Think I found my oldest coin ever...

[Joe G]

Went back to that old park where I found some large cents, the colonial copper, musket ball, and colonial buttons. Found another flat button like the others (late 1700's early 1800's). Dug another good deep signal and found this. I thought at first it was another large cent but they don't look like this that's for sure. While I'm not sure if it's the exact coin I've got posted below, I think it's safe to say it's pretty dang old and it's British. The one I posted is a 1694. So? Whatcha think?

Now it's tough to tell on the pic but here's the back. Before I cleaned it a little I could just make out the form and that was before I found this pic.

Here's another sample I found:

 

[piggman1]

Pretty neat whatever it is!

 

[KenPa]

Great Find Congrats

 

[Ed-NH]

Awesome copper there. The coin in the middle photo appears to be a William and Mary 1/2 penny 1694. The one on the top appears to be a George I 1/2 penny (early 1700s) or George III 1/2 penny (late 1700s). It's hard to tell because of condition. Those British coppers are awesome. It shows that those folks who left Britan in the 1700's brought there own coinage across the ocean with them. This we before the US minted their own coppers. I love finding those coins. They possess a ton of history

 

[halfdime]

Looks incredible!

 

[jimmatt_43]

Nice dig.

 

[romeo-1]

That's an oldie! Just the fact of being able to identify this coin as a 1694 W & M copper is a huge coup! I'm still looking for my first 1600s coin!

 

[DIGGITALL]

great finds that shure beats my finds today 5 lincoln cents,paper clip , 3 peices of wire ,one large screw , 3 little nails lol and it is still hot here in Tennessee almost 90 and its october what is with this weather ground so hard need jack hammer to dig in it. congratulations on your finds

 

[Iron Patch]

These coins are more common than you would think in the UK. I just got back from a MD trip there and it was no big deal to find one. It is also no big deal to find them on Ebay. I bought 5 of them in pretty good shape for $6 to practice with. Most of the time, they just turn green in the soil and that is the way they "degrade." Pure copper planchets just do that. They don't have any layers to come apart or flake. When coins were counterfeited, they used pretty crude metal techniques. The metals may not have been "mixed" very well. When these coins degrade, the layers of the metal will separate. They flake from the sides inwards. Old Roman coins do the same thing. So it IS unusual for a coin of pure copper, even this old, to flake in the ground.

Daryl

I am VERY familar with these coins and if you can buy 5 in pretty good shape for $6.00 I'll pay you $25 per lot and buy as many as you can, or will, every find. Then we'll both be very happy!

 

[LI Tom]

Congrats on your oldest find,it must have been a rush when you realized it's age.It's also great to know LI produces finds like that,it keeps me motivated.

 

[BioProfessor]

Here's the lot I bought. The coins on the top and side are the old coppers.

Daryl

 

[Iron Patch]

Here's the lot I bought. The coins on the top and side are the old coppers.

Daryl

All I can make out are a couple Victoria. They would be worth along the lines of what you paid. Early halfpennies get better than that, and W & M higher than the common Georgies.

...and "pretty good shape" can hold very different meanings to different people.

 

[bookfisher]

Hey Joe, Congratulations from one Long Islander to another, on a real neat William III copper. Great Find! By the way, when Crusader suggested contemporary counterfeit, he meant contemporary to 1694!
And he's right, counterfeits are better than the real thing.

 

[BioProfessor]

Wish I could send pictures but I took them to the UK thinking I could set up a small practice plot. Turned out I was staying in town and there was no place to bury them and I couldn't take them out of the country without an export license. Kinda forgot that little detail when I took them in. You have to watch the detector finds pretty close and ask for more pictures to get the good coppers. They come and go. Want me to try and find you a few? I'm not actively looking for any now since I found some and should get them shortly and I'll have all I need/want.

Daryl

 

[bookfisher]

Congrats on your oldest find,it must have been a rush when you realized it's age.It's also great to know LI produces finds like that,it keeps me motivated.

Hey Tom, Remember that the 1652 Oak Tree Shilling (I think I have the date and denomination right) was found in a Bridgehampton, Long Island potato field back in around 1989. It sold the following year at auction for around $32,000!

 

[Iron Patch]

Wish I could send pictures but I took them to the UK thinking I could set up a small practice plot. Turned out I was staying in town and there was no place to bury them and I couldn't take them out of the country without an export license. Kinda forgot that little detail when I took them in. You have to watch the detector finds pretty close and ask for more pictures to get the good coppers. They come and go. Want me to try and find you a few? I'm not actively looking for any now since I found some and should get them shortly and I'll have all I need/want.

Daryl

If that was to me, thanks but I'm good!

If not, yeah I'll take em. lol

I love old coppers and have found many George but no luck on William & Mary. I have a couple of really bad Williams, and many unidentifiable green disks which no doubt are where my W & M are.

 

[BioProfessor]

You don't say where you are hunting. UK?

Daryl

 

[cwdigger]

Beutiful old coins, congrats on them as well

HH

 

[Iron Patch]

Canada, East coast.

 

[SilverDreams]

Awesome find!

 

[Joe G]

Like myself, he's from Long Island, New York. Long Island is noted right below his picture at top of post.
[/quote]

Hey Bookfisher... where are you located? Are you the guy on the north shore? St. James area? I'm in Levittown.