large cents

jessecarlk

I am doing some research on the circulation patterns of large cents and just thought to ask here: those who have found large cents while metal detecting, where have you found them (town and state, if possible)? How many have you found? What was the date of the coin(s)?West coast people, have you found many/any?

JamesMurray

In 5 years of Pa i found a few , i don't detect at the moment so i suspect there's more to be found. Sadly every one is corroded beyond being salvagable.

lordmarcovan

#1- dateless (1796-1807) Draped Bust, Sutherland Bluff, McIntosh County, GA (site of an old Rev War/War of 1812 era shipyard).

#2- 1837, near the Pink Chapel (old Hazzard Plantation), St. Simons Island, GA.

#3- 1850, at a Civil War-era campsite located very near the present site of the new McIntosh County High School, Eulonia, GA.

That's my modest take so far.

My hardcore relic hunting buddies have found dozens more, including some real beauties.

jessecarlk

lord,
those are pretty interesting finds. my research is for the late date large cents, so I can tell you that the 1850 large cent you found is probably either from the shipment of 10,000 pieces to Augusta, GA on January 14, 1851, or the 15,000 pieces to Savannah, GA on January 31, 1851. This early in 1851, the Mint was still shipping out 1850-dated cents. It is possible that your particular cent was brought to Georgia by a Northerner, but I think it is safe to assume that they were from either of these two shipments.

Edited to add: The proximity of Eulonia to Savannah tells me that it was probably from the January 31st shipment.

pcgs69

Here's my 2011 Large Cent finds...

1828
Dateless Draped Bust
Toasted - no design left at all
1846
1829
183?
dateless Matron Head
dateless - no design left at all
1812

lordmarcovan

<< <i>lord, those are pretty interesting finds. my research is for the late date large cents, so I can tell you that the 1850 large cent you found is probably either from the shipment of 10,000 pieces to Augusta, GA on January 14, 1851, or the 15,000 pieces to Savannah, GA on January 31, 1851. This early in 1851, the Mint was still shipping out 1850-dated cents. It is possible that your particular cent was brought to Georgia by a Northerner, but I think it is safe to assume that they were from either of these two shipments. Edited to add: The proximity of Eulonia to Savannah tells me that it was probably from the January 31st shipment. >>

Fascinating!

I can tell you this much- the date was pretty weakly struck on that coin. Dunno what the Newcomb number is, but I expect you will.

I don't have all my stuff photographed, but here's an old scan of it, pretty much as it was when it came outta the ground.




I found a nice "Eagle A" artillery button with the gilt still on it right nearby, so I assumed it was a Civil War campsite (a nice officer's belt plate was also found near there by another digger). The button I found was a slightly prewar type, I believe, so it's possible the archaeological context was also pre-Civil War by a few years (not by much, though).

Did you see the two 1798 S-166 high-grade examples in my link in the last post? Those might've both come from the same shipment, too, though I suppose that's outside of the purview of your research, if you're sticking to the later date pieces.

jessecarlk

man...that first 1798 is gorgeous! the second one ain't too bad either. i can't tell the newcomb number on that 1850 from the images. after the 1830s, it becomes difficult to tell the variety without the coin in hand. nice find though. i've never found a large cent. in fact, i have yet to have found an indian head cent.

rob, were all your large cents found in new hampshire? and whereabout?

anyone else find any large cents?

kevinstang

I've dug a few here in upstate NY, oldest was an 1819/18 overdate coin. Also found a dateless Classic Head-someone scratched an 1814 into- so maybe they were onto something. Other dates I remember were 1826, 1832,1843,1850,1851(my first one) and 1852. Being close to Canada I've dug a few of their large cents as well British pennies and half pennies.

demodigger

ive never dug any, but would love to get just one. a co worker of mine who is not a coin collector or treasure hunter, eyeballed one in some dirt at a train station in SF.

jessecarlk

That's interesting to find one in San Francisco. The records I've gone through ended in 1873, with no mention of any cents getting sent anwhere close to California. I'm wondering if that region of the nation had no steady source of one cent pieces until 1908.

Any other large cents found? Where?

lordmarcovan

<< <i>rob, were all your large cents found in new hampshire? and whereabout? >>

Nope. I live in SE coastal GA, and that's where all of my large cents were dug.

jessecarlk

<< <i>

<< <i>rob, were all your large cents found in new hampshire? and whereabout? >>

Nope. I live in SE coastal GA, and that's where all of my large cents were dug. >>



sorry, i meant pcgs69 (rob).

Bjorn

I've only found one large cent while detecting in the US - an 1851 found on a hillside above an early suburb/outlying town of Cincinnati, Ohio. That said, a detecting club I was involved in found perhaps four or five dozen over a several week period down by an old river landing - most of these came from an area about five by ten meters where some construction workers dug down about a full meter to put in a basketball court. Apparently, many of the coins sank deep in the soft mud and the river deposited additional soil when it flooded over the years. Most of the coins found were from the 1820s through 1830s, although a good number of 1810s and 1840s through 1850s also showed up. The oldest was a 1794 liberty cap large cent - some Spanish silver also showed up, along with a big German thaler.

OnlyGoldIsMoney

I have found one Large Cent during my intermittent periods of detecting. Mine was a severely corroded 1838 found in Carbondale, Luzerne County, Penna. Time period was pre-2002 (most likely 2000 or 2001).

The area is densely developed with single family detached houses on 1/4 and smaller lots. The small undeveloped parcel is an orphan lot that was set aside when the area was originally subdivided. The parcel was intended to be the ROW for a connecting road that was never constructed. Since then the parcel has been used as a walkway connecting two parallel streets and more recently as a convenient area to dump debris. The coin was found about 2 inches below a pathway. Within a few feet I found a 1916 Lincoln cent in reasonably good condition.