The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 31, August 5, 2007, Article 26

1793 CHAIN CENT, 1889 INDIAN CENT FINDS FUEL NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Earlier this week there was a short Associated Press article
about a 1793 chain cent found by a woman in her garden.  There
was little of real numismatic use in it, and initially I declined
to put anything in The E-Sylum.  But there are connections for
some of our readers, so here it is:

"Cheryl Corbin first thought she had picked up a quarter while
planting flowers in June. Then she saw the date and thought it
was a bicentennial coin.

"At work the next day, Corbin said she had the office in an
uproar.

"Co-workers searched the Internet and identified the coin as
a 1793 copper 'chain' cent. The front featured Lady Liberty
and the back had a circle of 15 chain links representing the
15 states in the union at that time.

"Though Corbin's coin was heavily corroded, she said a specialist
told her it still could be worth 15 hundred to three thousand
dollars."

To read the original Associated Press article, see:
Complete Article

Chick Ambrass writes: "The 1793 chain cent was found in a
person's garden in Burnham, PA - that's just a few miles
down the road from me.  They have talked with the local coin
dealer, Dave Wilson of 4-star jewelry and coins. Apparently
the coin is heavily corroded, but identifiable as a 1793
chain cent. The coin now is at Stack's in NY soaking in some
oil and will be featured in Stack's auction in September.
There was a longer article on the front page of the local
Lewistown paper, The Sentinel.  According to the article an
extensive search with metal detectors was done after the
find, but nothing else turned up. Also, it was said that
before the house was built, the area was used as a dumping
ground for Freedom Forge."

[Perhaps one of our readers at Stack's can tell us more
about the coin.  Here are a couple excerpts from the
Sentinel article. -Editor]

"Wilson said people could find a lot of coins in this area
if they really looked. He said the most effective way is by
using one of the new and very expensive metal detectors.

"Corbin did have two men come to her home with sophisticated
metal detectors after she found the chain cent to see if
they could find more. Corbin said all they found were modern
coins and the top of a Mason jar.

"“We were hoping maybe we'd find a whole Mason jar full of
those coins,” Corbin said."

To read the complete Lewistown Sentinel article, see:
Complete Article

[As another example of the popular fascination with old coins,
there was also an article this week in the Hudson Star Observer
of Hudson Wisconsin about a girl who found an 1889 Indian Head
cent in the till of her lemonade stand. -Editor]

To read the complete article (registration required), see:
Complete Article

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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