1816 Austrian coin found in Northern Michigan

[JohnT]

I did not expect to find this today. I went out to a lot that was either vacant or used for agriculture over the past ~130 years. This area was established in the late 19th century, primarily with people from Sweden. So I did not expect to land an early 19th century Austrian coin. I'm pretty stoked that this is actually a coin. Was it shot? I thought it was some sort of metal ID tag with a nail mark through it. Funky, who knew? This is today's find for me.

 

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[R.Duck]

That definitely looks like bullet damage to me.
We use to put coins up as targets for bets

 

[KeyaPaha]

Those old foreign coins seem to have often ended up as marksmanship targets when they had no value in the USA. I have a Russian 188? 15 kopek coin I found in our town. The last number looks like it was dented by a .22 short. My relatives emigrated from Russia to this area in 1882. I like to think it might have been held by one of them.

 

[Mackaydon]

Proabably looked like this at one time:
https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/austria-kreuzer-km-2113-1816-cuid-1049749-duid-1221923
Interesting find, for sure.
Don...

 

[JeffInMass]

Certainly looks like target practice to me, but very cool find regardless- Congrats!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Very cool find, congrats!

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[CRUSADER]

Yes it looks like it was used for target practice. Pretty common thing to see, but not on an early coin like that. Might have been 100 years old when they did that!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

It never ceases to amaze me what uses people find for old coins they consider to have little or no value.
This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
Maybe I should start a thread showing all of the coins I've found that have been re-purposed.
This is still a very interesting 204 year old coin find for Michigan John.
Dave

 

[ToddsPoint]

I used to shoot a few coins. I'd tape them to the target and about half the time they would flyoff into space when the slug hit them. That's probably how the shooters lost your coin. Gary

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

A very unique find !

 

[Trezurehunter]

Nice old coin.

 

[JohnT]

It never ceases to amaze me what uses people find for old coins they consider to have little or no value.
This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
Maybe I should start a thread showing all of the coins I've found that have been re-purposed.
This is still a very interesting 204 year old coin find for Michigan John.
Dave

That would be a cool thread! Thanks for the comment, this coin is definitely the oldest I've ever found... it's a keeper!

 

[Relicific]

Very nice

 

[unclemac]

I actually can tell you about that coin. Anything the size of a halfpenny would pass for one in Montreal between 1820 and 1837. At some time a large number of these Kreuzels of this specific date were imported into Lower Canada (Quebec). Along with these came Norwegian Skillings of 1820 and Danish Skillings with the date 1771. Together these circulated freely along with about a hundred or so different tokens known as "Bretons" and other foreign coins. Being found in Michigan makes perfect sense as the border at that time was fluid and coinage in both the U.S. and what would become Canada, were accepted based on metal content more so than denomination. Awesome coin with an interesting history.

 

[JohnT]

I actually can tell you about that coin. Anything the size of a halfpenny would pass for one in Montreal between 1820 and 1837. At some time a large number of these Kreuzels of this specific date were imported into Lower Canada (Quebec). Along with these came Norwegian Skillings of 1820 and Danish Skillings with the date 1771. Together these circulated freely along with about a hundred or so different tokens known as "Bretons" and other foreign coins. Being found in Michigan makes perfect sense as the border at that time was fluid and coinage in both the U.S. and what would become Canada, were accepted based on metal content more so than denomination. Awesome coin with an interesting history.

Nice! I obviously did not know that, very cool. Thanks for sharing that.