Finally a King George Copper

[Riggleman]

I recently discovered a colonial site on one of my Civil War dig sites. Last trip there pulled a number of tombac buttons and an 1789 King George III Spade Token. With the previous coin being a token and not the real deal ive been itching to go back. So today i set out on a mission to bring home a colonial coin. The area is strewn with iron and its slow working to get the good signals but i managed to find a small tombac button, then i dug a very choppy iron signal and there in the loose dirt a dirty green coin was staring back at me. I knew it had to be a KG, at least i hoped, not being able to wait till i got home i smeared the dirt off and i could see Britannia. Mission accomplished! A little more detecring located a piece of a copper shoe buckle, and shot minie ball. In the spring i will be going back and sifting this area, the tally for a small 10x10 area has produced KG III Copper, 6 flat buttons, KG token, complete shoe buckle, partial shoe buckle, small knee buckle, and broken glassware and stoneware. After cleaning the first three numbers are 177, I believe the 3rd is a 5, 1775 King George III Half Penny.

 

[joe_dirt]

I recently discovered a colonial site on one of my Civil War dig sites. Last trip there pulled a number of tombac buttons and an 1789 King George III Spade Token. With the previous coin being a token and not the real deal ive been itching to go back. So today i set out on a mission to bring home a colonial coin. The area is strewn with iron and its slow working to get the good signals but i managed to find a small tombac button, then i dug a very choppy iron signal and there in the loose dirt a dirty green coin was staring back at me. I knew it had to be a KG, at least i hoped, not being able to wait till i got home i smeared the dirt off and i could see Britannia. Mission accomplished! A little more detecring located a piece of a copper shoe buckle, and shot minie ball. In the spring i will be going back and sifting this area, the tally for a small 10x10 area has produced KG III Copper, 6 flat buttons, KG token, complete shoe buckle, partial shoe buckle, small knee buckle, and broken glassware and stoneware. After cleaning the first three numbers are 177, I believe the 3rd is a 5, 1775 King George III Half Penny.

Great work congratulations [emoji106]I found a couple here in Virginia but they were not even close to the great shape yours is. Awesome

 

[azdirtdigger]

Great coin!

 

[TomW244]

That is a beauty, with a lot of great detail! I'd love find one if those, but doubt I will here in Florida. Nice work!

 

[Phishfindr]

That's very impressive, to say the least. Congrats!

 

[HighVDI]

That is so neat how the green outlined her! Congrats on a successful hunt.

Id be sifting that 10'x10' area after detecting it. Probably items in there that could never be seen with any detector!

 

[Tnmountains]

Ok I am moving to the Virginias. You guys get all the good stuff! Nice day hunting.

 

[DetectorMoe]

Cool looking copper, nice digs!

 

[BLK HOLE]

Very nice save

 

[CRUSADER]

1775 Counterfeit, one of the most common dates for these. Still its in great condition!

 

[Ahab8]

Great ctft George. Really nice detail on that one

 

[Riggleman]

So why do some believe this is a counterfeit? Am i missing something in the details?

 

[CRUSADER]

So why do some believe this is a counterfeit? Am i missing something in the details?

Yes, a Regal would not have a partial date for starters, plus lots of other give-a-ways.

These series of counterfeits were produced in the 1780s-90s.

 

[Rubka888]

"With little silver coined in the second half of the 18th century, the burden of small change fell on the copper coinage, of which the highest denomination before 1797 was the halfpenny. Many official halfpennies were melted down clandestinely and lightweight counterfeits made with the copper. The Mint found in 1787 that at most 8 percent of "halfpennies" in circulation were real. A withdrawal of the existing copper coinage was deemed impractical due to transport difficulties.[8] The Government would not accept copper coinage for taxes, and the small merchants who accumulated large stocks of real and dubious copper coin sought relief. Areas not near London were sometimes short of coppers, since new issues could only be purchased at the Mint's office at the Tower".

The above is from Wikipedia. Only 8% were real! Even if it is counterfeit, it was still used as a coin back then. And it is a nice one!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on the nice finds!

 

[dirtlooter]

very awesome coin, real or not it is both old and was used back then. Still something to get excited about, at least for us here State side.

 

[Don in SJ]

Almost all KGIII Halfpence are counterfeits in America. That is the coinage we used,most KGIII counterfeits were minted in England and shipped to America. Counterfeits are actually just as if not more collectible than regals..... I have possibly only ever seen one or two Regal KGIII Halfpence posted on this forum that have been found in America.

 

[Rookster]

Super day. Congrats

 

[Relicific]

Congrats on the old counterfeit copper

 

[Silver Searcher]

One of the better counterfeits

SS