Stunning KG III 1/2 Penny, but dated 1778?

[paleomaxx]

Squeezed in one last hunt this morning before the snow finally chased me out. It's also supposed to be in the negatives here later this week so the ground will be rock in just a few days. Not to say it wasn't a good sendoff though. I found a ton of cool relics which I'll be cleaning up and posting shortly, but this one I just had to get on here because it has me fairly excited and I could use some input.



It is hands-down the best condition colonial copper I have ever dug and that would be enough by itself to send 2017 off in style, but the date is where it gets interesting. I can't find any mention of KG III coins minted in 1778. My immediate thought was counterfeit, but then I also can't find any mention of a counterfeit from 1778 since they tended to mint them the same years as standard issue to avoid suspicion. So what on earth have I found? In any case; it's a beautiful coin and a fantastic close of the season!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[paleomaxx]

I don't know of anyone that is doing that with the Machins but I agree it is a neat idea! There have been a lot of them found metal detecting but also many have survived that are not ground finds - same with New Jerseys - so that muddles it up somewhat.

It would be easy enough to do a search on this forum and get an idea of what was reported here at least. I have done that with a few other coin varieties I have been interested in tracking and I found it somewhat fascinating.

Beautiful find! What area are you in? I'm in the Capital Region.

I'm in the capital region as well! This was found about an hour away though. I prefer cellar holes so I have a tough time finding spots within 30min of Albany.

I agree, non-dug coins wouldn't be useful for a distribution census since you couldn't account for later movement. At least with dug coins you can assume a shorter time in circulation before being lost and focus on cluster areas. There would be a statistical bell-curve with outlier coins that traveled great distance due to travel and trade, but with enough data points you would probably see a pattern emerge around specific counties and hopefully cities/towns.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[against the wind]

doninbrewster is another go to guy when it comes to colonial period coins.
You may want to P.M. Diggin Dude.
I believe he recovered a Machin Mills coin last year.
Very nice save,
Congratulations

 

[Bramblefind]

The large cent in my avi was actually dug at the Machin's Mills site. But I haven't been able to make the trip back there in years.

Yep it definitely takes some doing to find good sites around here. I admire your ambition!