Mid April Vermont metal detecting holiday - round 2

[BTV Digger]

Hi all,

Here's finds from another little cellar hole in a field I hit with my close friend from @greenmountaindiggers this past April 18. Only a short 30 minute drive away for me this time. Finds were fairly typical from an early Vermont homestead, but what was unusual were the counterfeit coins we dug there - 3! Those were two 1817 8 Reales and a cast pewter/other base metal 1830 Capped Bust Dime. We also found a blank copper planchet identical in weight/diameter to the 8 Reales coins. I only got over one of the "8's", but I find it very unique and it's now one of the more special items in my collection. Thanks for looking.

John

[Bucknut]

That is a good looking counterfeit! Looking at the pic I would have thought it was real. Cool find and congrats on all the finds!

[del]

Thats a great looking counterfeit John , it would of fooled me as the busts on them Ferdinand coins vary a lot from bust to bust . is it silver over pewter or copper ?
Congrats !!

Its odd that some sites can give up just coins and maybe a pewter poker chip and then some sites can give up a bunch of counterfeits or fakes , one time a member here (Fsa46 ) found 11 8 real pewter counterfeits (a cache of them) with George , it was very exciting for all of us .

Dan

[Full Metal Digger]

Great finds John! I think some of those counterfeits are worth more than the actual coin sometimes! Glad to see a post from you and hope you are doing well. Best wishes and happy digging, Dave.

[BTV Digger]

That is a good looking counterfeit! Looking at the pic I would have thought it was real. Cool find and congrats on all the finds!

Thanks Jared. Yeah, it even feels the same weight - but rings up medium high on the D2 - like a 70 VDI so I new it wasn't real.

Thats a great looking counterfeit John , it would of fooled me as the busts on them Ferdinand coins vary a lot from bust to bust . is it silver over pewter or copper ?

Its odd that some sites can give up just coins and maybe a pewter poker chip and then some sites can give up a bunch of counterfeits or fakes , one time a member here (Fsa46 ) found 11 8 real pewter counterfeits (a cache of them) with George , it was very exciting for all of us .

Dan

Thanks Dan. Wow - 11 counterfeits - amazing! The more I've read, the more I've been surprised to understand how rampant it was back in the early years. Nuts. For my coin it's silver plate over what looks like copper. As mentioned, my friend found a pure copper disc identical in weight/diameter also at the site. But my coin rang up with a 70 or so VDI on the D2 so not sure. Would the silver plate bring down the numbers? I'm certainly no expert, but if you handle and look at the coin it definitely is a more quality made counterfeit. I understand a lot of these were made in Birmingham, England and this coin probably is fairly contemporary of the date. But honestly, who will ever truly know.

Great finds John! I think some of those counterfeits are worth more than the actual coin sometimes! Glad to see a post from you and hope you are doing well. Best wishes and happy digging, Dave.

Good to hear from you Dave! Thanks for the note. I understand another gentleman digger from the great state of Illinois was recently in Germany. Were you there also?

[Lodge Scent]

That is really cool. I've always been a fan of counterfeits.