Charlotte man with metal detector finds 222-year-old coin near church in Maine

BANGOR, ME (AP) -A man with a metal detector has found a long-hidden, 222-year-old coin under a few inches of soil outside a church in Maine.

Shane Houston, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was on a metal-detecting trip with a friend from New Hampshire when he found the coin earlier this month, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The copper penny, dated 1798, comes from the first decade of American-minted money in North America.

He said it was found on the grounds of a church in Embden where he had permission to use his metal detector.

The penny is not in pristine condition. Houston said it might fetch $200 but he has no intentions of selling it.

According to the Bangor Daily News, on the same trip, Houston also found an 1818 penny, a full wagon wheel and a musket ball. The ammunition measured-out at .75 caliber, making it British in origin.

According to the Bangor Dailey News, “the ‘heads’ side shows the draped bust of Lady Liberty in profile. Above her is ‘liberty’ and below is the year. It was designed by engraver Robert Scot at the Philadelphia mint, after a painting by New Englander Gilbert Stuart.”

“Honestly, 99 percent of the things I dig up are garbage,” Houston told the Bangor Daily News.