its a large cent kinda day!

[sweetrelease]

well went to a spot today I saw on a old map. its a park today but back in 1885 it was a farm. went through like $2.00 in clad then got that "good" hit "it was 8+inches "I hate that" but dug it and out pops a large cent.. its hard to read of course but I see 1818 , I do my happy dance first for me so now I'm stoked.. it has what looks like a machine made hole in the middle of the coin. anyone know what that may be?? next was a buckle with hand made iron on it. more clad and then I dig what I thought was a token but it reads "Bethlehem steel co Lehigh plant clr1224' back of it reads "loss of this check should be reported to time department immediately a charge of fifty cents will be made if lost or not returned on leaving the service of the company"not sure what that is ,maybe a workers tag? anyway I start to hunt again and about 10 feet from that I get another nice hit at 8+ and I dig. well out pops another large cent that I cant read . after I got it home and cleaned a bit it is a 1808 large cent. two in one hunt?? its in bad shape but still cool to me.. this whole hunt took less then an hour.. just goes to show you ,you never know what you'll dig.. now how to clean the large cents??

 

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[Papalittle]

Super cool finds!

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice LC s. and a fifty cent token, congrats!

 

[hunting deer]

Those large cents are old! The first one I ever found I ruined trying to clean it. Its hard to leave them alone. I usually gently rub them with a soft Q-tip to remove the surface dirt in the hard to reach places like around the stars. This improves the detail. It sounds funny but I noticed after a couple months they dry out and harden up. I then repeat the process getting even more detail. Sometimes they get a pitted look with any kind of harsh cleaning thats not very attractive. Especially the older ones. Take my word for it if you leave them alone you'll be happier later with how they look. There should be some more stuff around there maybe some silver.

 

[vpnavy]

 

[treblehunter]

Very cool finds, I want to find some large cents in that nice of shape. I found one of those "worker tags" this past summer I had a thread on it earlier. Very interesting history on that steel plant. I think mine was a different Plant. But it is the same company. The one plant was involved in a union strike that had 15 people end up dead. (don't hold me to the numbers, bad memory)

 

[sweetrelease]

im not gonna clean the lc's anymore then some soap and water. does anyone know why there is a hole in the middle of the lc? it looks like it was punched with a machine not by hand.

 

[Metdet49]

Now that's a good day of hunting! Nice finds! I love digging those large cents. Your 1818 is a Coronet cent and the 1808 is the first year for the Classic Head cents. I believe the holes were punched in the coins usually to either sew them onto articles of clothing or to put on a string around the neck, both for safe keeping reasons. Usually the hole looks a bit cruder than yours and is not dead center like that, so it may have been done by machine. That worker's tag is really cool also, I have not seen one of those before. I have learned by trial and error to do minimum cleaning on those coppers. I don't even rinse them with water anymore, I wait for the dirt on the coin to dry and then I simply gently scrape away the dirt with a toothpick which leaves some nice contrast with the raised parts of the coin.

 

[sweetrelease]

thanks guys ,im gonna hit the park again today .i'll let you all know how I do.again thanks for the info this site is really cool,alot of very nice people willing to help..

 

[Mach1Pilot]

Congrats on a nice pair of large coppers!

 

[DW Dirt Whisperer]

yes thats awesome. great finds.

 

[Ia.FurTrade]

I have found two LC's with holes in the center ( on cabin sites ). I was told by archaeologists that they were nailed above the door for " Good Luck ", when the cabin was built.

Iowa Dale P.S. : Nice finds!

 

[CoilyGirl]

Great finds congrats!

 

[sweetrelease]

cleaned up large cent

wow the 1818 large cent cleaned up very well.i put it in olive oil for a few days and wiped it down.i let it dry on the window sill. the "crust" started to fall off and I did the rest with a toothpick. the 1808 cent is pretty much toast.. here is a pic of the 1818..

 

[sweetrelease]

hunted the same park last Friday. no good coins but a lot of clad. did dig up some old flat brass buttons. one says "best" and the other says "superfine" looked them up but did not find anything about them. gonna hit it again when weather allows,ton of snow coming my way!