Old Farm House Site Gives Up A Large Cent

[NC_Hunting]

Finally made it back to the old farm site I first posted about last week. Took my hunting partner with me this time to help cover more ground. We were there about 2 hours or so and the pickings were kind of slim (just a few more house hold type relics such as a square nail, a metal comb, an old pocket knife, etc). Just before dark I finally hit pay dirt ... my first large cent! I could tell it was in bad condition but we both looked at it and knew what it was. The usual water, soap, and soft brush did nothing to clean this coin. I decided to try electrolysis in small doses and it cleaned it up enough that I could make out what I believe is a matron head but no date. It's still my first large cent and by far my oldest coin to date (1816-1835 for the matron heads). Folks around here call these coins "Swamp Pennies". Unfortunately the reverse was totally unreadable. It may be in rough condition but it sure made my day!
PS: I'm not a coin expert ... what do any of you who know coins well think ~ matron head or not ~ kind of hard to tell?

[rip]

Congrats NC ! A word of caution though,soap can mess up a coin like that best to use disstilled or tap water and a tooth brush.I have also had good results from soaking them in hot hydrogen peroxide for a few min's then into some virgin olive oil for awile.

[carolinachief]

That is SWEEEET!!! I wanna go hunting with you at that spot! Congrats on that find. Any large cent would have me grinning for days.

.....not sure about the "matron (Coronet) head date range" thing, but the oldest coin that has come out of the ground under my my metal detector HERE IN DENVER's CITY PARK, was an 1838 Large Penny. It had the same head as yours does. Considering Denver was founded in 1858, that makes it an old one for this area!

1838LargePenny2.jpg FOUND IN DENVER CITY PARK

1838LargePenny3.jpg IN 1979, DEPTH 7"

Originally Posted by NC_Hunting

Finally made it back to the old farm site I first posted about last week. Took my hunting partner with me this time to help cover more ground. We were there about 2 hours or so and the pickings were kind of slim (just a few more house hold type relics such as a square nail, a metal comb, an old pocket knife, etc). Just before dark I finally hit pay dirt ... my first large cent! I could tell it was in bad condition but we both looked at it and knew what it was. The usual water, soap, and soft brush did nothing to clean this coin. I decided to try electrolysis in small doses and it cleaned it up enough that I could make out what I believe is a matron head but no date. It's still my first large cent and by far my oldest coin to date (1816-1835 for the matron heads). Folks around here call these coins "Swamp Pennies". Unfortunately the reverse was totally unreadable. It may be in rough condition but it sure made my day!
PS: I'm not a coin expert ... what do any of you who know coins well think ~ matron head or not ~ kind of hard to tell?

WTG
NC_Hunting
That is a nice find even with the reverse being unreadable.
Since you found one there, go find the rest of them.
GOOD LUCK

[rip]

I think it is a coronet type if you look at the position of the star to the right of the date it will be farther up and abit bigger than the braided hair type.also the base of the neck is slightly different.Hope that helps ! Have a good one !

[INDY]

Congratulations on a Fantastic find ! Now go back there and see what else you can pull out of the ground.
Good Luck
HH

[DiggerJohnPA]

NC.... you are right on the money. That is a Matron head for sure. You can tell by how straight the bridge of her nose is all the way up to headband. Different books call them different names but you have the date range correct.
Awesome find!!!

[Goat Rancher]

Great find ! I think I would check that place out thoroughly.

[didijim]

Great find, love NC- used to take live reindeer to South Hills Mall, Buck Jones Rd in Raleigh, by Carey and Apex

Loved that area. too hot for the summer for me but loved the winters there, just the right weather until the snow.

keep up the good work