What is your oldest or rarest coin or medallion ?

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Oldest one. Not sure when it was made but pre 1800.
 
Greenhornet_au said:
The family turned up to the Adelaide Parklands to go detecting and fishing.
A bible group had lost a REAL 1 A.D. coin and hoped it was in the grass, so asked if we could assist.

We found pre-decs, spendables, a silver ring, bits and this coin (it is a copy of the original),
they had a few scattered on a table.

But the original coin was on a junky laminated board and was probably stolen, we hoped not, but we could not find it.
When I found this coin in the grass they got excited but it was just a copy.

Strangely this happened on the 1st of April a few years ago, so I just had to post it on the forum that night.

Cheeky I know. :)

But my earliest coin.....

Hi Greenhornet,

Just having a look at the coin . Its an Imitation shekel (same coin Judas received from the Romans) . Interesting to note the quality of silver , you may notice bubbling or peals and a seam (first giveaway as to the coin being fake). Also there is the word copy , which is most commonly associated with a famous counterfeiter in Bulgaria called Slavie . Slavie eventually stopped putting the word copy and started selling ancient coins as the one you have as real because there is more profit in it. He also opened up forgery schools in bulgaria. Their techniques are getting better but not close to how it was done in ancient times , and a trained eye can pick a fake from a real ancient coin. Still a cool find.
 
Back in the 80s I found a double headed Queen Victoria penny. Expertly filed down and glued together, the join only just visible.
I often wonder what happened to the owner.
 
Below is one of my oldest coins...it's a Henry VI silver groat minted in Calais, France between 1422 and 1430.

It was my very first find when I started detecting about 18 months ago and I literally found it within 2 minutes of walking on to a random field owned by a farmer friend. Talk about beginners luck!

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Danny13 said:
Greenhornet_au said:
The family turned up to the Adelaide Parklands to go detecting and fishing.
A bible group had lost a REAL 1 A.D. coin and hoped it was in the grass, so asked if we could assist.

We found pre-decs, spendables, a silver ring, bits and this coin (it is a copy of the original),
they had a few scattered on a table.

But the original coin was on a junky laminated board and was probably stolen, we hoped not, but we could not find it.
When I found this coin in the grass they got excited but it was just a copy.

Strangely this happened on the 1st of April a few years ago, so I just had to post it on the forum that night.

Cheeky I know. :)

But my earliest coin.....

Hi Greenhornet,

Just having a look at the coin . Its an Imitation shekel (same coin Judas received from the Romans) . Interesting to note the quality of silver , you may notice bubbling or peals and a seam (first giveaway as to the coin being fake). Also there is the word copy , which is most commonly associated with a famous counterfeiter in Bulgaria called Slavie . Slavie eventually stopped putting the word copy and started selling ancient coins as the one you have as real because there is more profit in it. He also opened up forgery schools in bulgaria. Their techniques are getting better but not close to how it was done in ancient times , and a trained eye can pick a fake from a real ancient coin. Still a cool find.

Thank you Danny, a lot of info there.
That Bible group actually had an original real coin stolen, they hoped it was dropped into the grass.
Alas, even though we went back and gridded the area carefully, we did not find any other coin.

"Shekel" always reminds Kato and myself of this..... :lol: :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51_Qs8tq5c8
 
I found the item below a few weeks ago. It a Victorian silver sixpence that has been converted by a jeweller to a charm or pendant.

Sadly the date has been removed when the monogram was applied, but its probably late 1800s so not particularly old.

Using silver sixpences as charms is fairly common, this is my first with a monogram.

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deepblue said:
Not a bad find Jubilee Head 1887 - 1893 very nice well done. :perfect:

Thanks for that...Dont really Know much about heads on the Viccy coins other than Young or Old Victoria....I take it the shilling below would be a Jubilee head as well or is there some subtle difference?

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Only 2 types of Jubilee heads are stated the Small head 1887 - 1889 and Large head 1889 - 1893 for the shillings. Nice looking coins the groat is great. :Y:
 
deepblue said:
Only 2 types of Jubilee heads are stated the Small head 1887 - 1889 and Large head 1889 - 1893 for the shillings. Nice looking coins the groat is great. :Y:

Thanks for that..As you can tell, I assumed the charm was a sixpence, I didn't realise it was a groat...Funnily enough I had a William 4th groat the other week, but the farmer took a shine to it .. :/ It was a pity as we don't get many William 4th as he was only on the throne about seven years...I will see if I have some pics of it...

Found it...
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I'm not a notch on Kato, she is far more dedicated and seems to have a nose for things.
It is always a pleasure to she her find something old, the hiding smile on her face betrays her excitement. ;)

Two of her best prizes.....

The English Penny 1807, in pretty good nick for around 200 years in the dirt.
Possibly owned or handled by Colonel William Light in 1836.
Some other items lend providence to this theory.

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A Gambling Token dated 1768 found in Adelaide, looks like it was turned into a necklace for a child,
nearly 60 years before Adelaide was founded.

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Greenhornet_au said:
Two of her best prizes.....

The English Penny 1807, in pretty good nick for around 200 years in the dirt.
Possibly owned or handled by Colonel William Light in 1836.
Some other items lend providence to this theory.
Not sure why but the various George's never seen to come out of the ground in good nick but least yours is identifiable...I have a couple of privately issued half penny tokens and they are a bit better and also feel heavier so it might be down to the quality of the metals used?
 

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