Large Cent, Colonial Copper or Hard Times Token?

[FreeBirdTim]

This one is annoying me! Found a toasted copper tonight and I can't ID it. It kind of looks like a large cent, but it's just not right. Not a perfect match to any of the LC's. It's also only 26 mm in diameter, which is kind of small for a LC. Let me know what you think on this one!

 

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[sawmill man]

Well, it looks like one. but i surely aint a coin expert.

 

[Wampum]

1816 to 1857 LC I think.

 

[Nitric]

Could it be a half cent?


Added...
I just looked the size up...Half cents are only 23.5 so that rules that out....I should have looked that up first...

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Seems too small to be a large cent and too big to be a half cent. Also, the bust doesn't look like any of the LC busts. The shape of neck isn't right, in my opinion.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I weighed an 1803 draped bust of mine and it came in at 10.25 grams. This coin weighs 7.57 grams! I guess I'm going to have to risk cleaning it more to try and get a positive ID.

 

[HuntinDog]

The bust and stars look like a V nickel, but they are 21.2 mm

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Yes, it does look quite a bit like the V nickel bust. Guess I'm never going to figure this one out! Maybe a token from the same era as V nickels...

 

[DCMatt]

Possibly a Civil War era patriotic token.

 

[ctclink83]

 

[DCMatt]

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Except that large cent is too big and too heavy to match the posted coin.

 

[nhbenz]

Just an opinion from someone who knows Very little about coins/tokens: It looks to me like an Indian Princess head with the feathers going all the way up to the rim, with the headband portion of the headdress located about where the feathers would stop... but I couldn't find another example where that was the case, so maybe I'm entirely wrong.
I'd bet Matt is right though, as it's very similar to many I saw in my attempt to find a match.
Might be time to break out the toothpick to see if a few more details could be revealed.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Matt is probably right that it's a Civil War era token, but I can't find the exact one on eBay or with a Google image search. The neck is the issue. Can't find any coin with a neck like that one.

I did give it 10 minutes in hydrogen peroxide, but that only made it worse. Not much detail left on the reverse anyway. Found it in a spot that's wet most of the year. Every coin I've found in this area has been toasted.

I'll keep looking, but it may be a lost cause. Could be a local token with a small mintage. It's a heavy coin and seems to be a quality piece, but 150 years in the ground has taken it's toll...

 

[Dirtminer]

I think it is closer to the image on the 1830 coin with the sharper neck line and head angle.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

You may be right on that one. The stars do seem to go around the bust like the 1830 and the neck is close. I'll try looking up tokens from that era and see what I find.

Pretty hard to stump me and all the TNetters! Can't be a one of a kind token. There has to be an image of this coin somewhere. I checked every Rhode Island token on the token catalog site, but that was a no go. I'll attempt to go through all the Massachusetts tokens next. Thanks for your input. I'm not giving up on this one!

 

[Tpmetal]

Man you got me stumped, looks just like a large cent. Have you looked at counterfeits yet?

 

[Itsmine]

Looks to me like a braided hair LC. It looks really chewy, which would explain why the weight was off. On the braided hair the wreath is thicker. On the Matron Head, it's much smaller. Check this out for comparisons. Large Cents The other thing I would suggest is shooting off an email to Kurt from the Hoover Boys on you tube. He has a lot of experience of identifying large cents. Doesn't look like a token to me.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Might be a counterfeit, but it's too small to be a legit large cent. I know there's some variation with large cents, but it's off by 2mm and almost 3 grams. Also, I don't see any evidence of a date on the obverse.

Wish I had never found this coin! I've spent way too much time trying to find another one online.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Okay, I shined a flashlight on the side of the coin and here's what I got from it. I think I see the number "56" at the top of the coin (around 11 o'clock). Let me know if you see those numbers as well.

 

[sutphin]

NICE OLD FIND