Metal detecting finds: Max Cane discovery

"This summer I dug up a coin I never thought I would find here in New York, a 1797 cartwheel two pence! This coin is massive and in surprisingly good shape too! Just holding it in my hand I can feel the weight is unlike any other coin I've seen and these were minted to be almost exactly 2 ounces of copper which makes them the largest British coin ever made for circulation!

The thick, raised rim is where the "cartwheel" nickname comes from and they were often used as counterweights due to the size and even weight of the coins. It was instantly recognizable out of the ground, but it did require some work to bring out the detail. I let it dry and used a bamboo skewer to remove the majority of the dirt and then used an Andre's brush to finish up the rougher spots. For a pure copper coin there's still a good deal of definition to the bust of King George III and Britannia. It was nearly 8" down in fairly mineralized soil so it wasn't a screaming signal, but a consistent, low 90s tone. This yard has produced all sorts of finds ranging from the early 18th century to modern as well as a number of other British coppers. The house was built in the 1780s by a wealthy family, but may have been a carriage stop and lodging house during the 19th century.

I found this coin using the Deus with a 11" x35 coil which does very well in the highly mineralized soil that's common in my area. Very few of these large coins seemed to have made their way over to the United States and this is the first cartwheel that I've found so far! Really memorable day when this came out of the ground!" 

Max Cane