'Spade' Guinea, 1794

My friends complain. 'It's not fair', they say. 'We have to go out and spend money to buy presents for our wives or girlfriends. All you do is wander around in a field for a bit, and knock the cow dung of whatever you find!' Fifth head type, complete with Victorian 9-ct gold mount. Spink no. 3729

Shilling, 1816

Last, or new, coinage. Spink no. 3790

Sixpence, 1787

(For the story of how this coin was found, see 'Stupid Brothers 12')

Not a particularly rare coin, but a rare detecting find. Geogian silver was generally hoarded, and therefore scarce in circulation - so much so that when the Tealby hoard of 5000+ Henry II pennies was found in 1805, Sir George Banks, President of the Royal Mint (but also a founding member of the British Museum), was forced to allow all but 200 of them to be melted down and re-minted. This sixpence has also been gilded, and was set in a mount at one time. Spink no. 3749

Halfpenny, 1775

Although it looks like nothing very special, this is quite a good example of an 18th Century copper coin. They are more commonly unearthed as featureless metal disks, and only barely identifiable. One plausible reason I have heard for this is that because copper and bronze only develop a protective oxide very slowly, the more recent coins are less protected from the ravages of modern agricultural chemicals. Therefore, Roman coins, as they are much older, often come out of the ground in far better condition. Sounds reasonable to me...
Spink no. 3749