Counterfeit U.S. large cent!

[Dr Plugs]

Went for a short hunt today, the heat was terrible. We found an old homesite on the map and went looking for it.

I believe it was already detected at some point, there were very few good targets. We did end up wit a couple of flat buttons, and to my surprise, this counterfeit 1820 large cent.

Largies come in at 29/30 on the equinox, this one came in at a 12/13! I thought I was digging a tomback or pewter button. Not sure what it's made out of, pewter would be my best guess just going by the vdi numbers. The sharpness of the detail you can see is amazing on this coin.

 

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[UnderMiner]

Interesting contemporary forgery! 👍

 

[ToddsPoint]

That counterfeit largie is probably worth more than a real one. Cool find!

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Nice one !

 

[robertk]

Neat find. Shows how the times have changed -- that someone would have bothered to counterfeit a penny!

 

[pepperj]

Well done on the recovery.

Wonder if you could take a clearer photo of the bust side of the coin.
Your finger prints are crisp-but the coin is out of focus.
( Happens a lot when photographing holding flat items as coins)

The reason for asking is I'm having a hard time determining the delimitation and what the composition is.

 

[Silvermonkey]

That's a neat find. I've found a few counterfeit LC's and the VDI numbers always fool me. Good for you for digging thpse lower numbers. The person(s) " cherry-picking" that cellar hole in the past sure left you a nice prize.

 

[JohnnyMac]

Went for a short hunt today, the heat was terrible. We found an old homesite on the map and went looking for it.

I believe it was already detected at some point, there were very few good targets. We did end up wit a couple of flat buttons, and to my surprise, this counterfeit 1820 large cent.

Largies come in at 29/30 on the equinox, this one came in at a 12/13! I thought I was digging a tomback or pewter button. Not sure what it's made out of, pewter would be my best guess just going by the vdi numbers. The sharpness of the detail you can see is amazing on this coin.

Very cool. Congrats

 

[Dr Plugs]

Thanks guys, I usually do dig the lower numbers if they are repeatable, alot of the sites we hunt are old enough to have tomback and pewter items, which depending on size can be anywhere from 6 to 14 on the vdi.

I will get a better pic of the coin shortly.

 

[Dr Plugs]

Well done on the recovery.

Wonder if you could take a clearer photo of the bust side of the coin.
Your finger prints are crisp-but the coin is out of focus.
( Happens a lot when photographing holding flat items as coins)

The reason for asking is I'm having a hard time determining the delimitation and what the composition is.

Well done on the recovery.

Wonder if you could take a clearer photo of the bust side of the coin.
Your finger prints are crisp-but the coin is out of focus.
( Happens a lot when photographing holding flat items as coins)

The reason for asking is I'm having a hard time determining the delimitation and what the composition is.

Here are a couple of pics of the coin, probably not much better as I am useing my cell phone. But hopefully.

 

[pepperj]

Here are a couple of pics of the coin, probably not much better as I am useing my cell phone. But hopefully.

Thanks for the picture update.
Do you have a scale to weigh it?
It would be interesting to see if it's close to a minted weight coin.

 

[Dr Plugs]

Thanks for the picture update.
Do you have a scale to weigh it?
It would be interesting to see if it's close to a minted weight coin.

I have a digital scale I use to handload hunting ammunition, it is set to grains.

The real 1820 lc that I have weighs in at 143.9 and it is worn a bit, the fake comes in at 153.6, I would say they are close enough that they would feel very close in hand.

 

[Dr Plugs]

I have a digital scale I use to handload hunting ammunition, it is set to grains.

The real 1820 lc that I have weighs in at 143.9 and it is worn a bit, the fake comes in at 153.6, I would say they are close enough that they would feel very close in hand.

I looked to see what a LC should have weighed when it was minted. It says 168 grains is the origional uncirculated weight.

So the fake would fall right in with most LC that was in circulation. That's why I love this hobby, between the maps and investigating to find good spots to detect, to the detecting, then sometimes the researching of items found.

I can't believe I waited so long to get into this hobby, to say I'm addicted to it is an understatement!

 

[pepperj]

I looked to see what a LC should have weighed when it was minted. It says 168 grains is the origional uncirculated weight.

So the fake would fall right in with most LC that was in circulation. That's why I love this hobby, between the maps and investigating to find good spots to detect, to the detecting, then sometimes the researching of items found.

I can't believe I waited so long to get into this hobby, to say I'm addicted to it is an understatement!

It's never too late to have started the digging in the dirt.
I just wish I was getting younger instead of older.
Going on 55 yrs of playing in the dirt I can only say one thing-"It never gets old"
Each time I turn on the machine, I'm like a young lad inside all excited like.
Do old golfers feel the same way?

 

[THing4CSA]

Hi All My Fellow TH'ers
Not to just disagree with you but with the damage I see in your pictures the weight and looks of your coin is just that of a damaged Large Cent. My guess is your coin was in a house fire and or the damage might have occurred due to the house site being bull dozed at some point in the past. Yes it might be a counterfeit. Congrats on the find in any case! ;-)

 

[TommNJ]

Cool Find! Congrats.

TommNJ

 

[oldmxrat]

Super cool find, congrats!

 

[Dr Plugs]

Hi All My Fellow TH'ers
Not to just disagree with you but with the damage I see in your pictures the weight and looks of your coin is just that of a damaged Large Cent. My guess is your coin was in a house fire and or the damage might have occurred due to the house site being bull dozed at some point in the past. Yes it might be a counterfeit. Congrats on the find in any case! ;-)

I can definitely follow what you are saying, and that could possibly be the case, im not sure if a fire would change the vdi numbers that drastically, as the coin would still be 158 grains of pure copper.

Also there were absolutely no other signs of a fire at the homesite. I am a newbie at this hobby, and all opinions are very welcome, still a cool find either way.

 

[Almy]

Keeper find either way.
This hobby is wonderful, I agree. And it might not even end when the process of making the ID is done. There still may be uses for the item, such as showing and maybe publishing.
Enjoy it while you can. It's really hard work, and as I get older I feel it more and can only do it for a couple of hours at a time.

 

[pjad57]

What makes everyone think the coin is counterfeit?