A real treasure hunt unfolds on the north side while collector drops coins, instructions around Rogers Park

A Rogers Park Coin Collector gradually leaves a collection of rare, early American coins in the area for residents to claim the rest of the year.

Jon Martin, 38, has “boxes and boxes” of coins, many of them from the early 1800s, which he collected during his life – so many he has decided to give up 10 of them and have a little pleasure in the process.

Three of the Coins-a Coronet Head of 1830, a big cent, a draped bust of 1806 large cent and, the most rare of all, an 1800 draped bust half-cent-have already been dropped and found in the neighborhood since mid-August.

Martin leaves instructions from the locations of the coins on the Nextdoor app and takes photos that contain small hints of the placement that could probably only identify the locals. Although there is no accurate plan when and where he will leave the coins, they will not be left on rainy days, place on private ownership or too hard-to-find, and the hunt will be stretched until December 31.

“Most of these coins – big cent, half cent and half dimes – they are denominations that most people don’t even know,” said Martin. “I mean, there are coin collectors who have to deal with Morgan Silver Dollars, Peace Dollars and Walking Liberty Half Dollar, and they do not know vaguely that half a cent ever existed, let alone one have ever seen.

“So they are coins that only the average person will never see in their entire life, and would certainly not want to pick up.”

The first coin was left in a small library box near Glenwood and Arthur Avenues, and the next two were placed on a cubicle block near an alley and parking space north of that intersection.

The other seven coins that were still distributed, date to between 1800 and 1835, and they all belong to less than 10,000, each of whom have each been left in the world. Most coins are copper, with some silver that he saves before the end to hide.

The Treasure Hunt has so far generated positive feedback from his Rogers Park neighbors, with several his friendliness prices through comments about his Nextdoor post.

“Such a friendly, generous and fun gift for all of us. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!” One comment is.

Martin said that he came up with the idea “on a whim” for no specific reason, although he realizes that it serves an educational and consciousness goal for these coins, especially the copper, who start corroding and disappearing at the point that they may not be identifiable in 100 years.

“I don’t know, maybe one child or one person will find one and it will ignite a passion,” he said. “If I could do something, I think there would be hope to let younger people appreciate an era of coins that most people don’t know at all.”

In the early 1800s, coin makers used handmade dyes and pressed every detail, letter and number on the coins individually on-very different from the automated process that was used today, which began in early forms in the mid-1830s.

Early Ctopmakers “could only touch a certain number of coins, and therefore if you can identify them to the variety, individually through variety, they are fairly rare coins,” Martin said.