Up for a challenge? - A very poor coin

[TerraBritannia]

Found in a new field on Saturday and it rang in at 18 on the Equinox. It was only a few inches deep beneath the stubble.

It came out looking worse for wear, quite dark in colour, but with a slight orange tinge near one edge.

I've been over it with a toothpick and I'm not sure why I spent as much time as I did on it, but it doesn't look quite like any other Farthings(?) that I've found so far and I wanted to attempt to get an ID.

You may be wondering why it has a bit of a shiny/silvery look, well I tried wax, I tried pencil lead, also rubbing with thumb and forefinger but I couldn't make anything out. Desperation got the better of me and I picked up an oldish lead pistol ball and rubbed it over the surfaces to try and reveal something . . . anything.

It may be my eyes, but if I catch the light just right, I think I can see a double bust on the obverse? Could it be a William and Mary Farthing?

Any thoughts appreciated.

I can't even tell which way up this one is meant to be.

[tone]

possible. w/m farthing 22mm dia. shame it wasn't a tin one.

[TerraBritannia]

Thanks tone, would Tin have been in better condition?

[tone]

probably not but are rare coin's to fined. i've only had three in 40+ years detecting one being w/m the other two both james 2nd. oh keep up with the vid's very enjoyable

[Easylife]

I'll go George III bullhead shilling forgery.

[TerraBritannia]

probably not but are rare coin's to fined. i've only had three in 40+ years detecting one being w/m the other two both james 2nd. oh keep up with the vid's very enjoyable

Thanks tone

I'll go George III bullhead shilling forgery.

Oh blimey Ian, now that I've just seen some obverse images, I reckon you might be onto something there!

[tone]

coin looks to be full flan. bull head shilling 24mm dia.

[Easylife]

Real deal bullhead come in at about 26/27, my fakes are generally 18/20 on the Nox.

[TerraBritannia]

Thanks again folks, I'd say mystery solved.

[TerraBritannia]

Or perhaps not?

Here's a bit of video from my recent YouTube upload, I've got the Spinks book out

Link to the video.

[figgis]

And so the saga continues

Have you weighed it, Andy? There might be a difference between W&M farthings and GIII shilling wrong uns

[Easylife]

Just chuck it in the jar with the other blanks Andy!

[figgis]

What? But the game is afoot, EL, and nobody is allowed to rest until the case is sol-ved (sorry to mix my detectives, but neither Holmes nor Clouseau would give up, would they?)

[Easylife]

What? But the game is afoot, EL, and nobody is allowed to rest until the case is sol-ved (sorry to mix my detectives, but neither Holmes nor Clouseau would give up, would they?)

Uh?, Oh of course silly me! Right, in that case it will need to be analysed using x-ray fluorescence to determine the metal composition. So Andy just needs to buy one of those £10k hand-held jobbies to solve the mystery and rid him of this evil coin's torment!

[TerraBritannia]

Alas I only have standard kitchen scales and they don't show fractions. The weight seems to range between 4 and 6 grams, depending where abouts on the scale I put the coin. I know the coin is a mess, but I thought it was a bit interesting anyway.