205+ year old find on the ground!

slipgate

My father-in-law was a landscaper for 40 years. The below are some of the more interesting coins that he has found over the years. I was hoping there are some early penny collectors that might be able to narrow the year down on the first one with the detail that is still there. I am pretty sure it is a draped bust variety from 1796-1807. Is there any way to ever pull a date from this coin?

I was wondering if anyone knows a way to restore the second one. It looks like it was in pretty good condition when it was lost so many years ago.

I think the last one was picked up during his military tour in Germany during the Korean war. If the last picture offends anyone, please let me know and I will remove the picture from the post, either respond here or PM me.

ER

I'm not offended.

Steve27

Cool finds, but there's no way to restore any of them.

pontiacinf

restoring coins like that isnt worth it. I would collect coins that grade to have them for their originality, and when I see coins like that, I feel they tell a story which makes them cool

oh man if they could talk

gyocomgd

That's way cool, don't be disappointed that their value isn't great. Give them out one at a time to a kid as neat little presents.

Conder101

I'll try and work on it some later when I have some references with me, but I am leaning toward 1802 for the first large cent.

lordmarcovan

Cool finds!

The Nazi piece is actually not bad, for a zinc coin. You can tell it wasn't a ground find. Those zincs usually don't fare so well and are often plagued with whitish oxidation and/or pitting. You could rub a little Vaseline on it or put a little mineral oil on it without harming it. The "A" mintmark is for Berlin, by the way.

The US coins are pretty much untreatable, but they're neat relics- as a detectorist, I love to see what folks have found. If he found these without a detector, by eyesight alone, then he's a lucky fella, and sharp-eyed!

As it happens, I have found one example of each of those three types while detecting.

My Draped Bust cent is totally corroded. You could tell it was a Draped cent when I found it, but when I tried cleaning it with electrolysis, I "burnt it up". It's a featureless slug, now.

My Braided Hair cent is an 1850. I dug it on a Civil War-era site in the summer of 2004. This is how it looked when it came out of the ground, before cleaning:



My Shield nickel is an 1873. It was so shallow in the sandy soil (less than an inch deep), that I kicked it out with my toe. It's not quite as nice as the one he found. (Not bad for a dug one, but pitted).

billboat

My advice--don't ever remove a legitimate coin post because someone is offended--you've got a life--they need to get one.

bhartman35

Cool coins, and neat finds.

Collecting a coin doesn't mean support for a government -- past or present.

slipgate

many thanks lordmarcovan! Your comments are appreciated!

Conder101 - I look forward to your insites - also for the less uniformed like me, a quick summary of the differences in these early cents would be helpful. I'd love to start collecting some of the "ancients" but my bank account just wouldn't appreciate it.

I am not concerned with value at all, these will remain in the family. Keeping them in original condition is good advice rather than trying to restore them, the condition makes the story.

kiyote

I enjoy buying coins at stores and on ebay, but there's a completely different rush when you make a true find.. I recently found a 1941 lincoln cent under the basement stairs at my parent's old farm house in Ohio. Who dropped it? How long had it been sitting there? It's mind boggling and very cool.

AgMe

Don't pull the coin; you're not sending a message, just showing something historical.

coinnut86

Neato

rmoss

I don't understand why someone would be offended by the Nazi coin. History is a never ending circle that repeats itself over and over. The only way to keep things like the Nazi Oppression from happening again is to hold them in front of us as a constant reminder that this has happened once and it can happen again.

bhartman35

Some people are offended by anything connected to the Nazis, including Germany itself. I know several people who won't buy German cars as a result. Having said that, anyone who collects coins would presumably have an appreciation of history, and would recognize the coin as a historical artifact, rather than as a piece of nostalgia, as it might be interpreted by others.

CamTron

Great find, super valuable or not.
I think for me personally, its the "find" that got me into collecting coins.
You can't find an Amazing Spider-Man 122 in a hand full of coins you get
back at the store, or in the sand while at the beach.

The thrill of the find is what its all about. Thanks for posting your pics.