Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

West Jersey Detecting

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Oct 23, 2006
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Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

I met up with my friend Dale at a new farm field we have been detecting. Some Indian Heads and flat buttons have been found there recently. I spent about an hour digging depression era trash. I got a dime signal and dug the food stamp token, which is a first for me.

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I figured it may be my last outing of the year so I needed to find the older stuff. I quickly left for my "button field", which was not far down the road. The button field has produced hundreds of buttons, more than a dozen coppers, and some Spanish Silver, but I had not dug a large cent there in over a year. This was my first outing to the field with my new SEF "Butterfly" coil. I immediately started digging buttons that I have missed in the past. Many were more than 8 inches deep, but most were in the 4-6 inch range. Nearly all had broken signals, and a few even read on the ferrous side of the scale in the negative numbers. I dug some real beauties, but the keeper of the day is the small eagle button with the backmark I. Scott & Co. This dates the button to the 1830's. The button has UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBIS UNUM. It is not in great shape but a keeper for sure!

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I short time later and I got the signal I was hoping for, and dug what I could tell was an early Matron Head Large Cent. It is in bad shape but I was able to get a date what I think is 1817 off of it.

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I was feeling really good by now, digging some more buttons and some thimbles, even a Ford key from the 1930's. Then I got another great signal. I was thinking it is too good to be true. Out came another copper, this one showing no detail. I was thinking it was a KG, until I got home and after a mild bath in Hydrogen Peroxide I realized it was a 1796 Large Cent! The odd thing is that the only detail remaining is the date and the bottom of the bust, so I have no clue whether it is a Draped Bust or Liberty Cap. I am leaning toward Draped Bust, but let me know if anyone disagrees.

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At this point dusk was approaching and I was starting to hear the sound of screeching owls and other creatures coming from the woods. I was hoping for one last button, and got a broken pull tab type of signal. At first when I saw the gleam of silver, that is exactly what I thought it was; another pull tab. I nearly screamed out when I saw the complete silver cuff link in my hand!

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What a way to end the day, and most likely the year! It has been a great year of detecting for me!

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Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Heck of a lot of nice finds! Congrats!
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Really nice finds! I found some cufflinks a couple weeks ago also. I wasn't sure if they were cufflinks or a collar extender so thanks for answering that question for me!
 

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Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

SWEET!!!! Awesome!!!!
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

A very nice assortment!
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Congrats on some very nice finds ! Yeah the cufflinks are Sweet ! :headbang:

TommNJ
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Neil I wish Jason and I had your luck sunday. Got 1 indian all day. Awesome finds! Those cuff links would look real nice on top. :wink: Is it me or does that crusty coppers date look like 1786. Maybe a state coin? See you thursday!
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

SouthJerseyJim said:
Neil I wish Jason and I had your luck sunday. Got 1 indian all day. Awesome finds! Those cuff links would look real nice on top. :wink: Is it me or does that crusty coppers date look like 1786. Maybe a state coin? See you thursday!

Jim might be correct, it could be a 86 there and the area just above the date, part of the plow of a NJ copper. Have you weighed it and measure it? I have a three 1786 NJ's coppers not in great shape we can compare with.(one thick planchet at 153 grains, and two thin planchets at 135 and 139 grains.)

Added, but if I look long enough, I see 786, 796 or 798! :icon_scratch: Is that a possible letter "A" at about 2 o'clock? That would be approx right for the A in CAESAERA Grrr, sometimes coppers get rather frustrating trying to get even a accurate rough ID. >:(

Don
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Don in SJ said:
SouthJerseyJim said:
Neil I wish Jason and I had your luck sunday. Got 1 indian all day. Awesome finds! Those cuff links would look real nice on top. :wink: Is it me or does that crusty coppers date look like 1786. Maybe a state coin? See you thursday!

Jim might be correct, it could be a 86 there and the area just above the date, part of the plow of a NJ copper. Have you weighed it and measure it? I have a three 1786 NJ's coppers not in great shape we can compare with.(one thick planchet at 153 grains, and two thin planchets at 135 and 139 grains.)

Added, but if I look long enough, I see 786, 796 or 798! :icon_scratch: Is that a possible letter "A" at about 2 o'clock? That would be approx right for the A in CAESAERA Grrr, sometimes coppers get rather frustrating trying to get even a accurate rough ID. >:(

Don

Jim, If I am not mistaken, these links were already on top...back in April when Don found them if I recall!

Don, Hmmmm...Now you have me thinking...but I still see 1796. The coin weighs 8.62g (132.8gr) on my digital scale, which is close to what the 1817 weighed. I am not too sure how accurate this scale is. The diameter is 28.6mm.

I took a bunch of different photos under different lighting conditions; flash on, flash off then did the same with a little Vasoline. Here are some results:
 

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Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

A few more:
 

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Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Neil, cannot really tell from the new photos, since wear and corrosion can distort what we see. Now, the diameter does match a Draped Bust, but the weight is not in the ball park at all in my opinion, too light. I checked 16 of my Draped Bust coppers of varying wear and only 2 out of that group were below 10+ grams and one of them that was, is holed, the other is almost totally smooth, and even that one is 9.4 grams. Now if your scale is on the lighter side, than the Draped Bust is more likely with that possible 9 looking somewhat probable in that one photo. Perhaps you can weigh another Draped Bust on the same scale for a reference.

One of my 1786 NJ coppers is average 28.6 mm in diameter (avg, not perfectly round) and it weighs 135.8 grains, so that seems like a better possibility that it is a NJ copper over a Draped Bust.

Look carefully above the date and see if you think the details showing look more like the bottom outline of the Draped Bust or more like the bottom area of the NJ plow.

Attached a photo of my 1786 closest in dimensions to yours, although the size of the numerals do not look the same,(many varieties) but I want to emphasize how the bottom area of the plow should look . ( Hard getting a good photo now under the lights :) )

Don
 

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Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

wow! going out with a bang! sweet i mean very sweet finds! :thumbsup:
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Don in SJ said:
Neil, cannot really tell from the new photos, since wear and corrosion can distort what we see. Now, the diameter does match a Draped Bust, but the weight is not in the ball park at all in my opinion, too light. I checked 16 of my Draped Bust coppers of varying wear and only 2 out of that group were below 10+ grams and one of them that was, is holed, the other is almost totally smooth, and even that one is 9.4 grams. Now if your scale is on the lighter side, than the Draped Bust is more likely with that possible 9 looking somewhat probable in that one photo. Perhaps you can weigh another Draped Bust on the same scale for a reference.

One of my 1786 NJ coppers is average 28.6 mm in diameter (avg, not perfectly round) and it weighs 135.8 grains, so that seems like a better possibility that it is a NJ copper over a Draped Bust.

Look carefully above the date and see if you think the details showing look more like the bottom outline of the Draped Bust or more like the bottom area of the NJ plow.

Attached a photo of my 1786 closest in dimensions to yours, although the size of the numerals do not look the same,(many varieties) but I want to emphasize how the bottom area of the plow should look . ( Hard getting a good photo now under the lights :) )

Don

I appreciate your efforts. I thought you may have had something, but I am reasonably certain the date is 1796. Unfortunately I think the date is flaking off a bit so its days are numbered. I am going to check my scale on modern coinage, which will tell me how accurate it is. I checked out a dime and it was a bit under, but it may be off by a larger margin on a heavier object.
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

like i said before what a way to end the year! them silver cuff links are incredible!
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

Thanks for all the replies. I noticed that the set Don found 18 months ago made the banner, which I guess makes this find banner worthy, even if mine is not up there at the top. That is pretty cool!

One of the odd things that came of this post was the question of the 1796 copper being a large cent due to its weight being well under 9 grams. These coins are typically 10.9 grams or so. I went back and weighed five different Large Cents, some corroded from fertilized farm fields, others that were found in beautifully preserved condition from the well drained sandy soils of the Piney areas of South Jersey. It seems that the fertilized farm fields have a huge affect on the weight of the coins. All three of the Large Cents found in farm fields weighed under 9 grams, while my two best large cents weighed more than 10.6 grams each. This does not make the job of Identifying the 1796 any easier. I have looked at dozens of Conder Tokens and have found none that match up.

I guess this coin will be classified (for now) as an unidentified 1796 copper!
 

Re: Large Cents, Buttons Galore & Early Silver Cuff-links! What an Ending!!!

:thumbsup:
 

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