Recent acquisition- 1787 Massachusetts 4-C half cent Discussion

I thought I would post for discussion a new add to my humble collection. The 4-C variety is a rather common variety of Massachusetts copper but still a historically interesting coin, and the larger cents were the 1st coins bearing the denomination cent as established by Congress.

This particular example has a decent level of detail remaining with a bit of environmentally challenged surfaces that certainly add to the appearance of having been around for quite a while!

Images included are from the internet listing venue I won it through and appear to include ones taken prior to certification (lightened to better show the details) and after encapsulation including the slab grade.





Any thoughts on this example welcomed!

 

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Very awesome! I sure wouldn’t mind metal detecting one of these!

 

Probably wouldn’t find one quite like this metal detecting!

This example was certified back in 2014 and was probably “minted” not long before. The fact that it showed up for sale this week may be an indication how many there may be “out there”,,,

This is the cover of my 2016 article in the C4 Newsletter and my 1st example:

 

Very nice.

 

Thank you- pretty decent counterfeits.

 

I don't know this series at all. What gave it away?

 

The source coin was a 1787 4-C 1787 half cent- the bow has been lengthened in the die, the always seen die break at the foot removed and the waistband retooled to an odd angle.

There is a knock on the 7 of the date which also flattened the stem end and damaged feathers- a dead match to the second one I posted here!

 

I took it to my friends at Crossroads Coins and it scanned as:

Copper (Cu): 81.7%

Ruthenium (Ru): 10.6%

Rhodium (Rh): 6.8%

Iron (Fe): 0.8%

Got no clue just yet what this actually means- maybe alien?

 

Well, Ruthenium is often used in the making of platinum jewelry. Rhodium is also used in jewelry and in electro--plating as well as a catalyst. So, maybe someone in the jewelry business has decided to branch out into another lucrative trade and the bottom of the melt pot contained some leftover precious metals.

 

Be aware: there’s a guy out there, called Jack, all of his coins are counterfeits

 

Not all micbraun! But it certainly has been a focus over the last few years...

 

One of my earliest Coin Week articles was on my 1st one of these: https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/c...usetts-4c-half-cent-1-page-attribution-guide/