feel it's not quite silver, almost feels like an aluminum coin. I really love how old it is and still cannot believe it was just in the grass at a park. Is this considered a hammered coin? Good luck to you on finding an older one and a gold one while you are at it.

 

[gheenoe78]

How in the world did that coin end up there? Did the conquistadors make it as far north as Colorado? Indian trade? Thats crazy. Heckuva cool find.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

I really wouldn't clean it so quickly, I don't know if there is anything that could be done to determine how long it's been in the ground, but cleaning would certainly wipe all evidence away.

It could be historically significant if it's not a modern loss.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Hi Cindy,

Crazy find for a Denver suburbs esp in a park 1/2" down with a 1960s house near by. What a story that coin could tell! How about a little more color on some of the other things you were finding? That coin looks like it might actually clean up well with some warm hydrogen peroxide.

Erik

You had Mountainmen (trappers) all over in Co. so not so strange finding old stuff there.Could have been part of a payment for pelts and you said it is light so could be why it wasn't deep.Or that could have been fill dirt from a deeper source from when the park was built.

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Great saves there, interesting coin indeed , maybe more old stuff there ?

 

[CRUSADER]

Not sure I like the cleaned version that much (although it is easier to make out some of the detail), but here it is:

It either had a copper core, therefore a counterfeit or it was heavily debased.

 

[HCW]

You had Mountainmen (trappers) all over in Co. so not so strange finding old stuff there.Could have been part of a payment for pelts and you said it is light so could be why it wasn't deep.Or that could have been fill dirt from a deeper source from when the park was built.

I was thinking the same thing.
Fill dirt from some where else.

 

[Iron Patch]

Thanks for all your help Iron Patch! I'm learning so much. I never heard of a billon coin, but could feel it's not quite silver, almost feels like an aluminum coin. I really love how old it is and still cannot believe it was just in the grass at a park. Is this considered a hammered coin? Good luck to you on finding an older one and a gold one while you are at it.

Billon is just a lower grade version of silver, and maybe on that dealer site he says AG, but it's actually billon. Yes, it is a hammered coin, and chances are it was likely dug in France and sold on ebay or another website, and then dropped by someone at that park. This will happen more and more as thousands upon thousands of old coins exchange hands all over the world. So it's more about bragging rights than a significant historical find. You'll hear plenty of theories, I'm just stating what makes the most sense.

 

[seychik]

Billon is just a lower grade version of silver, and maybe on that dealer site he says AG, but it's actually billon. Yes, it is a hammered coin, and chances are it was likely dug in France and sold on ebay or another website, and then dropped by someone at that park. This will happen more and more as thousands upon thousands of old coins exchange hands all over the world. So it's more about bragging rights than a significant historical find. You'll hear plenty of theories, I'm just stating what makes the most sense.

I agree, since it was nearly a surface find and the park is close to a school. I think its historical value just isn't there, but more likely a kid took it to school and later dropped it. I belong to a detecting club and we had a hunt there and no one else found anything older than my 1948 dime, no wheat cents, nothing else, only really modern. Not looking like a "go back to site", plus I've been there a few times already. Always wishful thinkers, we are!

 

[Iron Patch]

I agree, since it was nearly a surface find and the park is close to a school. I think its historical value just isn't there, but more likely a kid took it to school and later dropped it. I belong to a detecting club and we had a hunt there and no one else found anything older than my 1948 dime, no wheat cents, nothing else, only really modern. Not looking like a "go back to site", plus I've been there a few times already. Always wishful thinkers, we are!

Even at old sites much older coins can turn up. I know of ancient Roman, Greek, and a 13th century English hammered penny all dug in places that didn't even date to the 1600s. Obviously the coin still has a lot of history and spent hundreds of years in the ground, likely in France, before it was found. A funny thought is the original finder might even be a member on here.

 

[BuckleBoy]

That had obviously been in the ground for a long time! Can't believe that something that old just got dug in Colorado. That's awesome!