Nice two cent piece

lenmac65

Silver Member
Jul 28, 2009
2,776
8,944
Massachusetts
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3
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Equinox 800 (as of 10/2019)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I dug this nice two cent coin in a young forest that was a farm until about the 1960s. It was initially sounding a mid-tone with a VDI of 19 on the Equinox, so I was expecting an Indian Head penny. As I dug my plug and rescanned the hole, it was giving a mixed high tone with a VDI around 22. This is the 1864 large motto coin, I believe, which is the most common coin of the issue, though certainly not common for me (only the second two cent piece I have ever found). While I guess most would prefer a key date from the 1870s, I really like finding Civil War era coins. The underlying coin is actually in very good shape, despite the appearance in the photo. I have given this a mechanical cleaning only using Andre's pencils. I am real tempted to give it a peroxide bath, but I'm afraid I will screw it up. Besides, the dirt actually highlights the detail and gives it some character. Thanks for checking out my post. Happy hunting!
 

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Upvote 40
What a beauty man I would love to find one of those Congratulations

I have ruined more coins by trying to clean them up leave it just like it is I just ordered those pencils the other day
 

Very nice!!! Good to know the ground isn’t frozen back home. I’ll be back Saturday, can’t wait to swing, haven’t dug a hole in almost 2 weeks
 

I'd advise you not to peroxide that one. It's easy to go too far on those with the peroxide. Ask me how I know.

I think its looks very nice as is. Good find.
 

I don't know what it is about two cent pieces but they've always been one of my favorite coins. Always exciting to see one pop up. You got a nice one. Congrats! :thumbsup:
 

lenmac65 Very nice congratulations..thanks for sharing
 

Gorgeous find, and like you say, the dirt does indeed give it character and it would be a shame to wash it off. This isn't really an original thought in this hobby, but to think of how long it's just been sitting there...
 

Great find, I too have thought the 2 cent coin are very cool. I had to look it up so I could remember about them and it was the large/small motto. Yours is the large.
 

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Very nice!!! Good to know the ground isn’t frozen back home. I’ll be back Saturday, can’t wait to swing, haven’t dug a hole in almost 2 weeks

The ground has been soft thus far. However, the cold is moving in. It is only 20 right now. Hopefully the ground won't freeze too fast for us all.
 

I'd advise you not to peroxide that one. It's easy to go too far on those with the peroxide. Ask me how I know.

I think its looks very nice as is. Good find.

Thanks! I most likely will leave it alone. Wish my cleaning hadn't left it so patchy looking, but at least I have some good solid detail and a very clear date.
 

Andre's pencils are the bomb, and that coin looks FANTASTIC the way it is. Do NOT use peroxide on it! It'll get rid of all the dirt and make the coin dark, which will eliminate all the details that stand out so starkly right now.

If you want to experiment with peroxide, do it on some wheat pennies. You'll see what I mean.

Congrats on a great 2-center by the way! Still waiting to find my first one.
 

Great find, I too have thought the 2 cent coin was very cool. I had to look it up so I could remember about them and it was the large/small motto. Yours is the large.

Thanks! I was thinking it was the large motto too. Not as rare, but I don't care. Large or small, my eyes are too weak now to read it anyway. :laughing7:
 

Andre's pencils are the bomb, and that coin looks FANTASTIC the way it is. Do NOT use peroxide on it! It'll get rid of all the dirt and make the coin dark, which will eliminate all the details that stand out so starkly right now.

If you want to experiment with peroxide, do it on some wheat pennies. You'll see what I mean.

Congrats on a great 2-center by the way! Still waiting to find my first one.

Thanks. I am going to leave it alone. The Andres pencils are nice and really do help . However, my cleaning skills are not that great, and I need a lot more practice with the pencils. Hope you can get yourself a two cent coin. They are hard to come by for sure.
 

Beautiful find! Congratulations.
I wonder how much 2cents was worth in 1864 in terms of today’s values. Maybe $5 ?
dts
 

Beautiful find! Congratulations.
I wonder how much 2cents was worth in 1864 in terms of today’s values. Maybe $5 ?
dts

Thank you. I feel lucky to have found such a short run coin. I found an inflation calculator online, as you got me curious. Supposedly, $0.02 in 1864 is the equivalent of $0.33 today based on inflation. However, I bet $0.02 could buy a lot more back then than $0.33 can today. I like your guess much better. Again, thanks for the comment.
 

Nice 2c piece! Those are hard to find coins!

Very nice!!! Good to know the ground isn’t frozen back home. I’ll be back Saturday, can’t wait to swing, haven’t dug a hole in almost 2 weeks
I was wondering why I haven't been seeing your posts... I was starting to think you got sick or something. You need to get out there and do some digging!
 

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Great looking coin! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing with us.
 

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