Massachusetts Finds -- Bent real with chopmark, unknown coin...

[btjbtj]

Hi everyone,

We found these items today. The dark coin looks very old, and we have a good silhouette showing...but letters are very faded. Dug him up from under a tree root on the 1683 property. Would love to hear if this guy looks familiar to anyone. Also found a Spanish real, about 1880ish, bent, with a chopmark.

Also, a few of you on another thread asked for close-ups of a silver coin we found, so I've attached them here in case you miss the original post. Coincidentally(??) this piece is the same size as a 1652 New England Threepence. I see a mark at the top(?), but I can't quite make out what it is. There are superficial, faint V type scratches on each side. Today was a good detecting day. Hope you all had one as well.

Thanks for viewing.

Lisa & John

 

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[Ahab8]

Thanks Ahab, yeah, it's hard to contain our enthusiasm--but you're right--should keep it in the family for years of fun to come. Great tip about lemon juice for silver! I also read an article about all of oil soaks for copper. Something to think about. Take care, L&J

QUOTE=Ahab8;5109873]As much as I would love to join you for a hunt on your amazing property i would never open it up to others. That is such a special place and could last decades of fun detecting. It's obviously loaded with early coins and buttons. I would almost bet my life there's a Mass silver or two on that property. I found a 1652 pine tree shilling a couple years ago and it was my dream find. These are super special pieces of early New England history. Any early silver coin you find with a super dark appearance can be lightened up a bit with lemon juice. I always want my early silvers to have that dark toning and to look old. So it's a delicate dance to get them just right without making them too shiny.

[/QUOTE]

I never use olive oil as it will penetrate the copper coin and will continue to come out for years. If you ever choose to go the oil route use mineral oil. It's much more pure and its lighter so it won't darken the coin as much. Copper is tricky. Often times just a dry brush is the best bet. Other times warm peroxide. It's certainly a case by case decision

 

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[CRUSADER]

Crusader--we can't thank you enough for identifying our new coin. Very exciting find, indeed. I am wondering if anyone can tell us what other type of oil besides facial oil we can use when doing the rolling method with wooden skewers to clean our coins. Any advice would be appreciated. We've run out of facial oil. Yuck.L&D[

QUOTE=CRUSADER;5109648]1683 Irland IRELAND 1683 Armstrong & Legg Halfpenny CHARLES II copper aVF RARE!!! # 91519 ss Coin coins and medals
This coin is a rare find in England. Not had one yet & probably never will.

[/QUOTE]

No amount of cleaning will help a worn coin like that, in fact further cleaning might take away some of the detail.

 

[Scrappy]

As much as I would love to join you for a hunt on your amazing property i would never open it up to others. That is such a special place and could last decades of fun detecting. It's obviously loaded with early coins and buttons. I would almost bet my life there's a Mass silver or two on that property. I found a 1652 pine tree shilling a couple years ago and it was my dream find. These are super special pieces of early New England history. Any early silver coin you find with a super dark appearance can be lightened up a bit with lemon juice. I always want my early silvers to have that dark toning and to look old. So it's a delicate dance to get them just right without making them too shiny.

Oh no, here he goes again about the tree coin!

Abe's right though. Keep that property a secret and closed off. It would be like opening pandora's box. Detect it and enjoy it for decades.

Also, don't clean anything.

Scrappy--appreciate your enthusiasm for our find. We wish finds like this kind of find for everyone, but we understand that it's rare to come by a site like this. This morning we detected for 15 minutes and found two buttons and an unknown coin. I'm trying to use the facial oil and wooden skewer method to clear it, but I'm not having much luck. Maybe we should have some type of detecting gathering on the property. Not sure how that would work, but something to think about. L&D

 

[btjbtj]

Yeah, Ahab's tree coin is stellar--that's on our bucket list for sure. I appreciate everyone's comments about cleaning and I'm not cleaning the coins. I've been working on one this morning simply because it has no markings on it at all, so I don't see how we can identify it unless we do something to it. I have been working in a little bit with the wood skewers and I'm on covering some lettering around the rims, but they disappear when the coin dries. Not sure what to do, but we do want to identify it. If I get it to be any clearer and if it is photographable, I will post it under a new post in today's finds and maybe you all can take a look. Love all the support here. L&J

 

[Ahab8]

Yeah, Ahab's tree coin is stellar--that's on our bucket list for sure. I appreciate everyone's comments about cleaning and I'm not cleaning the coins. I've been working on one this morning simply because it has no markings on it at all, so I don't see how we can identify it unless we do something to it. I have been working in a little bit with the wood skewers and I'm on covering some lettering around the rims, but they disappear when the coin dries. Not sure what to do, but we do want to identify it. If I get it to be any clearer and if it is photographable, I will post it under a new post in today's finds and maybe you all can take a look. Love all the support here. L&J

I don't want to overwhelm you with tips and tricks but this is a good one for identifying coins and buttons in tough shape. If you go in a dark room and shine a light across the surface you can often see detail that you can't see in the light. Another thing to do is use the oil from your nose or forehead and rub it on the face of the coin before you take the pics. This will highlight details. I use my iPhone flashlight and hold it off to the side of the coin. Adjust the angle until it looks best and snap some pice. I've been able to identify several coins and buttons this way

 

[btjbtj]

Great advice, Ahab. I did as you suggested--went into a closet and took some pics on my iPhone. I don't think they show enough to go on though. Will post under a new thread. Thanks, ~L&D

I don't want to overwhelm you with tips and tricks but this is a good one for identifying coins and buttons in tough shape. If you go in a dark room and shine a light across the surface you can often see detail that you can't see in the light. Another thing to do is use the oil from your nose or forehead and rub it on the face of the coin before you take the pics. This will highlight details. I use my iPhone flashlight and hold it off to the side of the coin. Adjust the angle until it looks best and snap some pice. I've been able to identify several coins and buttons this way

 

[sutphin]

SWEET FINDS .