VERY OLD SILVER? -- 3 more pics added that show detail

[p2c]

Hi all,
Last year I thought I found my first silver ever in May. But back in April I found this. At first I thought it was going to be a nickel due to size, but it registered more like silver. It was completely smooth, so I thought its just a blank. Fortunately I didn't throw it out. Today I was looking at it, and gave myself an extreme headache doing so. It is indeed either a coin or token but HEAVILY WORN. The way that you can only make out detail if you hold it right in the light.
I want help trying to ID it (you out there Mr. Senior?). It is slightly smaller than a modern nickel. It measures: 20.2 mm in diameter and 1.55 mm thick. My kitchen scale that has poor precision oscilates between 3 to 5 g. The edge does appear like it was either once reeded or lettered but is worn smooth.
I found it along the Sauk Trail so it could be Spanish, French, English, Colonial, old US (but I doubt US) and it could be anywhere 1600+ (though it appears the date (if that is what I am seeing is 1750's).
Since I cannot capture the detail I see with my eye with camara, I've included a poor sketch of what I see. The other side of the coin has too much tarnish to see any sort of 'flat' details. Thanks, BTW never throw out the questionable items. -Jon


Best shot I managed you can see some detail on the right 1/3 of coin

Edge

Head on, too smooth, scratched and shiny to see anything. At bottom slightly to left you can see what I think is date maybe "7" outlined by tarnish.

What I see when I tip the coin in the light and strain my eyes, though I don't know correct orientation. One direction looks like could be a crown on top, another direction maybe pillars on top (they seem to close for a Reale, but I don't know), another direction maybe its a harp?



This one along the left side almost looks like a pillar with ribbons, but not like any real i've seen

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[twistidd]

Re: VERY OLD SILVER? -- need expert opinions

I would think, that if it were a coin so worn that they obverse/reverse is smooth, the edge wouldn't be as sharp as yours. The coin would probably be thinner. It looks like some kind of blank to me. Doesn't really have the look of silver.

But what do I know.

Joe

Update: I just noticed that your post title included the need for "expert opinions". Sorry, wrong room! lol

 

[p2c]

Re: VERY OLD SILVER? -- need expert opinions

Yeah,
I really thought it was a blank when I found it, but I don't think so as what I can see seems to be a pattern with design; I just cant make out the features clearly. It seems like either a harp or a shield shape (kind of like the tight union shield on the upcoming 2010 penny), I think its a harp though. Edge could have not worn down depending on how the coin was milled, it may have created a stronger point. It still could be a blank, but it looks too much like a pattern and not random markings on the metal. Too bad it is so worn.

 

[Lowbatts]

Re: VERY OLD SILVER? -- need expert opinions

Yeah like Joe says, that edge is sharp, way too sharp to have lost all of the other detail first. Perhaps it was a blank from an intended counterfeit coin or more likely a token that never got finished. I found a pile of store tokens that were never counter-stamped with a value from the old P. W. Ritchie Cash Store in Elgin.

Looking at your pics with several filtering options did not reveal any pattern details for me so I'm thinking a blank that never got used, but most likely not an authentic coin blank.

 

[Lowbatts]

this is a real long shot..but could it be the little pop outs from electrical boxes

Now that'd be just too easy, TT. You know we get a bit touched this time of year waiting for spring, so the common sense notion of an electrical knock out slug just won't cut it.

 

[snowskate]

Re: VERY OLD SILVER? -- need expert opinions

It seems like either a harp or a shield shape (kind of like the tight union shield on the upcoming 2010 penny), I think its a harp though.

That new penny was launched this morning in Springfield. I don't know if this will work, but maybe you could try scanning the "coin" in high resolution. We *may* be able to see some more detail that way.

 

[watercolor]

I seem to recall finding a "slug" like that last year. . . I also thought it was silver when I pulled it out of the ground but after looking at it real carefully when I got home, it ended up in the junk bin out in the garage. :P

 

[treasurefiend]

Sorry bud, but to me it just looks like just a piece of scrap metal "blank" from an electrical box. As you can see from my pix below even a super thin silver coin will still show an image, your "coin" is still thick and besides having no images it has no signs of wear on it.

 

[treasurefiend]

Here is an even more worn 1900 Barber quarter it is also roughly half the thickness of when it was minted but you can clearly see that its a US coin.

 

[bugs]

If it is an electrical knock out blank one side usually has a rounded edge.

 

[kimsdad]

Hmmm... A fun little stumper.

Most of the electrical box knockouts that I've dug from long-term burial have rusted, and newer ones have a "flat" area where they were attached to the box. In the pics, the flat surface looks like plating to me, because the dark areas look like plating worn off, not tarnish. I just don't know. I have found a brass punch-out in the woods that came from a manufacturing process, so it's possible that it came from that type of process.

I don't know if you have tried this yet, but what I do to capture very fine worn details is to shine a light source across the face of the coin rather than directly at it. I use a real bright flashlight when I do this. Lay the light on the counter with the coin. Then turn your flash off and steady the camera real well with the lens surface parallel to the flat side of the coin. The oblique light makes a big difference and brings out a lot of detail.