As some of you may know, I love metal detecting, and my favorite type of metal detecting has always been at colonial sites, deep in the woods. Anyways, I found these together in one hole in a mid 1600's town in MA, back in 2015. They were toasted when I found them, and I assumed that they were too far gone, but now after soaking in mineral oil for a couple year, and drying for two months, they have showed some of their details. It would be amazing if any of these were older than my current oldest dug coin, a 1656 Louis XIV Liard that I dug in a mid 1700's town five minutes from me in NH. I live in NH, and most of the town around me are from the mid to late 1700's, though a few times every week, when going to visit my family's horse which is twenty minutes away in MA, I bring my metal detector to dig some 1600's soil! One copper appears to have a large crown, which can be seen better if the coin is dipped in water or oil. It also has some medium sized worn letters above the crown on the edge. The other side is too worn to see much. The second copper is very thin and crude. The edge appears to have many small letters all around it, I can read atleast a "SR" and what looks like a "55, or SS". In the middle I think I see some type of wreath or braided border, with some letters or design elements in side. The other side of the coin is very similar to the front, except the center of the coin is much more worn, though the letters on the edge can be seen. The photos are very bad at showing much detail on this coin. The third coin is very smooth, it looks to be worn flat almost, except for a less than a centimeter wide raised roundish worn design in the center of one side. No photos of this coin. Thanks for helping! If you identify any of these, then you deserve some type of trophy
I see a date under the crown on the coin with the crown, after rubbing it with my oily fingers. It appears to be 15?5, 16?5, or 13?5 (though I am sure that it is not from the 1300's).
Yes, it's very difficult to make out anything from the photographs, unfortunately. I've heard that digital grey-scale analysis on worn surfaces can sometimes reveal features unseen with the naked eye. I don't really know much about this, but I believe it involves manipulating the photographs digitally to reveal layers of grey (or possibly other colors) and shadows. Raking light can also reveal surface features. But, as you suggest, these pieces may be too far gone to identify. In any case, it's still fascinating!
