paleomaxx
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- Aug 14, 2016
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This might just be my best find of the year and it's only May! Two days ago I'd never even heard of these, which doesn't necessarily mean it's rare since there are still huge gaps in my knowledge, but just the name "Bermuda Penny" doesn't exactly seem like it would be a rarity. I found it at one of my old standby sites which I've hammered now for two years. Unfortunately half of it is thicket so dense that you can't get a coil anywhere near the ground, so I know it isn't cleaned out yet. I cleared a small walkway and after two shotgun shells in a row I hit on a high tone right at the surface. And I mean right at the surface, I kicked away the leaves and I just bent over and picked it up. I've found a bunch of large cents in this exact area so I didn't even examine it or take a field photo, just put it in a bag for later cleaning.
After that I only found two small lead balls and a bunch of band iron so I called it. Once I got home I noticed it was a little larger than a large cent and the lettering seemed off. Some light tooth picking revealed the outline of a ship so I thought I had found my first ships and colonies Canada token (which I would have been more than happy to find). But instead I see the word Bermuda, and the date 1793:
From there it was time for research and it didn't take long to turn up an awesome history. They were commissioned after the new capital was chartered and with Royal permission they contracted the minting to Matthew Boulton of the Soho mint. This being the same mint that produced the 1806/1807 KGIII half pennies, cartwheel pennies, as well as tons of other foreign coins and private tokens. The actual mintage is debated, but less than 84,000 for sure and possibly as low as 48,000!
What's more, they made them too heavy in relation to the face value, so they were readily exported and presumably melted down. By 1825 the treasurer of Bermuda reported that none were left on the island. It seems that many did survive in collections so it's not particularly hard to find them on the collector's market, but usually in lower grades. This one did very well for a dug copper coin and I'm very happy with how it turned out after cleaning:
Crisp lettering and the vast majority of the detail is left which is fantastic because it's such a gorgeous design. I wish I knew how it came to be at this homesite in Upstate New York, but I doubt I'll ever figure that out. I hope it has something to do with the Revolutionary War era naval captain's button I found at this site (the homesite builder was a Rev War vet, but in the local militia), and it's fun to think that his Navy buddy brought him a souvenir from his travels, but who knows. One thing is for certain, I need to clear out the rest of that brush if I want to top this find!
After that I only found two small lead balls and a bunch of band iron so I called it. Once I got home I noticed it was a little larger than a large cent and the lettering seemed off. Some light tooth picking revealed the outline of a ship so I thought I had found my first ships and colonies Canada token (which I would have been more than happy to find). But instead I see the word Bermuda, and the date 1793:
From there it was time for research and it didn't take long to turn up an awesome history. They were commissioned after the new capital was chartered and with Royal permission they contracted the minting to Matthew Boulton of the Soho mint. This being the same mint that produced the 1806/1807 KGIII half pennies, cartwheel pennies, as well as tons of other foreign coins and private tokens. The actual mintage is debated, but less than 84,000 for sure and possibly as low as 48,000!
What's more, they made them too heavy in relation to the face value, so they were readily exported and presumably melted down. By 1825 the treasurer of Bermuda reported that none were left on the island. It seems that many did survive in collections so it's not particularly hard to find them on the collector's market, but usually in lower grades. This one did very well for a dug copper coin and I'm very happy with how it turned out after cleaning:
Crisp lettering and the vast majority of the detail is left which is fantastic because it's such a gorgeous design. I wish I knew how it came to be at this homesite in Upstate New York, but I doubt I'll ever figure that out. I hope it has something to do with the Revolutionary War era naval captain's button I found at this site (the homesite builder was a Rev War vet, but in the local militia), and it's fun to think that his Navy buddy brought him a souvenir from his travels, but who knows. One thing is for certain, I need to clear out the rest of that brush if I want to top this find!
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