🔎 UNIDENTIFIED My own "not going to be easy" ugly coin identification request

[brianc053]

Hi everyone.
Inspired by Smokeythecat's recent post (https://www.treasurenet.com/threads...and-i-dont-think-its-going-to-be-easy.668411/) and his successful identification of it as a British Farthing from between 1613 and 1640 (congrats Smokey!), I'd like to ask for help trying to identify this coin. (NO - not the 1773 KG3. The other one).

Backstory: in 2020 I found the ugly coin pictured below in a field that became a private school's sports field in about 1900. Local maps don't show what it was before that...open land apparently. When I found the ugly coin I wasn't even convinced it was an old coin since other finds in the field were modern/1900s stuff; it was a good field in 2020 and gave me some silver dimes and a Standing Liberty Quarter. I filed the ugly coin away in my Book-Of-Finds as "Unknown Copper Coin, possibly British KG" and forgot about it.

But over the weekend I returned to that same field in hopes of finding a stray silver dime I might have missed back in 2020. And to my surprise I found the 1773 KG3 about 20-30 feet from where I found the ugly coin. (How do I know it was 20-30 feet away? Because I use Tect-O-Trak and log all my notable finds.)
Finding that 1773 in the same area as Ugly Coin has me wondering again about Ugly Coin.

So - does anyone see anything in these pictures that might help identify it? I'm using Smokey's same method of 4 pictures of each side, rotated 90 degrees each time.

Good luck and thanks in advance!

- Brian

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[DCMatt]

Just to be clear... The 1773 coin is a KGIII halfpenny. 28 - 30mm.

The toasted coin is the same size?

Do you know the weight?

 

[brianc053]

Just to be clear... The 1773 coin is a KGIII halfpenny. 28 - 30mm.
The toasted coin is the same size?
Do you know the weight?

Hey DC Matt. Yes, the 1773 coin is a KGIII halfpenny. You didn't ask about it's weight, but for completeness it weighs 7.9 grams and is between 28.1 and 29.3mm depending on exactly where it's measured. An expert believes that the 1773 is a non-regal member of the "Small Date 1773" contemporary counterfeit family (likely actually minted in the 1780's and back-dated). The non-regal nature explains the oblong shape and lighter weight than a regal KGIII.

But the Ugly Coin is even lighter, weighing in at a mere 5.6 grams. Obviously (based on its condition) a lot of copper has been lost to time/the ground, but still - that's an underweight coin.
And the diameter of the Ugly Coin is pretty consistently 27.1-27.5mm. Again, some diameter could have been lost to deterioration.

I hope that additional info helps.
- Brian

 

[DCMatt]

That's good information.

I looked at it for a while and really couldn't see any discernable detail. Was mostly comparing to other halfpenny coins of a similar era.

I guess my only observation at this point is the way the coin is decaying. Most old coins wear smooth or at least have more consistent environmental damage. This one appears to have a layer that is flaking off. Token? Also a counterfeit? Are you confident its all copper or maybe just copper coated? That's a tough one for sure...

 

[brianc053]

That's good information.

I looked at it for a while and really couldn't see any discernable detail. Was mostly comparing to other halfpenny coins of a similar era.

I guess my only observation at this point is the way the coin is decaying. Most old coins wear smooth or at least have more consistent environmental damage. This one appears to have a layer that is flaking off. Token? Also a counterfeit? Are you confident its all copper or maybe just copper coated? That's a tough one for sure...

Ok thank you for trying and taking a look DCMatt. No need to spend any more time on this - looks like it's a lost cause, and that's ok.
To close the book on it, I decided to take a dremmel to it and see if a little abrasion could reveal anything - but it didn't. I also used the cutting bit to take a little sample from the edge, and it's definitely copper. But I agree that it has some sort of very dark colored "layer" on the copper core.
Probably a bad counterfeit King George halfpenny, based on all these factors.

- Brian

New pictures after dremmel:

 

[DCMatt]

Yeah, that sucker is done now. I would say it's safe to call it a "period coin" but nothing more than that... Get back out there and dig some more!

 

[GoldieLocks]

I would put thin paper over it and do what is called a rubbing with chalk or maybe crayon turned on it's side to pull out less obvious detail.