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Ancient coin has ironic currency[Massachusetts]
Cape Cod Online ^ | 02 June 2009 | Mary Ann Bragg

Posted on 06/03/2009 10:37:55 AM PDT by BGHater

NORTH TRURO — As Truro celebrates its 300th birthday, one of its residents has unearthed a silver coin that's even older.

Peter Burgess, who owns a house next to Old North Cemetery and the site of an early church and meeting house, found a thin coin in his yard a year ago. He was moving dirt in his garden. He picked up the brown disc, which is about the size of a dime and bears markings near the edges.

The story of Burgess' find comes at a fortuitous moment, as this seaside village commemorates its incorporation on July 16, 1709. But the coin is also a great local rarity, according to Highland House Museum curator Mark Dooley. It's among the oldest documented artifacts in town, and the oldest identified coin by about 90 years, Dooley said.

"I've heard of people in the area finding older British coins," said Dooley. "But I've never come across one. It sounds like a really cool find."

It is precisely that, according to coin specialists — but not so rare as to make Burgess a rich man.

"I thought, oh, boy, I've got something," Burgess said yesterday as he stood on the same spot in the garden where he first made the discovery.

Era of William III

The silver sixpence is most likely about 313 years old and from the 1689-1702 reign of William III of England, according to two coin specialists. Burgess spent months researching the coin, at times mistaking its origins, before nailing down its pedigree in January by e-mailing photos to Louis Jordan, head of special collections at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

A William III silver sixpence could sell for several thousand dollars — or for around $100 or even less, depending on the condition, said coin expert and Truro homeowner John Reznikoff of University Archives in Connecticut.

The sixpence could have circulated in the American Colonies through about 1750, Jordan said.

In his garden yesterday, Burgess, a retired psychologist, laid open his palm to reveal the numismatic antique, worn smooth with age. It's only slightly heavier than a feather.

A clergyman's wages?

Burgess' family has owned property next to the historic cemetery since around 1959, and he and his wife have lived there full time for five years. Beyond their fence is the grave of the town's first ordained clergyman, the Rev. John Avery, who served the town for 45 years. Also bordering Burgess' garden are ruts from an older dirt road that would have dated from Truro's beginnings, said Truro Historical Society historian Dan Sanders.

Yesterday Sanders and Burgess mused that the coin might have belonged to Avery himself. He would have been among the few in town at that time paid in British coins, Sanders said. Avery's job back in 1709 paid 60 pounds a year, according to a local history book.

The sixpence would have amounted to about one-sixth of a day's work for him.

Burgess said he will likely donate the coin to a place where residents and visitors can enjoy it. "I'm not sure where that is yet," he said. He added that he'll also wait to see if anyone comes to claim it.

Peter Burgess compares a photo of the coin he found, at right, to a photo of one less worn showing the crowned shields and lion on sixpence from the reign of King William III of England, 1689-1702.

Peter Burgess stands at the spot in is garden where he came upon an unusual find, an English sixpence that was probably minted around the time of Truro’s incorporation. Truro is celebrating its tricentennial this year.


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: coin; coins; currency; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; ma; massachusetts

1 posted on 06/03/2009 10:37:56 AM PDT by BGHater
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To: SunkenCiv

Another lucky find ping.


2 posted on 06/03/2009 10:38:19 AM PDT by BGHater (It's easy to be a Conservative now.)
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To: BGHater; Revolting cat!; Slings and Arrows
He added that he'll also wait to see if anyone comes to claim it.


3 posted on 06/03/2009 10:42:38 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Justice is blind. Sonia Sotomayor is not even qualified to sit on an IMPARTIAL jury.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin; Red_Devil 232

Gardening thread ping!


4 posted on 06/03/2009 10:44:38 AM PDT by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
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To: BGHater

Maybe he actually found in the adjacent field...as in...found it in someones coffin!

Yikes...what a great place to grow stuff!


5 posted on 06/03/2009 10:45:41 AM PDT by surfer
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To: BGHater
.... said Dooley. "But I've never come across one. It sounds like a really cool find."

It is precisely that, according to coin specialists ....

It is precisely what? Cool? Cool is a generic word that's used in very general terms. Saying that something is cool is far from being precise.

6 posted on 06/03/2009 10:57:17 AM PDT by Isabel C.
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To: Petronski

His garlic is doing well!


7 posted on 06/03/2009 10:59:45 AM PDT by fanfan (Why did they bury Barry's past?)
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To: BGHater
Off topic but Truro related....an old joke from 'round these parts:

"What do you do if you drop your car keys in Provincetown?"

"I dunno...what?"

"Kick 'em to Truro first!"

8 posted on 06/03/2009 11:02:11 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Barack Hussein Obama is a walking middle finger.)
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To: BGHater

What backed this type of currency ?

Seems to me that even at face value, it’s better than finding a dollar on the ground.


9 posted on 06/03/2009 11:03:06 AM PDT by Celerity
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To: Petronski

Family plot?


10 posted on 06/03/2009 11:07:48 AM PDT by BIGLOOK (Government needs a Keelhauling now and then.)
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To: Isabel C.

ohhh puleeeze!!!!


11 posted on 06/03/2009 1:23:36 PM PDT by Jeffrey_D.
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To: BGHater; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks BGHater.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google ·
· The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


12 posted on 06/03/2009 3:21:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: Isabel C.

NO,NO, he said REALLY COOL. That’s much more precise and everyone knows exactly what he means.


13 posted on 06/03/2009 8:58:32 PM PDT by wildbill ( The reason you're so jealous is that the voices talk only to me.)
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To: BGHater

The Truro residents have dropped their American yearning to be free and have elected a loyalist President who will degrade their freedom and revert America to a vast European colony.


14 posted on 06/04/2009 4:24:20 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . The boy's war in Detriot has already cost more then the war in Iraq.)
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To: a fool in paradise

“He added that he’ll also wait to see if anyone comes to claim it.”

Lol! “Hey, that’s my quarter!”

I have read the article but don’t get why the coin finding is ‘ironic’. What does that mean?


15 posted on 06/07/2009 8:57:55 AM PDT by Beowulf9
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