Ivan the Terrible in suburban NJ

[JerseyDigger19]

Last night I had one of the craziest finds I've ever happened upon! I had an hour and a half free to dig, and I had two places in mind that were both close by - a large sledding hill that's been hammered to death but still occasionally has a flat button or other old keeper, or a 1940's school park where I've found plenty of wheats and a few silvers but nothing really old. I started out with the sledding hill but after 30 minutes of getting bupkis, thought I wanted to see some coins of any kind so I packed up and went to the school. 15 minutes later I had some wheats and a 1943 Mercury dime so had a big smile on my face. Then I switched to the other side of the field, where the better coins seem to run deeper, and my first great signal psyched me out with a 1971 clad quarter at 6 inches. I started looking for deep squeakers to dig, and 15 minutes later I found a very tiny item, gave it a brush, it looked like silver so I thought it was scrap or maybe a small religious medal so I threw it in my pocket and kept going. I finished the hunt with a couple more wheats and a Girl Scouts pin. I got home, rinsed off the Merc, showed it to my wife who gave me her "yeah great, you found another Merc" roll of the eyes, then almost got ready for bed before I remembered the silver thing. So I went to the kitchen and emptied my pockets, and was absolutely shocked when I saw this... (the first picture is a re-enactment!) Rows of cyrillic letters... a Russian wire kopek! Turns out this one is from Ivan the Terrible and probably dates to the 1560's or 1570's. It blows my mind how it got there... it probably was a kid who brought it in for show and tell in the 60's and lost it, but I didn't see any evidence of a coin holder in the hole, such as the plastic sheath. And I know a lot of people of Russian descent live around there, but there really wasn't much emigration out of Russia until the 90's, so I can't completely rule out the fact that someone much longer ago brought it over and it circulated alongside the Spanish silvers we were using back then (and some older dirt got mixed into the 60's layer.) In any event it's probably my most unexpected find ever!

 

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[CRUSADER]

I hate to be "that guy" and suggest this but has it crossed anyone's mind that this could be a souvenir copy. That might help explain how it ended up on a school playground. I sure hope I'm wrong and if I am I will be entering my banner vote. Maybe you can have it authenticated by an expert.

Looks real enough & they are not that valuable, worth risking a kid losing it, which of course they did...lol

 

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[Diggin Dude]

That small Russian coin is awesome!! Freaking old!! Gotta be thrilled with it, I do wonder how and when it got lost. Gotta love this hobby! Congrats and HH

 

[JerseyDigger19]

you just gotta love it when the "cool" factor skyrockets up this unexpectedly. way above awesome in so many ways. congrats on the find of a life time

Thank you so much Dirtlooter! The cool factor was truly off the charts for me and I was thrilled! Still am, in fact. I've been reliving that moment where I reached into my dirty pocket and saw that in between the clad dimes for the last three days. Man, I love this hobby!

 

[JerseyDigger19]

Thats what its all about I vote banner also that thing is very old, so is that hand in the picture LOL just kiddin I like your post the wife rolls her eyes at another Merc while the honey do list gets longer!!! Your not bringing that thing in the house are you?LOL Im very happy for you!!!!!!!

Thanks A2coins! Yes, she can be a tough one, especially when I do a little too much "beeping"... she sees it as time I could be spending with her and I get that. But she got really excited when I popped my head back in and she saw the smile on my face and said "I just found a 400 year old coin"... even she was shocked, and she doesn't get shocked easily! Still had to finish the honey-do's

 

[A2coins]

my wife also wants ti spend more time together so i asked her what kind of detector she wanted . hey do you have a potable heater and i could borrow the dog house gets cold at night and the dog wants me out

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[JerseyDigger19]

hahahaha A2 that's classic!!! I got pretty close to portable heater territory once or twice so now the key word is COMPROMISE!

 

[A2coins]

Actually to be honest my wife just reminded me.
That she buys batteries in bulk from Costco and shoves me out the door at 800 am. and when I call to let her know I'm on my way home . She says why so soon.. Then I get home and my teenage Daughters say what are you doing back. NO BODY WANTS ME HOME LOL I got it like that!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mzjavert]

Even if it was a 400 yo counterfeit it would be cool.. My vote is real.