Large Copper... (Solved! KGII Halfpenny)

[Swartzie]

I dug this at a place where I recently found an 18th century shoe buckle tine. Obviously I can't make out any detail on it. It is not perfectly round and is very thin. It measures 27mm on the narrower part and 28mm on the wider part. Edge is plain. It is copper. I need to buy a scale so I don't have a weight. Any help is much appreciated

-Swartzie

 

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[Bramblefind]

Re: Large Copper...

My first thought was a King George II halfpenny. Here are a few examples worn ones:

 

[Jeff H]

Re: Large Copper...

Looks like a KG bust to me.

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Re: Large Copper...

I found a coin just like that back in may. Measurements are almost the same as what you posted. I tried every method of cleaning I could find on-line and none of it would get the corrosion off. Finally I stumbled across a post that said that household cleaner LIME-AWAY worked well at cleaning up corroded buffalo nickels. I tried this on a buffalo nickel that didn't have a visible date on it and was able to see 1927 staring back at me after an hour. So I thought, what the heck...I'll try this Lime-away on my mystery coin. The worst thing that would happen is I'd ruin it completely, but all other attempts at ID'ing it had failed anyway...So what's the hold up? After soaking it for about 30 mins I brushed it off with a toothbrush and was able to make out a silhouette of a mans bust. Not saying it was the smartest way of cleaning it up, but I was able to pull some detail from an otherwise unidentifiable coin. Best guess is it was a 1770-1775 King George III half penny. Here's a few before and after pics for you. Give it a shot as a last resort!

~Nate~

 

[Breezie]

Re: Large Copper...

Great info Nate! I'll be sure to put that in my notebook for future reference. Breezie

 

[Swartzie]

Re: Large Copper...

I just put it in olive oil for a soak. If I can get it looking better I will post with pictures. Hopefully, I can get at least a bust outline on it. I'd be happy with that. Funny, because it was only down about 5 inches. My old ace 250 would have picked this one up.

-Swartzie

 

[Swartzie]

Soaked it in olive oil. That worked a little bit. I could start to see the bust. Then Soaked in Limeaway like dirtdigger did with his. And that did the trick. Turns out to be a King George II halfpenny. So nice to find stuff from the time period I'm looking for.

-Swartzie

 

[dirtdigger1581]

Nice coin! Glad the limeaway worked for you. I always try the olive oil first but as a last resort I use the limeaway. You just have to watch how long you soak them for, because the limeaway will eat up the copper if you leave it too long. Learned that on some indians and wheats I tried cleaning up. Very Very nice coin!!!

 

[Breezie]

Unbelievable different! I'm buying some Lyme A-way today! Breezie