NewP Blacksmith Wood 14 arrived, XF+ Condition Census Piece!

ambro51

About as good as it gets with the full detail from the dies, smooth lustrous surfaces, strong hard edged rims.... One thing I noticed is that the reverse clearly and reflectively shows the shallow reverse is the product of a strike from a rounded die. A very well conceived counterfeit designed to pass with the worn coppers and brass tokens which had been the circulating Coin of Canada for as long as anyone could remember. There is thought these were darkened somewhat before they were used, for some show odd patinas in the recesses. The degree of uniformity among the planchets of these brass issues suggest an English origin, for the planchets. ~~~~~What we have remaining, a very very small percentage of the original issues, has a number of VF and. scattering of XF pieces. There are no "mint state" pieces as we think of them, so here we get to see what they look like at their best.

fc

So it is a counterfeit but enough were made to warrant giving it a name/maker and basucally stands on its own?

ambro51

Probably the most complicated "series" I've studied the Landmark research and still relevant work is Howland Woods 1910 article in the Numismatist which organized the types and made some sense of the die links that unite these pieces. Struck by possibly four makers over at least a thirty year timeframe there IS a book in the works. They are difficult to find and the demand is strong.

Unknown

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DorkGirl

Shamika

Keep it up ambro1 and you're going to get competition from new collectors. This is fascinating stuff.

ambro51

Haha that's just fine! I sort of feel like the King in the movie "Rapa Nui" .....who with a few followers paddles away from the relative security of Easter Island....and climbing atop a huge iceberg passing by........drifts off into the unknown.......I will add though , that these pieces bring a huge amount of bids on eBay!! Another image, fairly difficult since there's a lot of shine on this piece, almost like photographing gold.