I Had To Take A Few Bullets For What I Got

[GB_Amateur]

6 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Coincidentaly I'm having dinner tonight at the house of a friend of my wife's.  Her husband is a blacksmith and I'll get a tour of his shop.  He's not an historian but he might be able to show me some tools they *could* have used for cutting coins.

Here's a tool he said could be used:

It fits into an anvil.  Then the coin would be held in place by a plyers type device and subsequently hit with a hammer.  This is similar to just using a chisel.  Likely a sturdy piece of wood is preferable as an intermediary instead of strking the coin directly with a hammer, the latter of which could obliterate the coin's details.

But maybe anything available (such as a sharp knife for cutting, as if you were slicing bread -- your understanding) would work.  I doubt there was a cut coin inspector who reviewed the work and authorized it.    The coin books I looked through implied this procedure was something done in the British Colonies and eventually the early years of the USA itself, not a practice performed in the Spanish possessions or homeland.  So we USA coin collectors have no one to blame but our barbaric ancestors and 'founding fathers' for butchering these otherwise pieces of art... ?

 

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

But maybe anything available (such as a sharp knife for cutting, as if you were slicing bread -- your understanding) would work.  I doubt there was a cut coin inspector who reviewed the work and authorized it.    The coin books I looked through implied this procedure was something done in the British Colonies and eventually the early years of the USA itself, not a practice performed in the Spanish possessions or homeland.  So we USA coin collectors have no one to blame but our barbaric ancestors and 'founding fathers' for butchering these otherwise pieces of art... ?

 

Thanks GB. ?

I've been looking for methods of cutting coins in colonial times, haven't found much other than mentions of "sturdy shears" or "chisel" as a regular method of coin cutting. It was most interesting to find that the "tobacco" colonies were mostly cutting coins.

I did happen to stumble upon a massive account of colonial coins that may interest you:

http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark:/53695/nnan48359

It's huge, it describes all of the currencies used in colonial times.

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

The coin books I looked through implied this procedure was something done in the British Colonies and eventually the early years of the USA itself

Here's a quick screenshot from this article done in 2001 regarding coin cutting:

And here is the link to that PDF again, we discussed this a long time ago. ?

https://www.academia.edu/31971759/THE_COLONIAL_NEWSLETTER_When_Cross_Pistareens_Cut_Their_Way_Through_the_Tobacco_Colonies

[Valens Legacy]

17 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Shame that relic hunting season is almost over for me

I have worked the areas closer to the roads and the field roads. I have gone down about 15 feet the side of slopes that don't get planted on. Those areas have produced more coins and items than the fields in the off seasons.

So now you have more areas to check out.

[rvpopeye]

Well , there ya go , you went and did it again !? WTG !

Those permission farms are never going to stop giving up treasures !

 

I'm digging again tonight !      But still just snow .......

[rvpopeye]

  Hey , don't laugh at me !    I KNOW I could find stuff like that too ...post GPS plz..?

[F350Platinum]

22 minutes ago, rvpopeye said:

Well , there ya go , you went and did it again !? WTG !

Those permission farms are never going to stop giving up treasures !

 

I'm digging again tonight !      But still just snow .......

Thanks RVP, I know, y'all are getting a heap. Used to live near Worcester. Can't say I miss it. ?

Despite it being the second warmest winter on record here, it's giving us a little kick today on its way out. We have had snow in April here too. Getting the high winds and the 40s and 30s.

Bright side is it'll be in the 60s later this week, so back to the fields I go, racing the farmers now.

[F350Platinum]

1 minute ago, rvpopeye said:

  Hey , don't laugh at me !    I KNOW I could find stuff like that too ...post GPS plz..?

I am going to do a "Farm Hunting 101" post soon, but I won't diagram my permissions ? I think I wrote in my post about using apps and websites that at best you'd end up in jail if you find the place... ?

[rvpopeye]

Becoming one with  the locals someplace you can dig amazing history items all winter !? 

I'm just waiting to dig something else besides snow here at the fairgrounds .

(There's a harness racing track here .) 

All I need is heat !