Killer 2 hour hunt! Found 1831 British Penny!

[Noah_D]

At about 2 today I decided to find a place to metal detect and get permission... I walked down the street to a 1910 house (that happened to have an -1856 site somewhere nearby) and walked up and knocked on the door. They side sure, as long as you don't make a mess near the house and I walked back home and got my detector and headed back. I hunted for a bit and found most of the modern change, bell, and the key and then my ACE 300 just started chattering. It took a bit of trying and wouldn't cooperate, so I just turned my sensitivity way down. I got a nice 91-92 signal and when I popped the plug I found a huge coin at only a couple inches. At first I thought it was an Ike but wiping the dirt off I saw Britannia... thought it was from the 1940s until I saw the person on the back and thought that ain't normal. I looked up the name and it turns out it was an 1830s King William IV penny!!! I am also super happy about the key and the bell, but the penny is just great, definitely not what I expected.
I think it is about 35mm which matches the size of a penny, too big for farthing or halfpenny. Sorry for the bad pictures, in person you can read the date and see a more detail.


Thanks for reading and Happy Hunting!

p.s. any information on the key would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[Wildcat1750]

Nice finds and interesting key. I've found similar but I can't help on the ID.

 

[Noah_D]

Thanks wildcat!

 

[VTColonialDigger]

Some great, quality finds for sure! Love the halfpenny, key, and crotal bell! The key is probably mid-late 1800's, I found one almost identical to it at an 1870's house.

 

[Noah_D]

Thanks colonial digger! the penny is my oldest coin so far! I appreciate the key date!

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!!!! Congrats!!!!!

 

[CRUSADER]

That 1831 Penny is actually a pretty rare UK find - Congrats

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I love this line Noah... "thought it was from the 1940s until I saw the person on the back and thought that ain't normal."
Kudos to you for having the courage to make a cold call and to have the knowledge that an 1856 site was somewhere nearby.

I like to say, "If nothing happened there, then there'll be nothing to find!"

The crotal bell is a sweet find
Dave

 

[cheffer]

Sweet, that's in pretty nice shape. Hope you're going back soon.

 

[Calabash Digger]

nice!

 

[Noah_D]

That 1831 Penny is actually a pretty rare UK find - Congrats

Thanks Crusader! I'll have to check again just to be sure I read it right then!

 

[Noah_D]

I love this line Noah... "thought it was from the 1940s until I saw the person on the back and thought that ain't normal."
Kudos to you for having the courage to make a cold call and to have the knowledge that an 1856 site was somewhere nearby.

I like to say, "If nothing happened there, then there'll be nothing to find!"

The crotal bell is a sweet find
Dave

Thanks ANTIQUARIAN! Any idea of what the date would be on that thing?

 

[Noah_D]

nice!

Sweet, that's in pretty nice shape. Hope you're going back soon.

Nice!!!!! Congrats!!!!!

Thanks y'all, I will definitely be going back!

 

[Hawks88]

Nice saves for sure. I’ll bet there is more to be found. Hope you can get back out there soon and post some more good finds. Congrats!

 

[Noah_D]

Nice saves for sure. I’ll bet there is more to be found. Hope you can get back out there soon and post some more good finds. Congrats!

Thanks! Definitely going to be back out there as soon as possible!

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks Crusader! I'll have to check again just to be sure I read it right then!

Rare find, not a hugely rare date.

 

[Noah_D]

Rare find, not a hugely rare date.

Ahh, I see. Thank you for the clarification! I am still super happy with the find!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Thanks ANTIQUARIAN! Any idea of what the date would be on that thing?

The majority of the examples that we find here in the Eastern US & Canada were made between 1830 - 70.

"Many crotal bells carry a maker’s mark, invariably located at the centre of the lower hemisphere, and often within a cartouche or dedicated area of the design. The mark may be a symbol, typically a bell-founder’s hammer or the initials of the maker, or in some cases both. Makers’ initials, in particular, have proved to be helpful in dating post-medieval crotal bells and establishing their chronology. Foundries that cast crotal bells also produced other types, and, for the more important ones, this included church bells."

This is a good UK based site, that I use as a resource to date my bell finds.

Crotal bells - ukdfd

 

[Noah_D]

The majority of the examples that we find here in the Eastern US & Canada were made between 1830 - 70.

"Many crotal bells carry a maker’s mark, invariably located at the centre of the lower hemisphere, and often within a cartouche or dedicated area of the design. The mark may be a symbol, typically a bell-founder’s hammer or the initials of the maker, or in some cases both. Makers’ initials, in particular, have proved to be helpful in dating post-medieval crotal bells and establishing their chronology. Foundries that cast crotal bells also produced other types, and, for the more important ones, this included church bells."

This is a good UK based site, that I use as a resource to date my bell finds.

Crotal bells - ukdfd

Thanks! I stumbled upon that website last night after doing some cleaning and research on my bell. Early-mid 1800s was my "diagnosis," and that lines right up with what you said.

 

[xcopperstax]

The key definitely goes to a treasure chest. Every house had one. haha. Very nice large copper that would make my week!