🔎 UNIDENTIFIED COIN

[jrwill56]

FOUND IN FEILDTODAY LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE A COIN ABOUT THE SIZE OF A NICKEL, ONLY WASHED WITH WATER. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN AND BRING OUT MORE DETAIL?

 

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[cudamark]

I'd start with a pencil rubbing and a few digital photos from different angles, settings, and in various light. Considering it's condition, cleaning further will probably remove details rather than enhance them IMO.

 

[jrwill56]

I can make out 3ij on one side and a crown on the other copper or bronze ?

 

[Red-Coat]

Cool find. Not a coin, but an apothecary weight. The lettering on the side with the crown (It's a British crown, and looks to be Victorian in age) will likely include the name of a merchant. Something like this:

Now here's the confusing part. Above the '3 ij', if you look closely it says TWO'. It's a two drachm weight. So why does it say '3' below? The reason is that it's not actually a digit '3' but the apothecary symbol for the drachm. The letters 'ij' are actually numerals. In the apothecary system, the 'i' is for 'one' as in Latin, but a second 'i' (when it's the terminal character) is often expressed as a 'j' (and in lower case by custom). So, 'ij' is '2'.

 

[jrwill56]

thanks is 1847 the oldest of this type

 

[Red-Coat]

thanks is 1847 the oldest of this type

You're welcome. No... they come from all time periods. That was just a broadly similar example for illustrative purposes. I can't make out the date on yours but I think there's a '4' as the third digit, so I would assume 184something. As I said, the crown style appears to be British Victorian (1838-1901).