I dug this 1797 copper cartwheel penny out of the bargain bin today. When I did, I got this huge cheesey grin on my face, and just sat there looking at this roundish piece of copper. It is worn slick, the designs on the obverse and reverse are all but invisible. I added it to my take-home pile.
I figure most collectors would take one look at this coin, and toss it in the cull pile for melting. I've done the same with other coins, but not this one. For me, this is the culmination of true numismatism. If this piece could talk, the stories she could tell would last three centuries!
Minted by Boulton on his steam press, shipped in kegs to the colony of Australia, it became one of the Proclamation coins. It must have passed through many hands in trade for who knows what items, and crossed the ocean again at least once, to end up in a bin in San Antonio Texas. When she isn't residing in my pocket, she's going to sit beside her big brother, the copper twopenny (who has much better details on him).
