The find of a lifetime!

[Donnie B]

Got out yesterday with Danny LaMontagne to do some Colonial cellar hole diggin. I'm still in shock and it hasn't sunk in yet but I pulled out a bucket list coin yesterday. I would like to thank Danny LaMontagne for letting me tag along with him. Danny is the best friend a guy could have and I am so grateful to him for letting me tag along and dig colonial! I thought I knew what it was in the hole but I called Danny over and let him pull the coin out. It's a 1652 Massachusetts Pine Tree Shilling. After 300 plus years in the ground, Danny was the first person to touch it since it was lost by a colonist.

[lee]

wow Donnie, that is an incredible find mate and in fantastic shape to.
did it ring up just like a copper ? how deep was it ?

[lee]

just a bit of history that brings into context just how old that coin is

OLIVER CROMWELL, Lord Protector 1653 - 1658
Cromwell was born at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire in 1599, the son of a small landowner. He entered Parliament in 1629 and became active in events leading to the Civil War. A leading Puritan figure, he raised cavalry forces and organised the New Model Army, which he led to victory over the Royalists at the Battle of Naseby in 1645. Failing to gain agreement on constitutional change in government with Charles I, Cromwell was a member of a 'Special Commission' that tried and condemned the king to death in 1649. Cromwell declared Britain a republic 'The Commonwealth' and he went on to become its Lord Protector.
Cromwell went on to crush the Irish clans and the Scots loyal to Charles II between 1649 and 1651. In 1653 he finally expelled the corrupt English parliament and with the agreement of army leaders became Lord Protector (King in all but name)

[Lodge Scent]

[Tony Two-Cent]

This is probably the most amazing find I've seen on this forum! Words cannot express!

It is in INCREDIBLE condition too, and worth a pretty penny! This is a find where you should take great care in it's handling. Personally, I would not attempt to clean it.

Huge congrats on the fantastic piece of colonial history! This is a mind blowing find!

[Digger Don]

That settles it, I'm moving to Connecticut!!

Congrats Donnie, that coin is a RARE and FANTASTIC find.
And it's condition is unbelievable

[aloldstuff]

Find of a lifetime to say the least.....huge congrats on such a beautiful and rare coin.

[Donnie B]

It was probably less than four inches deep. I thought it was a copper when I got the signal. I told Danny it rang up in the 80's underground on my MXT Pro. Out of the hole, it was a solid 77.

wow Donnie, that is an incredible find mate and in fantastic shape to.
did it ring up just like a copper ? how deep was it ?

[Donnie B]

Thanks Tony! I'm not even going to attempt to clean it any further. Danny and I sprayed a little water on it from a spray bottle when I dug it and that was it. I'm afraid to touch it!

This is probably the most amazing find I've seen on this forum! Words cannot express!

It is in INCREDIBLE condition too, and worth a pretty penny! This is a find where you should take great care in it's handling. Personally, I would not attempt to clean it.

Huge congrats on the fantastic piece of colonial history! This is a mind blowing find!

[Full Metal Digger]

HUGE CONGRATS DONNIE! Word of your find spread fast and I been looking forward to seeing this post! It's a real beauty. I'll bet it was hard to do any detecting after you realized what you had. Did you sleep with it last night? I would have! LOL. You got my vote for find of the year. Congrats again and thanks for sharing with us. Best wishes and HH, Dave.

[Digger_O'Dell]

WOW, you certainly hit the lottery! That certainly is the find of a lifetime! I briefly looked at values and depending on your variety and being in such awesome condition, that could easily be valued between $10,000 to $30,000 if it's a common variety. Maybe add another zero for the really rare ones.
Definitely, do not clean it. But if I were you I would seriously consider getting it to PCGS for grading, verifying authenticity, determinjng variety, and preservation.

[The Rebel]

WOW! Find of a lifetime for sure! That's in amazing shape and if it could only talk!
Guess you'll be retiring from the hobby & selling all of your gear, LOL!

[Robbie]

That thing is nice, amazing how it`s lasted.

[OxShoeDrew]

HOLY COW!!!! That is UNREAL!! I don't have words.....I've been sitting here for 5 min trying to find words. I'm happy for you Donnie and best of luck with its preservation and displaying!

[BTV Digger]

Incredible and rare find sir. Among the top on the forum along with the Higley Copper posted here years ago. Much congrats! Do you plan on having it PCGS'd?

John

[del]

Donnie called out to me and said "I got a good one " I said "you got a copper " he said "better" , I said "you got a shoe buckle" he said "i think its better" I walk over to where he was at and I see a nice shallow plug and a "quarter sized "greyish disk right in the middle . He was still squatting near the ground and looked like he didn't want to touch it so I picked it up and loosened some of the dirt from it and instantly saw 1652 XII and I couldn't believe what he just dug up I am truly honored that he let me be the first to touch it in about 332 years It is in amazing shape and wasn't in circulation very long as there is practically no "clipping" visible on the coin a bucket list coin for many in the hobby Donnie including myself , "Huge-Mega-Congrats

A few of the coin guru's gave the coin an EF (Extra fine) grading which could bring the coin's value to about $7,500 dollars

[Donnie B]

For now, it will be going in the lock box at the bank. I am not going to touch it or clean it. I had a wisdom tooth pulled today so I'm drifting in and out between pain and extreme pain. I know it probably doesn't work this way but if I could drive the coin to PCGS and have it graded and slabbed in my presence, then I would do it.

Incredible and rare find sir. Among the top on the forum along with the Higley Copper posted here years ago. Much congrats! Do you plan on having it PCGS'd?

John

[Donnie B]

You know that every time we speak for the rest of our lives that I am going to thank you! Thank you for letting me tag along with you! Thank you for your knowledge. Thank you for your friendship.

I thought I knew what it was in the hole before you picked it up. It looked like a very busy and detailed coin with the details in all the right places. I had my glasses on but didn't pick it up so I couldn't tell for sure. I waited for you. I thought it could be a shilling and then my mind started racing. Is it British? Is it French? You pick it up Danny!

Donnie called out to me and said "I got a good one " I said "you got a copper " he said "better" , I said "you got a shoe buckle" he said "i think its better" I walk over to where he was at and I see a nice shallow plug and a "quarter sized "greyish disk right in the middle . He was still squatting near the ground and looked like he didn't want to touch it so I picked it up and loosened some of the dirt from it and instantly saw 1652 XII and I couldn't believe what he just dug up I am truly honored that he let me be the first to touch it in about 332 years It is in amazing shape and wasn't in circulation very long as there is practically no "clipping" visible on the coin a bucket list coin for many in the hobby Donnie including myself , "Huge-Mega-Congrats

A few of the coin guru's gave the coin an EF (Extra fine) grading which could bring the coin's value to about $7,500 dollars

[Lodge Scent]

Donnie, tell us about the site. All of us are praying that this wasn't a virgin site because it will give us hope that there could be a tree shilling lurking at any old cellar hole, virgin or not.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Wondering what Donnie will find next, I'm guessing a Birch cent!