colonial/british coin question

I'll ask this on the liteside and darkside forum:
Has anybody heard of a practice in the American Colonies where British farthings and halfpennies were
re-stamped (NOT incused) with a "1776" date, I guess as some kind of show of loyalty to independence??
It seems like I faintly heard about this once-- then again, I maybe I just thought I did.
Reason I ask is, was cleaning off some worn out dug coppers (pretty much all British) supposedly dug at a Virginia site. I did some olive oil cleaning on one super worn/dirty old farthing, mainly so i could tell if if it was a George II or Charles II farthing. To my surprise, a very faint but
discnernable (and kinda big) ".776" shows up about a third up the face of the coin in big numberals. The first and third numerals aren't clear
but it does kinda look like at least a ".776". Then again, maybe its all a trick of the eyes.
Tried to scan it, the "numerals" don't pick up.
Has anybody heard of a practice in the American Colonies where British farthings and halfpennies were
re-stamped (NOT incused) with a "1776" date, I guess as some kind of show of loyalty to independence??
It seems like I faintly heard about this once-- then again, I maybe I just thought I did.
Reason I ask is, was cleaning off some worn out dug coppers (pretty much all British) supposedly dug at a Virginia site. I did some olive oil cleaning on one super worn/dirty old farthing, mainly so i could tell if if it was a George II or Charles II farthing. To my surprise, a very faint but
discnernable (and kinda big) ".776" shows up about a third up the face of the coin in big numberals. The first and third numerals aren't clear
but it does kinda look like at least a ".776". Then again, maybe its all a trick of the eyes.
Tried to scan it, the "numerals" don't pick up.
0
Comments
What might be relevant is that the "5" character on LOTS of these counterfeits looks a lot like a 6. There are some that really are dated 1776, but I'd say 75% or more of the "1776" halfpence I see are really 1775s with funny 5s.
Check out the Ringo sale (Stack's, January 2008) for some well-illustrated examples. They're still online at the Stack's website.
Betts medals, colonial coins, US Mint medals, foreign coins found in early America, and other numismatic Americana
A photo would help.
Betts medals, colonial coins, US Mint medals, foreign coins found in early America, and other numismatic Americana