New Jersey State Copper!!!

woody420 · Oct 5, 2010

I met up with PullTabSteve last Saturday and went to a new site he has aquired. The house on the property was built in the 70's but the land was a farm or field before that. The block the house is on date's way back! About a hour into the hunt and about 20 feet from the road I got a 84 VDI at 3-4 inches. Dug the hole and had to pull the coin out from between 2 roots. Saw that it was copper and just knew it was old. Didn't know what it was till we looked at the redbook. All we could go by was the word Nova on one side and a Shield on the other. After looking in the book we relized I had dug a New Jersey State Copper!!!! Unfortunatly the side with the date is shot and unreadable. There are 3 possible dates and a lot more variations but it's either a 1786,1787 or 1788. I know the pictures don't show that much detail but anyone think they can narrow the type down? I'm so excited to have broken my oldest copper date of a 1800 LC. Thanks again to PullTabSteve for finding this site and inviting me!!! The pics are some before attempting cleaning and after. I know its rough looking but it is awesome in my book!!

Thanks for looking and HH Woody420~~~

TommNJ · Oct 5, 2010

Congrats on the NJ Copper, :headbang:

! Sorry, I can't help you with the variety.

TommNJ

Deepdiger60 · Oct 5, 2010

Nice find very old coin , this might help but that NJ is pretty much gone to tell a variety Good hunt :thumbsup:

Jim
http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinText/NJ-Copper.1.html

N.J.THer · Oct 5, 2010

Congrats on the NJ copper. I saw a NJ copper get dug this weekend that was in amazing shape. The only problem was it was an off center strick so the bottom of the plow was at the bottom of the coin. The entire date completely missed the coin on the strike.

You should send 'Don in SJ' what state and county you found it in so he can add it to is NJ copper distribution study.

NJ

Don in SJ · Oct 5, 2010

Congrats on your NJ copper find :hello2:

I have been looking at the photos for quite a bit of time and have a few possible varieites but nothing definitive yet, I have not given up though. Even two of the top NJ experts cannot say for sure, due to the condition of the coin. However if you could possibly perhaps take a wet q-tip and try and bring out more details of the top points of the shield and the letters that are closest to them, that might help me. Also, I noticed the NOVA on the Obverse side, if you could see if any of the plow handles show, especially near the N in NOVA, that would be great. I did not see a cleaned photo of the Obverse side in your post.

As NJ Ther stated in his post I have been doing a survey of ground found NJ coppers for many years now, collecting data on where they circulated and by varieity if identifiable. If you could PM me the State and County found in that would be great.

Thanks, I will try and get the variety if you could post a couple more photos if more details emerge. I was also told if the shape of the denticles showed up better, that would help with the ID.

Don

{Sentinel} · Oct 5, 2010

Congrats on a swee find! I dug a mystery copper yesterday that is a Georgivs with the coat of arms of the U.K. on the back but its the shape of the shield on a NJ copper...that's what I thought it was at first...but at present....its unknown...haven't been able to find a SINGLE one like it ...

CONGRATS!!! :headbang:

Don in SJ · Oct 5, 2010

1786 NJ Copper

After looking at the spacing of the letters in NOVA, it looks like the Obverse side is a Maris 14 and I think what turned out diagnostic for me finally on the Reverse (Shield) side is the wide gap between the left side of the outline of the shield and the first set of lines (Pale). That convinced me it is a Maris J reverse.

So you found a 1786 Maris 14-J variety NJ copper. Raritiy, one of the Very Common ones. There is the possibility the Obverse is a Maris 15 (Common variety) but it would still be a 1786 copper.

I have not had my attribution verified yet by my friends who are well known in the NJ collecting world, hopefully I will get a yay or nay shortly, but I am very certain this is correct. (I hope)

Don

woody420 · Oct 5, 2010

Thanks Don for all the help!! I would post more pics but I think that is the most detail I can show...I'll give it a shot and see if I can get better pics. I didn't post the other side cleaned because there is no detail at all on that side after cleaning :icon_scratch:

I found the copper on Long Island NY. in suffolk county. Wish it was in better shape but I am still thrilled with this find!! Thanks again

Woody420~~~

Brian W · Oct 6, 2010

Sweet Copper ..Love those state coppers :icon_thumleft:

Sniffy · Oct 6, 2010

Awesome!

Brian(upstateNY-Central Fla.) · Oct 6, 2010

Thats a great copper too find :hello2:

pulltabsteve · Oct 6, 2010

That sure was a highlight for the day Don!!! Hopefully in the coming weeks the other spots will come through too. Great find. :thumbsup:

West Jersey Detecting · Oct 6, 2010

Awesome find! That is one coin that has eluded me! it is kind of ironic that the last few I saw were dug in bordering states, but still no luck for me! Common or not it is an awesome find that you should be proud of.

Congrats !

collector01 · Oct 6, 2010

Congrats on a new jersey copper! :thumbsup:

I found one a while back but in the same condition but think its the same as yours. Congrats again on a great find hope the next ones in better shape.

N.J.THer · Oct 7, 2010

Neil in West Jersey said:
Awesome find! That is one coin that has eluded me! it is kind of ironic that the last few I saw were dug in bordering states, but still no luck for me! Common or not it is an awesome find that you should be proud of.

Congrats !

Me too...although I have been on digs were they turned up just not in my shovel.

Our days will come.

NJ

Don in SJ · Oct 7, 2010

N.J.THer said:
Neil in West Jersey said:

Awesome find! That is one coin that has eluded me! it is kind of ironic that the last few I saw were dug in bordering states, but still no luck for me! Common or not it is an awesome find that you should be proud of.

Congrats !

Click to expand...

Me too...although I have been on digs were they turned up just not in my shovel.

Our days will come.

NJ

Well fellow New Jerseyians, I had found 12 over the first 20 years but it took my son 20 years till he found his first one and we hunted mostly together that entire time! But by the same token, he was finding Conn Coppers that for me for the most part were eluding me, so you just never know.

Don

CrazySlasher · Oct 7, 2010

Nice find! I got one here in MA not too long ago and it was pretty toasty on one side. Found a CT copper not too long ago. Still hoping for a MA copper sometime soon. Gratz on your awesome find.