1788 half cent

I am in no way shape or form a coin collector.I have a couple Nazi coins from the war,and thats about it.I found this coin in south Alabama in the woods while i was hunting.Can anyone tell me if its worth keeping?

 

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this is the other side

 

If its real then yeah, its a great find.

 

if it is real what do you think it would be worth?

 

This is a coin authoized by Massachusetts on October 17th, 1786. These coinsx were the first coins under Congress to have the word "CENT" struck on them. This 1788 Massachusetts Half Cent is worth about $300, according to the 2011 Red Book Price Guide to U.S. Coins. But honestly, sorry to say, but the coin looks fake. The lettering is was to scrawny, compared to the bold lettering on a genuine coin. And the man on the front of your's looks like somebody drew it. In my opinion, fake dies were used on a fake planchet.

 

I'd guess it's an old cast piece. The letters have that welded look, not the letter punch designs they should have. Plus the lettering goes right to and beyond the edges. An authentic piece had a rim and denticles quite far from any lettering.
Guy~

 

Unfortunately this piece appears to be a more modern replica. I see this particular copy all the time. As coinmaster1 mentioned, the letters are very different than the real examples and the Indian is much less defined and more crude. Also, on the wear points it appears the lead is showing through clearly (the gray areas) and if authentic, the coin would be pure copper. The other giveaway that this is a replica is there is no star between the bow and the Indian on the obverse. I have attached a photograph of an original 1787 pieces for comparison purposes.

 

thank you for proving my point with a pic, nerarities.

 

Thanks for the info guys....

 

I think it's real... EDITED forum rules. Use PM for offers or classifieds.. the background story is interesting. And I like collecting coins like that.. even if it's a fake... it was a cool way to find it haha..

 

Wish it were real, but it isn't. I believe that it's a copy of a cent rather than a half cent, even though it's smaller
in diameter than a real Mass cent.

A buddy of mine brought a piece just like this to a local coin club meeting. He had found it on a baseball diamond in New Mexico.
The next meeting, I brought several real Mass coppers and one like his. When you hold them side-by-side, it's clearly a copy.
I also brought a pair of tin shears. My friend almost came unglued when I suddenly cut MY copy in half to reveal the white metal inside
the copper shell. Ever since, we've joking referered to this as the "tin snips" variety. On your example, I believe that the white metal is shoing through the
exterior copper shell. Some time later, a Texas dealer came to a local coin show with a bag of 400 of these. He wanted $100 for the whole bag. He also had a
bag of "unique" 1776 Mass state penny copies.

 

I understand the white metal reasoning for it being fake but what else is your decision based on?

 

Orange Gold.

Re-read my post above. ARguy is right, these copies were made of MA copper cents of 1787. The 1/2 cent and cent have the same real diagnostics. The star between the Indian and the bow is clearly visible on the real example and missing from the copy above. Also, look at the letters, they are completely different. Look at the Ms for example in COMMON. You will see they are completely different. The white coming through is lead. These coins were not made from lead but pure copper. I have posted a picture of a genuine cent below. See the picture of the 1/2 cent and cent I have posted and compare to the original posters photo.

 

Orange Gold,

For all the reason the guys have stated above, this coin just "ain't right" -- the letters, the star, the Indian, the eagel -- all look suspicious. The dfferences between different varieties of the real McCoy are subtle for the most part. The differences between the real McCoy and this one are very dramatic. On the other hand, this one is identical to KNOWN copies that many of us have seen in quantity. If you look out on ebay, I'll bet you can find several of these being offered as genuine. But they just simply are not genuine. It's like thedifference between play money and real money. That's not to say that there aren't more accurate copies out there. But, this would be classed as a "non-deceptive" copy.

 

The Massachusetts half-cent's casts were hand made back then... That is why I'm not taking in account for the shape of the letters.
The only thing I see that could be wrong is the metal material. But who knows...

 

someone told me to hold it a few inches above a table and drop it to see if it makes a thud or a ring. i tried that and it sounds like a quarter. is that supposed to tell me if its lead?

 

Hey Climinguy71,

You wont be able to tell much from that test. The real test for copper is it balance the coin on your finger, and take another coin a gently tap the edge to see if it rings. If real copper, it should ring like a bell. If lead it will have a dull ring/thud to it. However, this is not a test for genuine or copy since there are other copies of many colonial coins made out of pure copper.

 

It might be real... they were hand made die casts back then... just send it into a grading company. It might be worth 3 digits

 

Climinguy71,

You can send it to a grading company if you want, but I would STRONGLY suggest you keep your money in your wallet. If you send this coin to them you will pay postage and a grading fee for a coin that will just be shipped back as not genuine. I am very sorry your coin is not the real deal, but it is still a cool representation of a coin made during our country's beginning. As mentioned by ARguy earlier in the thread, this coin is part of a group of "non-deceptive" copies made in the late 70s-80s. They were made like this as to not fool the collector. I will not comment again on your coin, but in an economy like we have today I really hate to see people throw away good money.

Best Regards,
nerarities

 

Who knows? Most of the people on this forum.

Just because the dies were hand made does NOT mean that they could ever be this far from the appropriate style. This coin is a very crude fake.