Farmer Discovers Civil War-Era Coin While Working on Fence

Illinois cattle rancher Rich Stierwalt found a Civil War-era coin while he was fixing an electric fence on his property. Stierwalt was making his way across a pasture to work on the fence when he picked up a brick he saw lying on the ground. That’s when he discovered an Indian Head cent struck during the height of the Civil War. “I could see there was a coin lying there in the bare dirt, and I could tell it was a penny,” he told a reporter with agricultural journal AgWeb. “I got a flashlight, and I could read 1863. That was unbelievable.”

According to Stierwalt, the area where his property is situated was too swampy for farming when the coin was struck in the 1860s. By the turn of the 20th century, drainage improvements made his land suitable for agricultural purposes; his grandfather went into farming in the 1920s and purchased the property afterward. Stierwalt moved onto the land in 1977.

As for how long the Civil War-era coin called the farm home is anyone’s guess. However, with a mintage of 49,840,000 and only a fraction of those still surviving, the 1863 Indian Head cent is a relic of a long-ago past, with a value of about $10 to $25 in lower circulated grades. Stierwalt’s discovery also goes to show that finding even what many may regard as a “common” coin can create impactful moments that inspire others to keep checking their pocket change, bank rolls, and (yes) even their own yard. You never know what you’re going to find next!