I found this in a box of mixed foreign I purchased. It seems to be a Connecticut issues, KM3.1. The date is impossible to see. On the obverse is a bust facing left, on the reverse is a version of the Britannia seated design. However, I also think I'm seeing a C or G counterstamped on the reverse. I know a lot of the Caribbean places of the era took other coins and stamped them with letters, I believe usually G for George. What do you all think?
Yes it is a colonial. (Actually it is a state issue and not really a colonial. The war was over and Connecticut was no longer a colony when this was struck.)
Brief overview and variety list (there are many!): http://www.coinfacts.com/colonial_coins/connecticut_coppers/ConnecticutCoppers.htm A detailed overview of the topic: http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/CT-Copper.intro.html
All of that being as it may, this coin is worth (1) professional identifcation and (2) conservation. Realize that while prima facie it is most likely genuine copies and knock-offs have been made for over 100 years. Ground turns and churns as it freezes and thaws, a coin could look like this after a few decades in the ground, since, oh, say, 1950... So, it needs to be certified. Get a professional eyes-on from an ANA dealer who knows the series. Then send it to a top-tier third party grader. If that is successful, then consider Numismatic Conservation. Normally, old coins are just junk that people place too much value on (come be honest), but in this case, if it is a genuine Connecticut piece, then, indeed, it is special. If you care...
Connecticut. It may still be attributable. Damaged and worn, yet its appearance doesn't suggest that it's a probable ground find. Very plausibly well circulated. It was not unheard of for specimens to circulate for decades, well into the 1850's.
I found it in a big box of stuff, so the cost was dirt cheap. Isn't this coin worth less than $20? Does anyone else see a counterstamp on the reverse?
If it is counterstamped, what might it mean? Would this counterstamp be an unofficial thing, like the merchant stamps on coins of the 1800s? Or would this be more of an official counterstamp to revaule it or to make it for use in a new place?
No way to know definitively, if indeed it's counterstamped. If it is, probably the former - for some "unofficial" reason.
I'm going to catalog this as a KM8.1, Draped bust and 1786 is the only year for this type. I'll grade it in Poor. Does this seem reasonable?
It would probably come back from NGC, PCGS, and ANACS as a GENUINE NOT GRADEABLE. I'm not saying that you'd get it graded, I'm just saying that there is probably no grade on it.
