Leave-No-Coins-Behind
Forum Supporter
WOW...what a day!!
I started my day at a semi-rural sports field. This article post is not going to be about the 14k gold religious metal nor the 35 nickels that I found, etc. But will be about a 1760 Colonial Copper Half Penny that I found.
I was hunting the road berm leading to the sport's field area. Knowing that most comman areas have been hunted to death, I usually hit the out of the way places. This time, I got a strong, nice round signal that sounded too good to pass up, thinking perhaps it could be a can lid or so. However, I decided to dig and see what it was. About 5-6" down I found this Colonial Half Penny pressed hard into the dirt. At first I thought I was a rusty washer...never-the-less I am so glad that continued to removing it from the ground. I looked at it briefly and dropped it into my pouch.
At home, I did some research and discovered that this is a 1760-P Colonial Copper Half Penny, variety type 12 and claims that it was minted in Ireland and brought to the America Colonies and used as coinage/currency. According to an online coin article, the coin is as rated scarce.
[insert] Brief history research from online:
By 1760 small copper coins were scarce in Ireland.
No royal Irish farthings had been issued since 1744
No royal Irish halfpennies had been issued since 1755
Issues of both denominations were scheduled to be minted in 1760 but apparently they did not arrive in Ireland until 1762. It has been speculated this was partly due to the death of George II in October of 1760. Under these circumstances underweight Voce Populi farthings and halfpence first appeared in Dublin. After the arrival of the new ‘regal’ coppers, it is thought that Dublin speculators bought the Voce Populi tokens in quantity and shipped them to America, where they circulated widely until the Revolutionary War.
The photos are of the coin not cleaned. The dirt is really caked on.
**Note, the very last photo/illustration below is a photo/copy comparison of what the coin would have looked like in its prime glory days.**
As you can imagine this is my oldest coin find.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post!
I started my day at a semi-rural sports field. This article post is not going to be about the 14k gold religious metal nor the 35 nickels that I found, etc. But will be about a 1760 Colonial Copper Half Penny that I found.
I was hunting the road berm leading to the sport's field area. Knowing that most comman areas have been hunted to death, I usually hit the out of the way places. This time, I got a strong, nice round signal that sounded too good to pass up, thinking perhaps it could be a can lid or so. However, I decided to dig and see what it was. About 5-6" down I found this Colonial Half Penny pressed hard into the dirt. At first I thought I was a rusty washer...never-the-less I am so glad that continued to removing it from the ground. I looked at it briefly and dropped it into my pouch.
At home, I did some research and discovered that this is a 1760-P Colonial Copper Half Penny, variety type 12 and claims that it was minted in Ireland and brought to the America Colonies and used as coinage/currency. According to an online coin article, the coin is as rated scarce.
[insert] Brief history research from online:
By 1760 small copper coins were scarce in Ireland.
No royal Irish farthings had been issued since 1744
No royal Irish halfpennies had been issued since 1755
Issues of both denominations were scheduled to be minted in 1760 but apparently they did not arrive in Ireland until 1762. It has been speculated this was partly due to the death of George II in October of 1760. Under these circumstances underweight Voce Populi farthings and halfpence first appeared in Dublin. After the arrival of the new ‘regal’ coppers, it is thought that Dublin speculators bought the Voce Populi tokens in quantity and shipped them to America, where they circulated widely until the Revolutionary War.
The photos are of the coin not cleaned. The dirt is really caked on.
**Note, the very last photo/illustration below is a photo/copy comparison of what the coin would have looked like in its prime glory days.**
As you can imagine this is my oldest coin find.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post!
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Voce Populi Half Penny 10172017 003.jpg69.2 KB · Views: 1,140
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Voce Populi Half Penny 10172017 005.jpg32.5 KB · Views: 1,112
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Voce Populi Half Penny 10172017 006.jpg41.3 KB · Views: 1,142
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Voce Populi Half Penny 10172017 007.jpg45.5 KB · Views: 1,117
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Voce Populi Halfpenny-Nelson 12 varity.jpg21.5 KB · Views: 1,094
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