Recovered a great looking 1675 Charles II farthing on Friday

Bill D. (VA)

Silver Member
Oct 7, 2008
4,711
6,212
SE Virginia
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6
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
F75 SE (land); CZ-21 (saltwater)
Primary Interest:
Other
My friend Joey and I hooked up on his day off and made a long road trip to check out some new sites. We got lucky by quickly landing permission at a location Joey had researched, and fortunately those pesky hunters weren't around. It was a gorgeous site well back from and above the river, and it offered quite a stunning view. As soon as we walked into the field we hit a major iron patch and slowly started pulling out colonial artifacts, some which helped to verify the c1680 occupancy of this site. Joey hit paydirt first with a nice cut pistareen, and a little later in the hunt I dug what I thought was a KG copper. But it turned out to be a 1675 Charles II copper farthing, and was in unbelievably good condition for a field-dug coin. Today I dry cleaned it with a toothbrush and toothpick, and then used a little Blue Ribbon coin cleaner topped off with a coating of Renaissance wax. I was pretty happy with the results. One of my first targets was this cool looking large domed button with some interesting designs. I thought it was probably early-to-mid 1800s, but when I was cleaning it I noticed a drilled eye shank which dates it to the late 1700s. I also dug a 1600s nipple button and a couple of fragile pewter buttons. Near the end of the hunt I chased a deep iron signal that led me to a nice colonial hoe that's cleaning up nicely in the electrolysis tank. The hoe was near the bottom of a small burn pit with a lot of charcoal and brick, but I only saw one piece of pottery. Joey and I decided to wait and expand on that spot at a later date. We wrapped up our visit by showing the elderly owner our finds, and we also discussed the history of the property with her. We were invited back anytime, and have plenty of areas for expanding our searches (in addition to looking for Joey's cut silver coin that was apparently dropped in the field somewhere). Had a great time Joey, and thanks again for the invite.
 

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Upvote 24
Thanks a bunch Robert! Yep, that's the exact same button as mine although yours is in much better shape. Any significance to the design that you know of? Does yours also have the drilled eye shank like mine? That type of attachment device dates to the late 1700s so I don't believe mine is a 17th century find even though it was recovered on a c1680 site. Thanks again for your assistance.
The back of mine was just a blob of rust and dirt. Isn't the man in the moon mentioned in an old nursery rhyme ?.
Robert.
 

Fantastic finds Bill. Congrats. I hope your weather holds up for you, we will be up to our necks in snow by the end of the week I believe.
ZDD
 

Very cool finds. I cant wait to see what else gets dup up.
 

I think we have come to expect such stunning finds from you! The patina on your Farthing is perfect. If I were lucky enough to find that, I believe it would spend the rest of my life in exactly the state it is in your pics. Great job on the cleaning. Congrats on securing permission for a return. We wait anxiously for your next posts from that site.

Sent from my iPad using TreasureNet
 

What everybody else said, and then some. Congrats:icon_thumleft:
 

King Charles the Second? Way to go Bill!

Bill - Great Finds. Glad to see that somebody is getting out. :sad11: The closest that I can get to digging is removing the 2" of the white stuff from my driveway last night. Oh well, I guess I can admire finds from TNet members to get me through the winter blues. That Charles the II of yours can suppress my withdrawal symptoms all the way to mid-January. Keep up the awesome finds.
 

Thanks a bunch Robert! Yep, that's the exact same button as mine although yours is in much better shape. Any significance to the design that you know of? Does yours also have the drilled eye shank like mine? That type of attachment device dates to the late 1700s so I don't believe mine is a 17th century find even though it was recovered on a c1680 site. Thanks again for your assistance.

From memory I'm pretty sure this is a 17th C type of button. (Haven't got time to check)

The 1675 is one of the most common coins we get but we hardly ever see them as nice as that! CONGRATS
 

From memory I'm pretty sure this is a 17th C type of button. (Haven't got time to check)

The 1675 is one of the most common coins we get but we hardly ever see them as nice as that! CONGRATS

Those 17th century coppers are pretty rare over here regardless of the date. I'm pretty excited about it. If you run across anything about that button please post. Thanks Cru.
 

BEAUTIFUL coin, Bill! Love the button assortment.
 

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I know they are rare over there, just a statement on the 1675, I would loke to know the mintage because it comes up more than any other Charles II.
UK Finds Database - - - UKDFD
Quick search shows similar.

That button has almost the exact same design as mine. But the one at the UKDFD website is copper and I don't think mine is. Also, I didn't realize that the drilled eye shanks were in use that early. Guess you learn something every day. Thanks for your help.
 

That button has almost the exact same design as mine. But the one at the UKDFD website is copper and I don't think mine is. Also, I didn't realize that the drilled eye shanks were in use that early. Guess you learn something every day. Thanks for your help.

I have had lots of that type with various designs (& metal types including enamelled) & yes they had drilled shanks in the 17th C.
 

I have had lots of that type with various designs & yes they had drilled shanks in the 17th C.

Thank you again Cru. Did you see that button in my other post that I found yesterday? Apparently I was looking at it upside down and it has 2 cherubs or angels holding a crown(?). It came from a 17th century site as well.
 

Congrats! Amazing coin! I vote Banner! :hello2:
 

Thank you again Cru. Did you see that button in my other post that I found yesterday? Apparently I was looking at it upside down and it has 2 cherubs or angels holding a crown(?). It came from a 17th century site as well.

I only looked quickly. just had a closer look. Never seen that design before. I think its another 18th C linked button, however I would not be too surprised if it were 17th C & maybe not English??
 

FANTASTIC condition on that one! Some great button finds, too!
 

Awesome score Bill , I always enjoy looking at your post keep up the good work , when you doing a video !
 

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