A Rogers Park coin collector is gradually leaving a collection of rare, early American coins around the neighborhood for residents to claim through the rest of the year.

Jon Martin, 38, has "boxes and boxes" of coins, many of them from the early 1800s, that he's amassed over his lifetime — so many that he's decided to relinquish 10 of them and have a little fun in the process.

Three of the coins — an 1830 coronet head large cent, an 1806 draped bust large cent and, the most rare of them all, an 1800 draped bust half cent — have already been dropped and found in the neighborhood since mid-August.

Martin is leaving clues of the coins' locations on the Nextdoor app, taking photos that contain small hints of the placement that most likely only locals could identify. Although there's no precise plan on when and where he'll leave the coins, they won't be left on rainy days, on private property or too-hard-to-find places, and the hunt will be stretched until Dec. 31.

"Most of these coins — large cents, half cents and half dimes — they're denominations that most people don't even know exist," Martin said. "I mean, there's coin collectors who deal with like Morgan silver dollars, peace dollars and Walking Liberty half dollars, and they don't vaguely even know that a half cent ever existed, let alone have ever seen one.

"So, they're coins that just the average person will never see in their entire life, and certainly wouldn't set out to go and collect them."

The treasure hunt has so far generated positive feedback from his Rogers Park neighbors, with several commending his kindness through comments on his Nextdoor post.

"Such a kind, generous and fun gift to all of us. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!" one comment reads.

Martin said he came up with the idea "on a whim" for no particular reason, though he's realized it serves an educational and awareness purpose for these coins, especially the copper, that are beginning to corrode and disappear to the point that they may not be identifiable in another 100 years.

"I don't know, maybe one kid or one person will find one and it will ignite a passion," he said. "If I could do anything, I guess the hope would be to get younger people to appreciate an era of coinage that most people don't even know about at all."

Coin makers in the early 1800s used handmade dyes and individually pressed each detail, letter and number on the coins — far different from the automated process used today, which, in early forms, began in the mid-1830s.

Early coin makers "could only strike a certain number of coins, and so when you are able to identify them down to the variety, individually by variety, they're fairly rare coins," Martin said.

Laurence adds:

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A real-life treasure hunt unfolds on the North Side as collector drops coins, clues around Rogers Park(https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/08/29/a-real-life-treasure-hunt-unfolds-on-the-north-side-as-collector-drops-coins-clues-around-rogers-park)