Coin?

[dts52]

Found near the cellar hole that produced the pocket watch winding key. I’ve been soaking it in olive oil but no detail is coming out. It rang up at 15 on the Nox which usually means a shotgun shell for me. Thanks for looking.



dts

 

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[Noah_D]

Could it be a corroded Zincoln? They usually come out sort of like that for me, although they usually just like fall apart pretty quickly so probably not.

 

[Fullstock]

Could be a WWII period steel cent.

 

[nkellam22]

It's corroding similar to a nickel
Maybe even a shield nickel given its smaller size.

 

[nsdq]

Flat button ?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Unfortunately, with that much corrosion and no visible details left, it's unlikely that you'll ever know exactly what you've found.

Dave

 

[dts52]

I don’t think I have anything to lose by scraping away enough crud to hopefully determine whether it’s a Zincoln or something else. The problem with most sites here in Connecticut is that people have been tossing trash everywhere. Cellar holes seem to be popular hang out places for what we used to call “woodsies” back in the days before I went into the service. Just because a cellar hole is colonial era doesn’t mean that you won’t find beer cans and bottle caps tossed in as late as last week. This “coin” was only a couple inches deep so it may well be modern. Thanks for all the good advice. New England soil has an unfortunate way of toasting coins beyond recognition. Thank goodness pull tabs don’t corrode!
dts

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I don’t think I have anything to lose by scraping away enough crud to hopefully determine whether it’s a Zincoln or something else. The problem with most sites here in Connecticut is that people have been tossing trash everywhere. Cellar holes seem to be popular hang out places for what we used to call “woodsies” back in the days before I went into the service. Just because a cellar hole is colonial era doesn’t mean that you won’t find beer cans and bottle caps tossed in as late as last week. This “coin” was only a couple inches deep so it may well be modern. Thanks for all the good advice. New England soil has an unfortunate way of toasting coins beyond recognition. Thank goodness pull tabs don’t corrode!
dts

It's such a shame that young people today don't appreciate the history of our countries like we used to, my father taught me to appreciate our countries history and where we came from. I'm not sure why this is today, but it may be the history curriculum they teach in our schools or it may be the distraction of technology on our youth as well. In my day, if we had a question or wanted to know about something, my Dad used to say "go look it up in the Encyclopedia Britannica."

You're right dts, it's likely just a very corroded Lincoln Penny. Thankfully we discontinued the use of our pennies in 2012 and due to their composition from 2000 - 12 (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating) they breakdown quickly in the ground.

Best of luck to you,
Dave