A RARE 1787 CONNECTICUT HALFPENNY IN INCREDIBLE SHAPE!!!

[Erik in NJ]

This Victorian-era property I have been working this past weekend in my town has turned out to be a Colonial oasis. I have found many several Colonial firsts on this property which has been a real surprise and I believe is due to the remains of an old mill which is in the area. I will save those items for future posts, but wanted to share this incredible Connecticut halfpenny, which based on the decorator used in the die makes it rare or very rare coin to boot. It displayed on my Explorer SE Pro like a silver quarter, probably because it's in such good shape. Large coppers in northern NJ rarely if ever come out of the ground looking like this! I am also excited because it is my first colonial State copper in over twelve years of detecting. I have not nailed down the exact variety and have included photos and scans, neither of which really do the coin any justice. It is stuck off center and the date in cut in half, but due to the few years in which this coin was minted it must be a 1787 and there were over 200 varieties of this coin in that year! Please also note the die crack which goes through the letters "AUCT". This copper is the "Draped Bust" variety. Also note the very interesting look of the eye.

 

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[granthansen]

man i cant wait to find my first 1700s coin

It's definitely a thrill! I think a lot more are in Erik's future.

 

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[doninbrewster]

I'm very curious. What do you mean you "drycleaned it in warm peroxide"? You did a remarkable job in removing the green patina without damaging the coin. Could you share with us how you cleaned the coin. BTW, it is without a doubt a M.37.2-k.5. It's very easy to see the die crack through "AUCTO" and the position and cut of the branch hand on the reverse confirms this. What you have is a slightly later reverse die state than some as part of the "D" in INDE has either been polished away or the die has clogged.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I'm very curious. What do you mean you "drycleaned it in warm peroxide"? You did a remarkable job in removing the green patina without damaging the coin. Could you share with us how you cleaned the coin. BTW, it is without a doubt a M.37.2-k.5. It's very easy to see the die crack through "AUCTO" and the position and cut of the branch hand on the reverse confirms this. What you have is a slightly later reverse die state than some as part of the "D" in INDE has either been polished away or the die has clogged.

Hi Don, Thank you for your post and I will follow up with a longer PM. Basically what I did to the coin was to 1) first warm some hydrogen peroxide in my microwave (not boil it)...I would put my finger in it as it cooled to ensure a nice warm temperature, but not hot. This was done in a small Pyrex dish. 2) I then dropped the coin in the warm peroxide for approximately 30 seconds or so. 3) Then I took a Q-tip that had been soaked in the peroxide and gently wiped away the dirt--much of it on this coin came off rather easily (this was kind of odd dirt for Northern NJ as some of it was a bit sandy and it was quite fine grained dirt in parts of this yard for some reason. 4) I touched up areas with a Q-tip and room temperature peroxide 5) I dried it by blotting it with a paper towel 6) I applied several coats of Verdi-Care to re-hydrate and seal the coin.

The peroxide will tend to remove some of the green patina from copper and give the copper that nice rich chocolate color. Really crusty green corrosion will typically be left of the coin. This coin came out of the ground in quite a nice state. My friend Grant Hansen has taken some better updated photos of this coin which I should post.

Thank you for the ID on the coin and like I said I'll love to follow up with you via PM or the telephone.

Best, Erik

 

[oldsalty19]

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Sorry I missed this post of yours Eric, this is an amazing find my friend!

Congrats on making the BANNER with this find bud!

Dave

 

[ARC]

BANNER.

 

[SweetLook]

Your find is really the only reason I wish I were back in New Jersey.