Roll On, Britannia

harasha

With Cartwheels such as this. I guess you really got your two pence worth!

JCMhouston

Yes, a pocketful of those would have weighed you down.

AuroraRarities

I love those wide rims and the hefty feel of these. The Britannia design is attractive too.

Hyperion

I can never help but look twice when I see them at auction. such nice HEFT and great shock value when presenting coins to the "younger set"..... always get some ooohs and ahhhs from the nephs/nieces....

Hyperion

even the 1p were sizable!

when I can procure them I can never bear to use them as pocket pieces however.. so darn soft.

SmEagle1795

You've piqued my interest: how large are these?

harasha

From Wikipedia:

At the Soho Mint, James Watt and Matthew Boulton used their steam-powered coin presses to make twopence coins in addition to the "cartwheel" pennies described above. These 2d coins weigh exactly 2 ounces (56.699 g), making them the heaviest British coins for ordinary circulation, and are approximately 41 millimetres (1.6 in) diameter by 5 millimetres (0.20 in) thick. 722,160 were minted, all bearing the 1797 date. The obverse reads GEORGIUS III • D:G • REX. and the reverse BRITANNIA. 1797.[1]

ajaan

I love the fact that the coin could be worn almost slick, and you can still read the date.

JCMhouston

I do love me some big copper. US silver dollars were about the same weight as the 1797 penny at approximately 26.7 g, with a diameter of 38.1 mm the silver dollar is slightly larger than the penny at 36 mm, but the tuppance at 41 mm and 5 mm thick is just a huge coin.

Tuppance - 2 oz.



Penny - 1 oz.

SaorAlba

<< <i>From Wikipedia:

At the Soho Mint, James Watt and Matthew Boulton used their steam-powered coin presses to make twopence coins in addition to the "cartwheel" pennies described above. These 2d coins weigh exactly 2 ounces (56.699 g), making them the heaviest British coins for ordinary circulation, and are approximately 41 millimetres (1.6 in) diameter by 5 millimetres (0.20 in) thick. 722,160 were minted, all bearing the 1797 date. The obverse reads GEORGIUS III • D:G • REX. and the reverse BRITANNIA. 1797.[1] >>



But Matthew Boulton outdid himself in 1813 thanks to the fine folks at the Birmingham Workhouse - they issued absolutely huge 3 pence tokens that are larger than the 1797 2 pence coins. I have a couple of the pieces myself but need to image them. They also struck up proposals for a 6 pence token, but only struck a few examples before deciding that it was not viable to strike that denomination. The 3d token is the largest monetary piece ever circulated in Britain.

Hyperion

stick your hand out the window and let satellite pick them up. I'll hit google.maps and zoom in

harasha

This bad boy is 44.5 mm and 66.2 grams.