Best Option For This?..1804 S266c Large Cent

That is one beautiful dug large cent, Congrats on a great find! I hope you had a change of underwear with you when it came out of the ground, I think most anyone who knows large cents would've needed a fresh pair after digging that one

I was, and still am really excited I found it! Easily my best recovery so far, period. However, I do intend on selling it at some point. I was wondering, have any of you guys ever heard of doing something like a sworn affidavit to give along with a coin concerning where it was found? I'd really like the eventual new owner to understand that this is a special coin in that it was found so very close to the original Forbes Road. The road was built in 1758 from Carlisle to Pittsburgh to seige Fort Dusquesne (Fort Pitt), and was used extensively after that by settlers and traders. Its highly likely that I am the first person to touch this coin in over two centuries.

Thank you very much for thinking about us to share the wonderful result. This is quite an important coin, not quite Condition Census but there certainly aren't more than a couple dozen extant in higher grade. As such, I see reason to believe this coin's value reaches into five figures. A "righteous" PCGS XF45 - in similar late die state - sold for $28,750 at Heritage in 2010 (these do_not appear on the market in this grade very often), and I don't think your Genuine/Details slab will cost the coin as much as half of the value. In the grand scheme of things, Details coins from environmental damage like yours tend to be seen as "better" than Details coins suffering postmint accidents like gouges or cleaning.

I am so happy for you. Except, what are you going to do with detecting now? How you gonna top this?

Thanks Dave I plan to keep on detecting. I fully realize that this is most likely my find of a lifetime. Everytime I locate another lost copper which I can only make out a few numbers of the year, or barely make out what type of bust it is, I really appreciate the rarity of pulling something like the 04 out with so much detail. Yesterday I spent a few hours out in the autumn forest here in PA. The bright yellow and orange leaves falling slowly and the bright blue sky were my rewards even though I found little in the way of coins. Reward comes in all shapes and sizes! :)

FANTASTIC find! What a great story! Thanks for sharing it with us.

BTW: the conservationists did a nice job with the coin!

Wow - I've found my share of 'older' coins while detecting but nothing like that..... IMO putting aside the obvious corrosion and looking at what it looks like underneath - I sure wouldn't give it less than AU ( I hope ). Congratulations!

Fantastic story