New oldest US coin?

Indiana Mark

Sr. Member
Jul 28, 2016
371
660
Northern Indiana
Detector(s) used
XP Deus
Minelab Equinox 800
Minelab Safari
Fisher F75+
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Only had a couple hours Saturday afternoon to do some detecting, so I went to a farm field relatively close to home in hopes of digging a few nonferrous relics. After about an hour of hearing nails and seeing pulverized red brick fragments along with the usual ceramic and glass chunks in and on the ground, I get a tiny one way squeak from the deus. After digging a moderate sized hole, the pinpointer indicates target is in the sidewall of hole about 6 inches from the surface. Oriented on edge is a green disc- a US large cent, definitely matron head!
Not able to see a date, I put it in finds pouch and continue detecting. Not finding any more good targets I head home to check out the largie. While it is pretty toasted, it appears to be 1817. Anyone else see what appears to be '17' on this coin? image.png
 

Upvote 16
Nice find ! I can see a 7 :occasion14:
 

Nice Matron Head. Hard to see in the pic. Sir, may I have another, Sir?
 

picture is kind of rough. have you tried putting the coin on a surface like the back of a mouse pad, then zooming in. the zoom should lock in on the coin. very nice find though :icon_thumleft:
 

Definitely see the 17. Congrats are definitely in order!!
 

Definitely looks like 1817. Nice find
 

Congrats on the 1817 matron head. Nice patina on that coin. :occasion14:
 

Was really doubtful I would beat the previous record set back in October by an 1823 matron head LC. Much less fewer than 10 miles from home. I thought only people in the eastern US found coins this old. There has to be more good stuff there.....
 

Nice going finding the Largie !! Looks like a 17 to me. WTG! Congrats and HH
 

Was really doubtful I would beat the previous record set back in October by an 1823 matron head LC. Much less fewer than 10 miles from home. I thought only people in the eastern US found coins this old. There has to be more good stuff there.....

there has to be, i would pound it HARD and dig every signal. nothing you dont already know i am sure. i'd be out there tonight in the moonlight! 8-)
 

there has to be, i would pound it HARD and dig every signal. nothing you dont already know i am sure. i'd be out there tonight in the moonlight! 8-)
If it weren't for working night shift, I likely would be. Much colder weather coming my way.
 

for the life of my i cant see the 17 and i blew up the picture. maybe i finally need glasses. :dontknow:

Rogue, I have glasses, and for the life of me, I can't see it either. But, I don't doubt that's what can be seen in person - in which case, great find, and congrats!
 

Yep, 1817. Indiana became a state just the year before in 1816, so there probably wasn't much in the way of American coinage to be had.
 

Very nice Mark. I was going to ask if that was your second large cent. Like I tell almost anyone who ask... You never know what you will find. I've yet to find one but I keep at it. Congrats to you Mister.
 

Very nice Mark. I was going to ask if that was your second large cent. Like I tell almost anyone who ask... You never know what you will find. I've yet to find one but I keep at it. Congrats to you Mister.
I started detecting in 2015 after a decade of 'I should get a metal detector'. I had doubts in 2016 that I would ever find a LC. Finally in March this year I dug my first. I have 5 total now. Keep swinging, there has to be a few out there for you.
 

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