Man finds 222-year-old coin in Maine churchyard

The popularity of metal dectectors has increased this year as people look for activities they can do while social distancing. That led to the discovery of a rare coin by a man in Maine. The long-hidden, 222-year-old coin was under a just few inches of soil outside a church.

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, Maine where he had permission to use his metal detector.

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

On the same trip, he also found an 1818 penny, a full wagon wheel and a musket ball. The ammunition was measured at 0.75 caliber, making it British in origin and most likely from the Revolutionary War.

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–Wire services