1787 Fugio Cent

diggin4clad

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On Sunday, Sue and I hunted an old football field that dates back to the late 1950's. The old rusty goal posts, scoreboard, and bleachers still stand but are no longer used. We hunted for about two and a half hours before darkness put an end to the hunt. In that time we dug 75 clad coins with a face value of $10.23. About a half hour before we quit hunting I got a solid hit on my AT Max with a VDI reading of 87 which generally means a clad quarter. The depth reading was at four bars which means a depth of six to eight inches deep. I dug the plug and at seven inches I could see the coin in the hole and at first glance thought it was a clad half or a token of some kind. After rubbing some of the dirt off, I could see that it was a Fugio Cent, minted in my home state of Connecticut in the city of New Haven in 1788 but dated 1787. Unfortunately, it's pretty well toasted but it's now my oldest US coin find ever.
 

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That's pretty awesome, Diggin! I recall finding out what a Fugio cent was when someone out east posted one long ago. I doubt they are anything less than extremely rare! Decent clad haul too!
 
Fantastic find for sure. I’ve been lucky enough to find two of them and they almost scare you the signal is so good. And to find it at a football field is incredible. We definitely have some old ground out this way. Congratulations to you guys
 
Identifiable. Great find, I found a LC on a soccer field once. Old coins can be found anywhere, here in the east. Right Tom ?
 
That's pretty awesome, Diggin! I recall finding out what a Fugio cent was when someone out east posted one long ago. I doubt they are anything less than extremely rare! Decent clad haul too!
Thanks Foragist.....I guess you could say that they're scarce. A hoard of these were discovered with over a thousand of them all in mint condition back in the 1800's.
 
Fantastic find for sure. I’ve been lucky enough to find two of them and they almost scare you the signal is so good. And to find it at a football field is incredible. We definitely have some old ground out this way. Congratulations to you guys
Thanks.....I researched the field on Historic Aerials and prior to becoming a football field the site was partially wooded. The area where I found the coin was in the middle and had no trees so maybe there was some kind of activity there long, long ago.
 
Uhhhhh, excuse me: You said a "football field that dates to the 1950s" . That must have been a typo. I believe you meant to say "1750's"

RIGHT ? :?:
 
Uhhhhh, excuse me: You said a "football field that dates to the 1950s" . That must have been a typo. I believe you meant to say "1750's"

RIGHT ? :?:
Wrong ! The field started hosting football games in the late 1950's but the ground has been there since the beginning of time. No typo.......
 
Wow great find. I cannot imagine finding a coin that old. I suppose the football field dates to the '50s but is it in a town that was established in that period of the coin? Perhaps fill dirt for the field came in from somewhere old?

Either way, I am happy for you.

Cheers.
 
Wow great find. I cannot imagine finding a coin that old. I suppose the football field dates to the '50s but is it in a town that was established in that period of the coin? Perhaps fill dirt for the field came in from somewhere old?

Either way, I am happy for you.

Cheers.
Thanks.....the town where I found the Fugio was first settled in 1669 which means that there were people in that town for more than 100 years before the coin was minted. This means that colonial coins of many types circulated in that town both before and after the Fugio was minted.
 
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