1723 Woods Hibernia, relics

[Mr. Digger]

Hit a new field today and dug my first Woods Hibernia. It's a 1723 farthing and the flaking has started. I had never found one of those heart heal plates and today I dug two! What a beautiful New England spring morning. Hope everyone had a chance to get out!

[del]

What makes you think its a farthing? Wood's hibernias are very noticeably smaller than most half pennies . its a very nice find and in great shape !

Dan

[Digger Don]

Great Finds

[Mr. Digger]

What makes you think its a farthing? Wood's hibernias are very noticeably smaller than most half pennies . its a very nice find and in great shape !

Dan

Good point Dan I guess I should check that. It's about the same size as a quarter and definitely smaller than any halfpenny or LC I've ever found. I just assumed it was a farthing because of its size. Thanks!

[OxShoeDrew]

WOW!! That's a super day!! That crud will fall off...and you'll have a wonderful coin!!
Funny how both shoe plates are in the same condition

[The Rebel]

Awesome copper! It's interesting that the heal plates are both broken on the same side.

[wisconsin digger]

Great detail on that coin, congrats. Your right this weekend (Sunday) was a wonderful spring day to be out detecting. Thx for posting the nice recoveries. WD

[Mr. Digger]

WOW!! That's a super day!! That crud will fall off...and you'll have a wonderful coin!!
Funny how both shoe plates are in the same condition

Thanks Drew. My experience has been that this outer layer contains all the detail and is not just caked on dirt. Would you take that all off? I have Andre's pencils and it would take me two minutes...but I'm worried I'll regret it.

[Mr. Digger]

DEL you were right!

Update: the coin is slightly larger than a quarter and meets the specifications for halfpenny (25.85 mm in diameter), not a farthing. It's much smaller than any other halfpenny or LC I have found which is why I assumed farthing, but the design of these halfpennies is much smaller I have learned....thanks to you!

[Tony Two-Cent]

Congrats on the Hibernia Half Penny! I understand your concern about the flaking and possible loss of detail. Is it going to flake off anyway no matter what you do? If you decide to clean it with the pencils I would be sure to take several photos of the coin first. Best of luck no matter what you decide.

I, too, noticed the nearly identical wear on the heel plates. Were they found close together?

[del]

WOW!! That's a super day!! That crud will fall off...and you'll have a wonderful coin!!

its better in my opinion to let the caked on dirt fully dry out on its own , it takes more than a few days maybe a week for it to do that . I can speed that up by placing the coin or item a few inches under a high watt flood lamp , it heats the coin up in a matter of hours instead of days .

DEL you were right!

Update: the coin is slightly larger than a quarter and meets the specifications for halfpenny (25.85 mm in diameter), not a farthing. It's much smaller than any other halfpenny or LC I have found which is why I assumed farthing, but the design of these halfpennies is much smaller I have learned....thanks to you!

You're welcome sir !

[badgers325]

Awesome hunt Mr. Digger. I would start hyper-ventilating if I found a heart heel plate of a coin in the 1700s.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Great coin, and incredible pair of nearly identical heel plates! Also looks like a dog tag...anything interesting on it?

[Mr. Digger]

Thanks DO. That's a rabies vaccine tag dated 1962.