1682 Schilling- My oldest dug coin! UPDATED CLEANED PHOTO

[lenmac65]

I dug this coin this past Sunday at a former homesite. It is in rough shape, but I am excited anyway, as it is my oldest dug coin: 1682, and silver to boot! It is a schilling of Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (German States). I originally had no idea what it was, so I posted it on the What is It forum. A big shout out to Bramblefind, who nailed the difficult ID and provided me with links and photos. So interesting to find an example of the different foreign coinage the colonists used in early America. Also found eight buttons, including this tiny anchor button. Could this be a Navy cuff/sleeve button? Also found this unknown item with the word TENT on it, which I am guessing once said PATENT. Thanks for checking out my post and good luck out there.

 

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[RatherBeDigging]

Weren't those pine tree shillings or whatever dated 1682 as well?? Amazing find there! Nice it's a more unique coin too. No disrespect to Spanish cobs.

 

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[Fredneck]

Fantastic finds !!

 

[pepperj]

Thanks! Believe it or not, this coin is supposedly silver. My cleaning skills are horrible, but perhaps I should try electrolysis. T-net member Glen’s Loyalists posted a cleaning suggestion on my What is It thread, but that was before it was determined to be silver. Not sure if the suggestion still applies. If you have any ideas, I am open to them.

There's the tin foil/cigarette foil paper trick.
Cleaned up a lot of silvers (hammered).
Foil, spit, wrap up coin.
It should start heating up, smell like a good beer/egg fart.
Leave for a few minutes take out rinse. Pat dry.
The coin has probably leached out the other % of base metal.(copper) if not pure silver.

 

[lenmac65]

There's the tin foil/cigarette foil paper trick.
Cleaned up a lot of silvers (hammered).
Foil, spit, wrap up coin.
It should start heating up, smell like a good beer/egg fart.
Leave for a few minutes take out rinse. Pat dry.
The coin has probably leached out the other % of base metal.(copper) if not pure silver.

Literally spit? I have heard of the foil with baking soda and water, but not spit; interesting. Thanks.

 

[lenmac65]

Weren't those pine tree shillings or whatever dated 1682 as well?? Amazing find there! Nice it's a more unique coin too. No disrespect to Spanish cobs.

Thanks for the comments. Your guess was very close. The Pine Tree coins have a date of 1652 on them, though many were actually minted slightly later if I recall correctly. The Pine Tree coin is on the top of my bucket list, and will likely never wind up in my pouch… oh well.

 

[lenmac65]

There's the tin foil/cigarette foil paper trick.
Cleaned up a lot of silvers (hammered).
Foil, spit, wrap up coin.
It should start heating up, smell like a good beer/egg fart.
Leave for a few minutes take out rinse. Pat dry.
The coin has probably leached out the other % of base metal.(copper) if not pure silver.

I ended up finding a great video demonstrating the process you described, as I wanted to see it in action before trying it. It worked like a charm in the video on an English groat. I tried it on my coin, but unfortunately, it did not work. Perhaps the silver content of my Schilling is too low, or the corrosion too thick. Thanks for the suggestion; I may try it on some other coins.

 

[RatherBeDigging]

Thanks for the comments. Your guess was very close. The Pine Tree coins have a date of 1652 on them, though many were actually minted slightly later if I recall correctly. The Pine Tree coin is on the top of my bucket list, and will likely never wind up in my pouch… oh well.

Never say never. I didn't think I was going to best 1734 as my oldest silver but dug 1697 cob on saint Patrick's day. You really never know with this hobby. Dirt casino 🎰 lol.

 

[Silvermonkey]

HUGE congrats lenmac65!!!! That is a remarkable find. It's always a thrill to get a positive ID on an unknown coin...especially one from the 1600's. I'd still be up on "Cloud 9" after digging up that beauty. Well done.

 

[cannonball]

I dug this coin this past Sunday at a former homesite. It is in rough shape, but I am excited anyway, as it is my oldest dug coin: 1682, and silver to boot! It is a schilling of Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (German States). I originally had no idea what it was, so I posted it on the What is It forum. A big shout out to Bramblefind, who nailed the difficult ID and provided me with links and photos. So interesting to find an example of the different foreign coinage the colonists used in early America. Also found eight buttons, including this tiny anchor button. Could this be a Navy cuff/sleeve button? Also found this unknown item with the word TENT on it, which I am guessing once said PATENT. Thanks for checking out my post and good luck out there.View attachment 2168075View attachment 2168076View attachment 2168077View attachment 2168078View attachment 2168079View attachment 2168080

Nice going! congratulations

 

[mindcrime1988]

Thanks! Believe it or not, this coin is supposedly silver. My cleaning skills are horrible, but perhaps I should try electrolysis. T-net member Glen’s Loyalists posted a cleaning suggestion on my What is It thread, but that was before it was determined to be silver. Not sure if the suggestion still applies. If you have any ideas, I am open to them.

Be careful in wanting to clean the coin. I know the temptation is there, but you may end up making it worse and you'll never forgive yourself. I've made that mistake on a few coins myself and sometimes it's just best to leave the coin as you found it.

 

[lenmac65]

Never say never. I didn't think I was going to best 1734 as my oldest silver but dug 1697 cob on saint Patrick's day. You really never know with this hobby. Dirt casino 🎰 lol.

I would love to dig a cob! Thanks for the comments.

 

[lenmac65]

HUGE congrats lenmac65!!!! That is a remarkable find. It's always a thrill to get a positive ID on an unknown coin...especially one from the 1600's. I'd still be up on "Cloud 9" after digging up that beauty. Well done.

It was great to get an ID. So many knowledgeable people on this site that are willing to help. If I ever get another 17th century silver, I hope it’s a Mass silver like you found; now that was a beauty!

 

[lenmac65]

Be careful in wanting to clean the coin. I know the temptation is there, but you may end up making it worse and you'll never forgive yourself. I've made that mistake on a few coins myself and sometimes it's just best to leave the coin as you found it.

You are right. I have wrecked a few coins myself trying to improve them. It is hard to resist, like trying not to scratch a really itchy bug bite 😁. Since this coin is in rough shape, I thought I would try that foil method, as it was relatively low key. It did no harm, fortunately, but no help either. Now I just need to resist the temptation to go further. I may never find old silver like this again, so I should quit before I do real harm. Thanks for the comments!

 

[Digger RJ]

I dug this coin this past Sunday at a former homesite. It is in rough shape, but I am excited anyway, as it is my oldest dug coin: 1682, and silver to boot! It is a schilling of Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (German States). I originally had no idea what it was, so I posted it on the What is It forum. A big shout out to Bramblefind, who nailed the difficult ID and provided me with links and photos. So interesting to find an example of the different foreign coinage the colonists used in early America. Also found eight buttons, including this tiny anchor button. Could this be a Navy cuff/sleeve button? Also found this unknown item with the word TENT on it, which I am guessing once said PATENT. Thanks for checking out my post and good luck out there.View attachment 2168075View attachment 2168076View attachment 2168077View attachment 2168078View attachment 2168079View attachment 2168080

Awesome!!! Congrats!!!

 

[lenmac65]

Be careful in wanting to clean the coin. I know the temptation is there, but you may end up making it worse and you'll never forgive yourself. I've made that mistake on a few coins myself and sometimes it's just best to leave the coin as you found it.

I couldn’t resist trying to clean it a little more, as the coin as-is was almost unrecognizable. I used foil and baking soda with water. I am pretty happy with the results,. and have posted updated photos. I am going to stop now, as I don’t want the coin to look spotless. This look won’t be for everyone, but I think I struck a pretty good balance.

 

[pepperj]

I couldn’t resist trying to clean a little more, as the coin as is was almost unrecognizable. I used foil and baking soda with water. I am pretty happy with the results,. and have posted updated photos. I am going to stop now, as I don’t want the coin to look spotless. This look won’t be for everyone, but I think I struck a pretty good balance.View attachment 2168651View attachment 2168652

Well that sure turned out great.
Well done on the clean up.
Now you have a challenge to better this one.
Best of luck 👍

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Wow ... the coin cleaned up very nice !

Good Hunting !

 

[Gare]

GREAT finds

 

[unclemac]

nicely done!

 

[Mr. Digger]

Huge congrats fellow Mass digger! I bet you thought it was a tree coin (pine tree, etc.) coming out of the ground. What a unique find.