My NEW Oldest Coin So Far!

Iron Buzz

Bronze Member
Oct 12, 2016
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South St Paul, MN
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Just a couple of days ago, I made this post about an 1860 Indian Head I found. At that point, it was my oldest coin so far. That record did not last long!!

Today, in the same cornfield where a town once stood, I dug my first hole of the morning. My first and last coin of the day, and now my oldest! Unfortunately, I can't read the date, but I know that it has to be at least 1857, right?

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I dug no other coins all day. No other targets actually, aside from a few square nails. But I really don't care. That made my day. Hell... that made my season!
 

Upvote 28
Congrats on the LC. I almost think I see 1830

Someone else on another site thought 1856. I wish I knew. My buddy popped an 1853 Half-dime out of the same site and I'd love to beat that date, even if I can't beat the silver.
 

Congrats on the LC. :occasion14: I believe it's an 1856 braided hair liberty (1839-1857).

braided-hair-large-cent.jpg
 

Nice find-congrats! Gotta love digging that first large cent!

Your LC is of the Braided Hair type. 1839-1857. The Head design from 1839-1843 is known as 'petite head' and is different than the 'mature head' of 1843-1857. To me, yours appears to be of the mature head variety. With the last digit looking like a zero, along with the curvature of the 3rd digit, I would almost bet 1850. But this is just my opinion, and you didn't ask for it......lol

Hunt that place hard, probably more good stuff there!
 

Nice find-congrats! Gotta love digging that first large cent!

Your LC is of the Braided Hair type. 1839-1857. The Head design from 1839-1843 is known as 'petite head' and is different than the 'mature head' of 1843-1857. To me, yours appears to be of the mature head variety. With the last digit looking like a zero, along with the curvature of the 3rd digit, I would almost bet 1850. But this is just my opinion, and you didn't ask for it......lol

Hunt that place hard, probably more good stuff there!

You have no idea how hard we've been hunting this field!! Its just been myself and one friend, and we've gridded about 60 acres in a few weeks. We've recovered three or four Indians, the oldest being my 1860, a sweet 1853 Seated half-dime (my friend dug that one... it was our first coin out of there), two early 20th century Wheaties, and now this LC. Oh, two crotal bells, an 1800's butter knife, a pocket knife, and a few other things, but it has been a very, very hard hunt for the few things that we've found. But those few things are sweet, especially for where we are! Except for a few fur traders and military, these things were within 10-15 years of Europeans first coming here.
 

Congrats on pulling out an LC.
A corn field where a town used to be?
I like the sound of that.

Yup. Almost no modern trash! A ton of square nails, but that's about it. Not even much in the way of shotgun shells or bullets. But because it was only settled for a few short years, (we've seen signs that there must have been a few hangers-on in later years) there wasn't much coinage dropped. Very few artifacts as well. It took a lot of research but I've been able to reconstruct a map that shows where the different buildings once stood, and I've been able to learn quite a bit about the people that settled here, too. Its been a great adventure, for sure!
 

You have no idea how hard we've been hunting this field!! Its just been myself and one friend, and we've gridded about 60 acres in a few weeks. We've recovered three or four Indians, the oldest being my 1860, a sweet 1853 Seated half-dime (my friend dug that one... it was our first coin out of there), two early 20th century Wheaties, and now this LC. Oh, two crotal bells, an 1800's butter knife, a pocket knife, and a few other things, but it has been a very, very hard hunt for the few things that we've found. But those few things are sweet, especially for where we are! Except for a few fur traders and military, these things were within 10-15 years of Europeans first coming here.

Okay, guess I wasn't aware of how hard you have hunted that property. My opologies.
 

Congratulations on the large old copper! :occasion14:
 

congrats well done! records are made to be broken!
 

Congrats on the LC . You give me some hope over here in sodak . I wish I could find a LC or a seated silver . It looks like the end of days over here for the season . I may get out a couple more times if I am lucky . Guys are ice fishing one hour north of me already .
 

Congratulations on the fine large cent! Have you tried doing a rubbing of the date using tin foil? I found that to be helpful at times.
 

Congrats on finding your first LC and oldest coin. I agree with the others that you have a braided LC, and think I see a 56 in the date. You'll treasure that coin for a long time!
 

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Okay, guess I wasn't aware of how hard you have hunted that property. My opologies.
Sorry, I must have worded something wrong. Certainly no apologies necessary on your part! Just telling you about the hunt.
 

Congrats on the LC . You give me some hope over here in sodak . I wish I could find a LC or a seated silver . It looks like the end of days over here for the season . I may get out a couple more times if I am lucky . Guys are ice fishing one hour north of me already .
Same here. One day last week we almost couldn't break ground with the shovels, but it has warmed enough to soften the soil. Today was miserable, cold, gloomy and windy, but we still stuck it out for 5 hours. Looks like tomorrow and Friday may be the final days of the season.
 

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