35 Colonials - A few coins off my bucket list !

[Restoring Your Finds]

Hi all,

To follow up with don in ny's post, here are my finds, as well as our friend's Paul coins, once cleaned and Carol's stone ax. (Mine are not cleaned and I do not even dare touching them !!!)

My finds : a 1786 CT copper (bucket list :) ), a Georges II copper (bucket list), an unidentified copper, 5 buttons, a nice martingale... and a William III 1696 Shilling !!!! YES !!!!!!!!! DEFINITELY ON MY BUCKET LIST !

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Paul's finds : a beautiful Jersey copper and King Georges II copper :

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Carol's amazing stone ax :

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Here are close ups of my 1696 William III silver Shilling :

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I emailed a British archeologist this morning and had a reply about an hour later. I was asking him more information about the coin. Here is my question and his reply :


I read with great interest your page about love tokens. Actually, I found this William III shilling, which I think dates back to 1695-1697 according to the details that are still visible.
I would like your opinion about this coin. The reverse is completely worn and smooth. The obverse bears the initial "B".
Reading your page, I thought my coin might be a "love token". Would you confirm this?
The coin was found metal detecting in the United States (in NY State) with my club.



Yes, William III shilling. It is almost certainly 1696. There does not seem to be a letter below the bust so that would make it a London mint coin. "love token' is a generic term for a coin used in some way as a memento or message - the 'B' suggests this might be the case. The coin is so worn I'd guess it circulated well into even, possibly, the 1800s. If so, it perhaps served as a 'quarter' in the American colonies, or as two bits to which it would approximate (but not exactly).

Yes... YES... YYEES !!!

HH to all !!

[don in ny]

You did great yesterday. I'd love it if you could email front and back photos of the CT. Maybe I can attribute it for you. Still jealous over the William III. :)

[Restoring Your Finds]

Don't be ! I can trade it for your colonials collection if you want ;)
So far, I do not even dare touching the CT copper. My first found !!! And a great feeling !!! But once I'll have it cleaned, I'll email it to you. Thanks for the offer. I really appreciate it !! And thanks and congratulations for organizing such incredible hunts with the club !!

[RIdirtdigger]

HOLY CRAP!!! A shilling??? That's incredible! Those coppers are in amazing shape as well. Great hunt!!!

[kpmoose]

Congrats on the silver shilling. Simply amazing find. :thumbsup02:

[Isaac]

AMAZING hunts guys!!! Beautiful coppers and the Shilling is just wonderful!!!

[Tony Two-Cent]

HOLY COW! My jaw just hit the floor! :shocked05:

What a spectacular hunt you guys had! INCREDIBLE! :notworthy:

That was one magic field! So many bucket list finds. HUGE congrats on the 1696 William III Shilling! It's so rare to see 1600s silver posted on the forum. AMAZING!

:perfect10:

[del]

what a great field full of quality keepers :loveit: love the William shilling English silver that old on this side of the pond is so rare to find. whats the reverse of the shield look like the two iron studs or the brass thin spikes?? we would love to see the Connecticut when your done cleaning it , even for field finds your NY soil is so forgiving.

Dan

[MangoAve]

I wonder how the axe head came up. Congrats on the ridic old silver. I knew the story of how reales worked when the decimal system came about and how they were referred to as bits, but I didn't know the shilling would still be circulated until the 1800s. Three coppers for u at least, however tho KGII and Nova are the ones in really great shape.

[Restoring Your Finds]

Thank you guys. Yes Paul's KGII and Jersey are insane ! Most of Don's coppers are also in a fantastic shape.

Here is the reverse of the martingale :

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At the front, you might be able to see a flower design :

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Here are pictures of my CT copper. It has definitely seen better days. I was SUPER gentle, barely touched it but apparently the dirt was really holding some of the details :

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[Lodge Scent]

Some outstanding finds ! :congrats:

[GA1dad]

Bravo!! You guys rocked it!!

[The Rebel]

Awesome Job!

[CTTodd]

Wow what a great hunt congrats guys

[del]

the shield with the floral design is very interesting (most seem to be plain or blank or have the Welsch plumes and crown motif) , I can't quite make out much more then the flower near the top. huge congrats again on your first Ct. copper and the shilling.:clapping:

[Restoring Your Finds]

Thanks del. Do you know any more about those shields? I was told it's a "martingale", part of horse bridle. Is it what it is?

[OxShoeDrew]

That is one wonderful hunt! They don't come much better! I hope you are able to get back there soon. Congrats!

[Bell-Two]

What a great collection of finds thanks for sharing them...makes me happy to see such stuff....and maybe a tad jealous....:envious: :rofl: Congratulations!

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

Thanks del. Do you know any more about those shields? I was told it's a "martingale", part of horse bridle. Is it what it is?
super hunt! Martingales were rather large and went on the horses chest.these were mounted on the bridle itself very much like rosettes I think

[aloldstuff]

Super great hunt....and :congrats:on that silver shilling...:wow:.

[Restoring Your Finds]

super hunt! Martingales were rather large and went on the horses chest.these were mounted on the bridle itself very much like rosettes I think

Thanks for the info !

[Restoring Your Finds]

Thanks aloldstuff, Bell-Two and OxShoeDrew !

[Pacivilwarluke]

:shocked03::shocked04: Where to begin with this one.. Wow.. One of the best hunts I've ever seen. All the coppers are gorgeous especially the Jersey, they are beautiful coins to begin with, and when they have that much detail with that green patina they just pop! Your shilling is just amazing, being found over here in the colonies makes it all the better. I'll have to get the source on this, but I read somewhere that in the early 1700s Britain passed an act where British silver couldn't be brought into the colonies for commerce because it was depleting the British silver supply. I would think this coin was an Early arrival that saw lots of circulation. I'll see if I can get the source, what a once in a lifetime find!! Congrats again!

[Pacivilwarluke]

Here's the link, the info is in the first paragraph http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/CurrencyIntros/IntroValue.html

[Restoring Your Finds]

Thanks a million times for that link and your comment Pacivilwarluke !!!