Identification possible Evasion half pennny (Colonial)
TheKingZito
Posts: 6 ✭
Hello!
I recently bought this George III half penny for a few dollars. (I checked weight and dimensions, they coincide as per catalog).
The coin is very damaged, but some details are still visible. In your opinion, was it minted by the Mint of England or is it an Amerian copy used during the revolution?
I am not an expert on this currency!
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Any idea? Maybe it's a regular coin?
I can see 1775, I think
The likelihood of it being one of the Machin's Mills coppers is low, but it is much more likely to have been a contemporary British forgery - there are literally hundreds of varieties. Basically the Crown decided that they no longer needed to mint coins for lesser people and stopped pretty much all coinage for periods from the 1730s on up to just after the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. So individuals, companies, and towns took to minting "coins". These range from crude copies like yours to very well done minted on steam powered coining equipment by Matthew Boulton.
I own quite a few of them, they are fascinating.
I don’t know anything about them, but I have a similar one except mine is George II and he’s facing the other direction. It came from my wife’s great grandparents coin collection. Her family was in Burlington NJ since colonial times. @SaorAlba or anyone, is this coin anything special? I posted 2 sets of pictures with different lighting. The first shows the color but the 2nd shows what’s left of the details slightly better.
Mr_Spud
It is not an evasion as the legends appear to be correct. An evasion "evaded" the counterfeiting laws by using different legends so it was not a copy of a genuine coin. I wouldn't dare say if it is regal or counterfeit, it being so worn. Quite likely a counterfeit though, as they were actually more common than genuine coins at some points in time. The counterfeits were also prevalent in England as well as the US, so even if counterfeit it could go either way. It is not one of the Machin's Mill or Atlee coppers made in the US though.
With those scratches and the heavy wear it has more sentimental value than monetary vale.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@Mr_Spud Yours appears to be an actual evasion piece as the date appears to be 1776-8 and GII only reigned until 1760.
Cool, thanks. I like it even more now. I doubt it’s worth much, but for sentimental reasons if I wanted to slab it could it get something on the label saying it was an evasion piece, or colonial counterfeit or anything like that?
Mr_Spud
I have an update!
I bought a precision scale, and still weighing it the right weight is 7.70g
In your opinion is it a royal half cent?
Hello.
Your coin is a 1775 contemporary counterfeit halfpenny. I recognize it from the obverse head style. It is worth around $5, but it has a lot of historical significance and is a great conversation piece. It also has some eye appeal given the low grade.