Unbelievable! 1785 Nova Constellatio dug + Scarce variety + Live Dig!

[Scrappy]

I’m still a bit shaky. Actually in the live dig you can see my hand start shaking the minute I realize what I had dug, lol.

I’ve been clearing out a cellar hole lately and went there this morning for my second round of gut-busting stone removal. The first day had good results with a shoe buckle frag and some iron scissors, so I decided to commit my winter to a complete excavation. Here’s day 1 View attachment 1522484

Today I took a “before” picture even though I’d done some removal already. Here’s how it looked


View attachment 1522486

I spent a good 2-3 hours removing stones and grooming the dirt for detecting but hadn’t had any luck besides square nails and cauldron fragments. I was beginning to feel quite dejected after removing a ton (no kidding) of rock and finding zero non-ferrous targets when I got a pretty decent signal. That’s when things got weird...





And here it is...




It actually looks like an off-strike on top of everything else. Here’s a guide for Identification



The video says it all but I must say it was quite a wonderful surprise to dig a copper, much less a transitional piece in good condition. Here’s an “after” pic of the cellar hole from 3 hours of work

This is my second Nova and I now have two Scarce varieties!



Here they are together





I left after that find,but I’ll surely be back soon. Remember, you never know what’ll be in that next hole so always keep at it. Enjoy, and good hunts!

Steve

 

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[Diggin Dude]

Big congratulations to you!! What a find! I’m glad you were rewarded for all your hard work. Your post is very inspirational to me, I just started (last week) on clearing a cellar hole of debris, brush, and branches.

Super find! Enjoy! Congrats and HH

 

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[Scrappy]

What an awesome find! Big congrats man. A dream coin!

Thanks Anton. It felt real good that my intuition payed off on this one. Like I said, this is a winter project and I’ve probably only done about 5% of the work. But that’s a good thing. With a great find like the Nova I’m fully prepared to see the project out, with hopes of some more to come. I’m hoping my British silver is in there somewhere

 

[diggingthe1]

Glad you sniffed that one out. It sure is nice when its worth the effort. Beautiful coin, what a nice couple coins to get that collection going!

 

[lairmo]

WOW. Scrappy. WOW!!

 

[btripp6]

Outstanding to say the least!! Congrats!!

 

[Aureus]

Thanks Anton. It felt real good that my intuition payed off on this one. Like I said, this is a winter project and I’ve probably only done about 5% of the work. But that’s a good thing. With a great find like the Nova I’m fully prepared to see the project out, with hopes of some more to come. I’m hoping my British silver is in there somewhere

Well who needs British silver when you've got Constellatio, 1792 Quarter wouldn't be bad though.

 

[Kurios1]

Well done on your excavation of that cellar hole. It is nice when your labor actually pays off. Great score on another rare old bird of early Americana Coinage. Congratulations mate!

 

[Scrappy]

Wow! Awesome coin! Pretty soon you'll have all the Nova varieties. What got into you to decide to excavate that particular cellar hole? Was there some research that made you think this one was worth the huge amount of effort or do you go to this length at all cellar holes? You obviously made the right choice.

Honestly bud, I’ve never did a project like excavating an entire cellar hole. I’ve done partials, layer removal, and pit sifts, but never something like this. Why this place? Because I believe a dozer in the 20’s pushed-in the foundation walls extending above the ground. A lot of dirt and rock were pushed in and it needs to come out. The reason I think this spot is so important is because I’ve dug a colonial silver spill, A Nova, Spanish facsimile links, and much more from this site. The site minimally dates to the 1750’s and the man who resided here had style & money. And I think he dropped a lot more that’s yet to surface.

 

[Scrappy]

So worth it! And both cleaned perfectly.

Thanks IP. And less is always more while cleaning as you know. Cheers bud

Oh and...

 

[DownNDirty]

Fantastic find in exceptional condition-way to go Steve!

 

[ShovelinDave]

Congrats on your epic find. Hard work and perseverance has paid off for you. As far as the video quality... who gives a rats ass. It's a live dig and look what you pulled out of the hole. Congrats to you Mister.

 

[TheGreatNorth]

Congrats man! That is an amazing find! I absolutely love the patina on it! Great job!

 

[villagenut]

That one came out beautiful, but I have to admit I was cringing at those one handed jabs with the digger. You have great experience and even better pinpointing skills. Wow, great coin!

 

[treblehunter]

Your an animal I have a couple cellar holes near me, it's also along a waterway that is choked out with green briers and other bramble. I still need to ask the farmer if it's ok to go "scrappy" on it! I guess I'm the only one who thinks this is a banner find? Seems like French gold coins and Nova Constellatio coins are not good enough for Tnets banner? Oh well we know what banner is, congrats buddy, your a hard worker wish I had been there with you when you found it. I'm feeling like I was at this hole with you just recently?

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[l.cutler]

You've got some good ground there to be sure, keep at it!

 

[Scrappy]

My mom had a 1970 Nova. Certainly not as rare as your 1785. Awesome dig.

But just as collectible. Cheers

 

[Scrappy]

Now we know what you've been up to !! Congrats man, another stellar find !! You da man !!

Haha, thx Bart. A long ways away from the seashore hunt we had 6 weeks ago! But instead of moving seaweed I’m moving cellar stones. Hopefully I’ll be able to repay you with a hunt up here someday.

 

[dts52]

Super find! The hard work paid off.
HH
dts

 

[Carolina Tom]

Awesome post Scrappy. You are something else. Two Novas in nice condition, from the same spot no less. I just don’t know what to say to that.

Congrats my friend.