coin identified from old settlers site

[joe dirt_1]

After soaking the coin in olive oil and cleaning the corrosion off with a tooth pick I finally was able to identify the coin. It is a 1787 Massachusetts half cent copper.... my oldest coin found so far by almost 75 years. I don't know how the coin got in a cornfield in West Central Illinois where I found it.
Only thing I can come up with is the settlers who arrived here in about 1826 brought it with them from the east coast and lost it. It is certainly out of place in Illinois.... we never find anything like this here. These pics show the outline of a standing figure in pic 1 and the outline of an eagle in pic 2.
I was able to match up several points on the coin with pictures of the coin to positively identify the coin. I'm happy to identify the coin but wish it was in better shape..............HH

Roger

 

[leslie]

Nice old coin find Roger, this is probably what it looked like

before it was lost.

H H

Les

 

[Hank68]

n/t

 

[Furious T]

Great work in identifying it, and thanks for letting us know..

 

[joe dirt_1]

leslie's pictures are what the coin originally looked like. My coin almost looks like a slug, it is in terrible condition. The olive oil treatment worked to loosen some of the corrosion to make identification possible. It was still cool to find something 224 years old in my neck of the woods, even though
it is trashed.........HH

Roger