McCDig
Silver Member
- Jan 31, 2015
- 3,753
- 9,039
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher F75
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Voce Populi or "Voice of the People" was calling out to me from the ground in Baltimore County today. All I knew when I dug this "toasty" coin was that it was a copper and very corroded, the thick, chunky type of accretion on the coin surfaces. I had recently viewed a video by Green Mountain Metal Detecting that showed how a drastic measure of sanding the coin surface will remove the layers of corrosion and may reveal the hidden details. I took the chance and worked both sides with Fine P 150 grit sand paper. This process did reveal the high relief details of the coin with enough evidence to accurately identify this as a 1760 Voce Populi half penny. The illustrations in "The Official Red Book - A Guide Book of United States Coins" by R.S. Yeoman, 69th edition, p. 49 were a needed aid to compare an excellent specimen to my "sanded-down" example.
The key obverse element is the "P" between the right-facing bust and the rim lettering "POPULI" on the obverse. On the reverse it is easier to see the many similar features, particularly the "B" in "HIBERNIA" falling below the level of the seated figure's right hand, the long arm of the "7" in the date bisects the secant formed by the horizontal line at the bottom of the reverse, and the harp is clearly seen.
This is the oldest coin I've ever dug.
That find came early in my brief hour and a half hunt in a field I've been hunting since the beginning of July. My last post was on finds from this same field.
After the half penny, I dug a large flat button nearby and then I struck silver with a 1960D Washington quarter. About a foot and a half from the quarter, another signal in the 80s (Fisher F75) turned out to be a 1959 Roosevelt dime. The last target of the day was a small flat button with shank.
An amazing hunt, probably my best yet from this field.
The key obverse element is the "P" between the right-facing bust and the rim lettering "POPULI" on the obverse. On the reverse it is easier to see the many similar features, particularly the "B" in "HIBERNIA" falling below the level of the seated figure's right hand, the long arm of the "7" in the date bisects the secant formed by the horizontal line at the bottom of the reverse, and the harp is clearly seen.
This is the oldest coin I've ever dug.
That find came early in my brief hour and a half hunt in a field I've been hunting since the beginning of July. My last post was on finds from this same field.
After the half penny, I dug a large flat button nearby and then I struck silver with a 1960D Washington quarter. About a foot and a half from the quarter, another signal in the 80s (Fisher F75) turned out to be a 1959 Roosevelt dime. The last target of the day was a small flat button with shank.
An amazing hunt, probably my best yet from this field.
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