Counterfeit coin??

[rsilva02667]

I went out detecting today where I found two large cents in the last two days. I found this round disk, I think it might be made of lead because it is pretty easy to bend a little. When I got it home I noticed it has letter and or numbers on it and a raised edge. Is this possibly a period counterfeit?
Thanks for looking!

 

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[GaRebel1861]

I have found several of these in the local river here and was told that they were slugs used to fool early slot machines. Most I found were the size of a dime and were made of lead as well.

 

[rsilva02667]

This is the size of a half dollar and It looks like there's a 50 on the bottom of it. The large cents I found were 1830 and 1797. Could this be from the same time period?

 

[BigWaveDave]

ya got me on that one.. hopefully one of our pros will solve this one.

 

[Iron Patch]

This is the size of a half dollar and It looks like there's a 50 on the bottom of it. The large cents I found were 1830 and 1797. Could this be from the same time period?

Absolutely.

 

[coachbedford]

It does seem to be some kind of lead token or counterfeit lead coin......curious as to whether this is an england find, a western US find, an eastern US find...Also larger piics of front and back would help.

 

[rsilva02667]

It does seem to be some kind of lead token or counterfeit lead coin......curious as to whether this is an england find, a western US find, an eastern US find...Also larger piics of front and back would help.

This was found on cape cod, MA. I also found an 1830 and a 1797 LC in the same area.

 

[rsilva02667]

The lower right side of the first pic shows evidence of a raised edge

 

[coachbedford]

Well, lead counterfeits and tokens were not common in the United States back in the 1700s and 1800's...though not unheard of. What little I can see of a design looks geometric, thus does not look like a U.S coin design. I tend to think this is some kind of lead token, 1800s to early 1900s. Very hard to say though. What kinda looks like "50" at the bottom could be that....but looks like a "B" next to it, so I don't know if that indicates a denomination. You did provide other pictures but to have any chance to tell anything more it would take a BIG and clear close up of both front and back.

 

[Ant]

I know that in the early 60's we would occasionally find a slug in our change, some say it was passed by a customer, some say the vendor passed it, and some would say it was introduced into the system from a coin machine.

All these slugs were smooth blanks with no raised or reeded edge. Most were nickel sized and some quarter and made of lead, sometimes we would find electrical knockouts in out change too, still had an occasional buffalo nickel in our change back then. A nickle bought a candy bar back then and a dime bought a squat gun, penny candy back then cost 25 cent or more today.

 

[rsilva02667]

A lead token from that time period would be a cool find! I'll ask my sister in law to take a close up picture with her nice camera

 

[rsilva02667]

Well, lead counterfeits and tokens were not common in the United States back in the 1700s and 1800's...though not unheard of. What little I can see of a design looks geometric, thus does not look like a U.S coin design. I tend to think this is some kind of lead token, 1800s to early 1900s. Very hard to say though. What kinda looks like "50" at the bottom could be that....but looks like a "B" next to it, so I don't know if that indicates a denomination. You did provide other pictures but to have any chance to tell anything more it would take a BIG and clear close up of both front and back.

So I just found this online...


I don't think it's an exact match but it's close!

 

[coachbedford]

If you consider European origin, England would be your best bet for lead tokens-- they were made from medieval times all the way through the mid 1800s for local use: merchants, churches and farm landowners all issued lead tokens for small purchases. Designs ranged from copies of current coins in use to simple letter monograms, to just simple geometric patterns.

 

[coachbedford]

But y'know come to think of it.... off the shore of Cape Cod was where the 1717 wreck of the pirate ship Wydah was. All kinds of captured stuff from numerous ships on board that wrecked vessel. Maybe this piece came from that ship-- possibility! Of course I'm sure there were numerous wrecks off the coast of Cape Cod.

 

[rsilva02667]

Thanks for the great bit of information! Unfortunately where the whydah sunk is all national seashore and metal detecting is highly forbidden!

 

[rsilva02667]

Well, lead counterfeits and tokens were not common in the United States back in the 1700s and 1800's...though not unheard of. What little I can see of a design looks geometric, thus does not look like a U.S coin design. I tend to think this is some kind of lead token, 1800s to early 1900s. Very hard to say though. What kinda looks like "50" at the bottom could be that....but looks like a "B" next to it, so I don't know if that indicates a denomination. You did provide other pictures but to have any chance to tell anything more it would take a BIG and clear close up of both front and back.

Alright coach, how's this?




Thank you so much for your input! I really appreciate it and I would be so pumped to get to ID this token!

 

[recondigger]

Here are a couple copies of coins I have found over the last couple years one is a 1858 FE cent made of lead and the other is a large cent copy made of pewter. It could be just something someone did to pass the time remember there was no tv or internet. I have seen a few of my buddy's also find lead large cents and I believe that they were not meant to fool anyone. No one in their right mind would believe that a lead large cent is real.

 

[coachbedford]

Still hard to make out. I could swear that the lettering that I CAN see are "SOB"... but not sure what that would stand for, or even if I am seeing the lettering right. In the smaller pics it almost looks like the other side from the lettering has a shadowy standing figure but again, that could be a trick of the eyes. I would hold onto it-- never know if one day it might get cleared up enough to identify it.

 

[rsilva02667]

I wouldn't have thought much of it if I hadn't have found it next to two early large cents. I'll def hold onto it, sometimes the mystery can be as much fun as the find!

 

[Ant]

It reminds me of the top part of a old cap to a bottle.