1793 Half Cent

[462]

Well I finally found my first 1700's US coin and it's a good one, only 35,334 minted. It's pretty toasted but I can see the date and the edge lettering is in pretty good shape. When I dug it I didn't know what I had at first I thought it looked a little big for a nickel and gave a signal like a copper coin. When I got it home and started looking at it and comparing it's size to other coins l I noticed the edge lettering. So I started looking through my Red Book for coins with lettered edges but didn't see any pictures of small coins like that. Then I decided to check the size of the early of Half Cents to see if they made any early coins smaller. Well that didn't take long, the very first one was only 22mm and when I read the description it said there was edge lettering that said TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR. I wish it was in better shape but I'm still very excited to have found such a rare coin! By the way I pulled three nails out of the hole before I found the coin, thanks to the XP Deus I had a good signal with all that iron!

 

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[Vino]

Just go hang out with George lol. He will get you on one. Maybe you can teach him how to find some big Spanish silver too :-)

No will leave the spanish for you..
Will stay with the rare coppers, that are worth much more!!! Lol

 

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[terpfan]

Congratulations on finding an elusive and coveted coin! I believe you are underestimating its condition. I am not convinced the coin is toasted. It looks like there is a lot of detail left under the surface caking. Even the date is clear. Should you clean it, and if so how? That's the tricky and very personal decision!

 

[462]

Just go hang out with George lol. He will get you on one. Maybe you can teach him how to find some big Spanish silver too :-)

Somebody needs to teach me how to find BIG Spanish silver first, all I've found is two little 1/2 real and I'm not complaining about those because I know there are a lot of people out there that will never find a Spanish silver coin.

 

[462]

Congratulations on finding an elusive and coveted coin! I believe you are underestimating its condition. I am not convinced the coin is toasted. It looks like there is a lot of detail left under the surface caking. Even the date is clear. Should you clean it, and if so how? That's the tricky and very personal decision!

Nice find! Btw I don't think it's toasted, it's heavily covered in crud. You need to find a cleaning method that is least dangerous and clean it very carefully. My king George was like that and I got it to show me some details.

Thanks! I think I'll get some mineral oil as some have suggested and see if I can get some more detail to come out. I don't think the coin is valuable enough to pay a professional to clean it. I'll just take it real easy.

 

[neworder]

Wow! An amazing piece of US history. Congratulations!

 

[beez0404]

Congratulations on a stellar find! Simply amazing. So cool that you were able to grab the date and see the lettering on the edge. As Vino said soak it in mineral oil and take it out once a week for a light brushing and redo till you've gotten it as clean as you desire.

 

[cjon455]

Very cool find, rare too! Something about the lettered edge to me makes that one of the coolest coins ever made! Good luck cleaning it up if ya try, post updated pics too!

Congrats again!

 

[terpfan]

Thanks! I think I'll get some mineral oil as some have suggested and see if I can get some more detail to come out. I don't think the coin is valuable enough to pay a professional to clean it. I'll just take it real easy.

Just as long as you know this is a valuable coin, potentially very valuable! Whatever you do, take a conservative approach.

Half Cents NumisMedia Price Guide-Good-MS60

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Awesome , found one 1793 half cent , as we!!

512 + known survivors out of 25,000 minted .

513 if you get it certified .

IMHO Don't mess around with cleaning unless you are well experienced ........

CMDdawg

 

[Don in SJ]

As others have stated, it does look like with careful cleaning a good deal of detail will be forthcoming, congrats on getting an elusive 1793 HC. I have one decent one and one that really is toast!
Don

 

[Higgy]

That find deserves a happy dance! Grats!

 

[goldnugget]

I suggest it that you put it in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes Then take a toothpick and rub it across the surface. I do this on alot of my Beach Coins to get out the details. Then soak in Distilled water-Thanks for sharing-goldnugget

 

[Mach1Pilot]

Congrats on finding a first year US mint coin! I'm also thinking be careful - with proper cleaning you may be surprised what detail remains. All it takes is to get that one small spot in the right place to get that rare variety....

 

[Patriot Relics]

Great find,

Resist the urge to clean it! As others suggested, a light soak in mineral oil will do wonders. Welcome to the 1700's club

 

[traverdog]

A really good find.

 

[guyusdigus]

I keep seeing mineral oil bath......please explain this for me...and is olive oil not good?

 

[Ahab8]

I keep seeing mineral oil bath......please explain this for me...and is olive oil not good?

The mineral oil is lighter and more pure oil than olive oil. It won't darken your coins as much as olive oil. As I said it's also more pure which is always a good thing. There's a school of thought that olive oil actually slowly continues to eat away at the coin.

 

[park pirate]

Nice..

 

[Old Dude]

The mineral oil is lighter and more pure oil than olive oil. It won't darken your coins as much as olive oil. As I said it's also more pure which is always a good thing. There's a school of thought that olive oil actually slowly continues to eat away at the coin.

Not only that, but if you take your coin out on occasion and kiss it lovingly ( no names will be mentioned or reputations tarnished in the making of this post ), the mineral oil is the only oil that won't turn rancid over time. You wouldn't want to get sick from numismatists nookie.
Incredibly nice find. Reading the edge lettering is a feat in itself.

 

[462]

Not only that, but if you take your coin out on occasion and kiss it lovingly ( no names will be mentioned or reputations tarnished in the making of this post ), the mineral oil is the only oil that won't turn rancid over time. You wouldn't want to get sick from numismatists nookie.
Incredibly nice find. Reading the edge lettering is a feat in itself.

Thanks, I don't know if I could have identified it without the edge lettering. I don't kiss and tell and only my coins and I know what happens behind closed doors.