I Believe I Found a New Jersey Copper in KY !!!

nova treasure

nova treasure

Bronze Member
Mar 2, 2008
1,726
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Kentucky
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Relic Hunting
I got out with My Brother today on a short hunt searching for a Civil war skirmish site. I had been wanting to try a field that i had heard stories of the farmer finding relics but it was still in crops so we decided to find permission of another field close by that had possibilities. We searched about half the field with what time we had and came up with just a couple pistol balls, some horseshoes and wire from the fences and a coin that at first I thought was just a toasted matron head or other common Large Cent to our area that would had still made the find of the day. I got the coin home and carefully got some of the dirt off and I could see a shield on the back. The first coin that i thought of with this shield was a 2 cent piece but i knew the size was wrong and than next thinking was a Civil war token but again the size was off and this shield was bigger. So I decided to give it a short peroxide bath to try and get more detail and than I measured it which came to 28.5mm . So after drying it I could see the word pluribus and part of unum going around the shield on the back of the coin and than on the front i Could see a image of a horse and the letters OV going around the rim. I jumped on google and found the New Jersey Copper, I still really didn't think this coin would be in Ky, so i searched for a alternative but it kept bringing me back to the Jersey copper, so I decided to do alittle more cleaning and with the right lighting I could see the handle bars of the plow under the horses head and alittle other detail that has me pretty convinced this Indeed is a New Jersey Copper and with it's measurement giving it a date of 1787 going by the website I checked.

The coin is really in rough condition but I am very happy to find this in my area, I will try to post some better close up pics.

I am working on a theory of how this coin came to be in this paticular field in Kentucky and if I'm right it's as good as the find itself. it just goes to show you never know what's going to be underneath your coil.


photo (2).JPGphoto (1).JPG
 

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Upvote 9
That's sure what it looks like.........That's why I love this hobby, you never know what you are going to find..........or where!!
 

I see the shield and I wish you luck positively identifying that copper. Anything is possible. I just found a King James 2nd coin in New Jersey about 40 years older than the farm I found it on is supposed to be...
 

It's a NJ copper. I can see the horse and plow. Also looks like OV where it would say NOVA and the shield also stand out
 

That is for sure a New Jersey Copper. I can see it plain as day. Congrats from the Garden State!
 

Bill, working on the variety now, big congrats on finding an elusive NJ copper in Kentucky! Don

ADDED: Tough one with what details are showing, but with the mostly straight plow beam, the N in NOVA appears to be starting even just around base of head, the spacing of the scroll bar from the head and the plow handle ends shape and distance below the scroll, narrow it down to two varieties in my opinion. 1787 Maris 31-L or a 1787 Maris 52-i, both similar. If you can see on the plow beam that it eventually turns up, then it is a 31 Obverse, if it stays straight to the end, than a Obverse 52. I just cannot say with certainty which one, but lean strongly to the M.31-L variety.
http://www.coinfacts.com/colonial_coins/new_jersey_coppers/maris_31L.htm

http://www.coinfacts.com/colonial_coins/new_jersey_coppers/maris_52i.htm

Will look again at the pics later today. Don
 

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Nice addition to your collection and Don's survey. I wonder if this is the furthest west one is known to have been found?
 

Steve in PA said:
Nice addition to your collection and Don's survey. I wonder if this is the furthest west one is known to have been found?
Click to expand...

KY and TN are the furthest western STATES of NJ coppers being reported in the survey, so for States it depends if further west than others from the state. However the furthest reported found NJ in the survey is from Manitoba, reported found by a TNet member quite a few years ago.
 

Don in SJ said:
Bill, working on the variety now, big congrats on finding an elusive NJ copper in Kentucky! Don

ADDED: Tough one with what details are showing, but with the mostly straight plow beam, the N in NOVA appears to be starting even just around base of head, the spacing of the scroll bar from the head and the plow handle ends shape and distance below the scroll, narrow it down to two varieties in my opinion. 1787 Maris 31-L or a 1787 Maris 52-i, both similar. If you can see on the plow beam that it eventually turns up, then it is a 31 Obverse, if it stays straight to the end, than a Obverse 52. I just cannot say with certainty which one, but lean strongly to the M.31-L variety.
1787 New Jersey Copper - Maris 31-L

1787 New Jersey Copper - Maris 52-i

Will look again at the pics later today. Don
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Thanks so much Don, I sure wish it had better detail , I found it in a field that has seen way to much fertilizer over the years,lol. The coin itself doesn't have much detail, but it's definitely enough for me to proudly display it as a one of kind for me.
 

Holy cow, what a killer find!

Not many of those will EVER be dug in KY. Congrats!
 

BuckleBoy said:
Holy cow, what a killer find!

Not many of those will EVER be dug in KY. Congrats!
Click to expand...

Thanks Will, I believe mine is the forth to ever been reported found in Kentucky, So I feel very blessed to had the opportunity to save this one.
 

Very nice! That is a goal for me here in Maryland. I want to find any sort of colonial copper.
 

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