1900 1 Kopek

I found a 1780 5 Kopek coin a few weeks ago metal detecting. I know it isn't worth anything, but it was exciting to find.

 

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I have several of these too.

 

Great find! Where did you find it.... what country? Got any photos?

 

I found it in the US, in Connecticut. I was searching what I believed to be an old home site and found it. Not in great condition at all but finding a coin this old was great and I couldn't be happier....unless I found a stash of gold coins i guess.

 

Catherine the Great 5 Kopek. Interesting find considering it was in Connecticut. I haven't seen anything in literature to suggest these circulated in colonial times and post-colonial times. I can't imagine for what value they traded for, considering they dwarf halfpennies and pennies.

 

I've actually joined my towns historical society and plan on going to a few meetings to determine if anyone has a clue who used to own the land or live there. My assumption is that the owners or someone who used to live there must have been Russian immigrants and the coin was something they had carried to the US. I can't think of any other logical explanation for finding that coin here.

 

I have a parallel coin (but the quality is much better). I bought it for 17$ about 3 years ago.

 

I have another version: Russians lived in the Fort Ross (California) during a several decades. And they used a russian coins.

 

Yacorie - Wow that is a neat find for the U.S. very very cool. Too bad you can't quite see the date, but still at least it can be identified, and the fact that you found it in the U.S.A. makes it a bit unique.

Siberian Man - That is a very nice 5 Kopek

 

Indeed, correct. I concede that it's possible. Fort Ross was established in 1812 and abandoned by the Russians in 1841. That said, I believe it would be quite incredible for the specimen to have migrated east 3000 miles overland (approx) to Connecticut and traded.

 

1770, 1776 Specimens from my collection

Please see attached. The images are a bit raw, as I used my point and shoot, and only cropped and added the text.

Notice that their weight varies quite greatly, which implies uncertainty about quality control. Based on this, I believe it is somewhat a challenge to succinctly differentiate strike qualities with wear.

 

1771, 1780 Specimens from my collection

Please see attached. The images are a bit raw, as I used my point and shoot, and only cropped and added the text.

Notice that their weight varies quite greatly, which implies uncertainty about quality control. Based on this, I believe it is somewhat a challenge to succinctly differentiate strike qualities with wear.

 

Here are a few additional photos after I treated it with a combination of peroxide and olive oil. I realize you shouldn't clean coins but I really wanted to be able to see more details and since the coin has no real value, I wanted to see more detail for display. You can read the date now.

 

Oh, cool... 1780. It also looks like there is still some good detail on the eagle underneath the green oxidization, as well as on the wreath and monogram on the other side. I don't know how you would go about cleaning the rest of it off without damaging the coin.

 

I'm going to refrain from suggesting any methods to try and "clean" the specimen.

That said, you may want to peruse some of the metal detecting sites. There are plenty of posts which discuss.

NorthEast Metal Detecting Forum
Friendly Metal Detecting Forum
Treasure Hunting & Metal Detecting Community
Detectors Paradise Forum *(under new ownership, renamed in the last week)

 

Yes, I think some of the methods ancient coin hunters and collectors use are fairly safe for the coin, but I know nothing of it....

Good links Cheetah, there is also a forum for uncleaned coins at forvm.com, specifically for cleaning ancient coins. I would think some of the posts there might have some methods..... and opinions on the methods.
Here is a link:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?board=8.0

 

I belong to the forums I mentioned. More often than not, unfortunately, I see some rather 'radical' methods being employed on specimens that are found. Scary stuff like brillo pads and brasso.Techniques like tumbling makes me cringe from a numismatic perspective. I saw a recent post of a nice barber quarter find where it literally appears like the person applied a belt sander to it. Another guy concocted an electrolysis setup using a kitchen glass, a spoon, and what appeared to be a Nintendo AC game adapter.

 

Ouch..... poor poor coins, and that guy's electrolysis machine sounds like a ticket to the Emergency Room.... Cleaning old coins is a delicate business, but at least there are a number of people out there that know how to do it right.
and now I know how taboo cleaning a modern coin would be, but it's different when its 200 years old, and has been buried for 150 of them.

 

I believe it really depends on the specimen. IMO most silver specimens don't require any additional cleaning than a good dip in distilled water. Copper of course, I wouldn't recommend cleaning beyond distilled water and oil. Maybe acetone - but other folks urge against using that as well. There have been plenty of ground find copper specimens that at face look like crap, but still command a huge premium. The 1785/1786 Vermont Landscape variety, for instance, commands a premium regardless. A chain cent would be another example.