My friend Ole Anderson has just found a 1797 Large Cent in Great Barrington, Ma. For those of you who do not know, there were 4 varieties (that I know of) including the gripped edge variety. I'll try and keep everyone in the loop on this as he progresses with it. Def. a winner no matter which variety it is.
Oh, WOW. Tell him to be VERY careful cleaning the crud off! He must be very stoked!!! My friends down here in GA have dug some very lovely Draped Bust cents. I've only dug one myself, and it's a corroded wreck. Below: a local SE GA detector find. Not by me, but by my buddy Billy Ridenour. He has found some really pristine early large cents. Interestingly, several have been this 1798 Sheldon-166 variety with the distinctive die crack on the reverse. There must've been a keg of them shipped to Savannah or thereabouts in 1798-1800 or so. Billy also dug a really nice 1798/7. (Yes, this is a dug coin.)
@tommyc03 That's a great find! He needs to be extra careful when removing the dirt off of it. Maybe just send it in for conservation, proper identification and a slab to protect it.
Man…. Finds like this just get me so stoked. I wish I could find something more than old hardware with my detector. Wow!
@tommyc03 and @lordmarcovan Both of your friends have fulfilled bucket list finds of mine. Those are amazing!
Yes, I've already told him he should have it conserved. No sense taking a chance because whatever variety it turns out to be is still very much worth being careful.
I search all hits. I have a double headed axe that an antique dealer told me was from approx. 1850's-1860's. Some nice old wagon wheel hubs and other stuff.
It seems Ole is not quite sure if he is going to be able to keep it. Ole has been getting signed permissions from various land owners. Some tell him he can keep anything he finds. That seems likely maybe someone has already scoped the area in question. The land owner where this came from seems to be a little sketchy about where this find is going to end up.
That is a wonderful find. I just hope the one Ole found and does not lose out on is the gripped edge variety. That one is big bucks in the guides.
