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Here are pics of my favorite counterfeit.....

Good morning. Here are the photos of my 1773 1/2P, Virginia coin. The coin is chocolate BN.

Thank you very much Greenstang. I have been doing a great deal more research on this coin and found that many of these coins entered circulation in the 1780s. Part of an original keg of these were distribursed in 1929, thus they are not unobtainable in mint state. Mine is the bust of George III pattern. Known counterfeits: Replicas for sale in Williamsburg are marked CWF below bust. More dangerous counterfeits also exist according to WARMANS 3RD Edition, Coins and Paper Money, Allen G. Berman, pg.23 under Virginia (State Coppers). I will try to take a photo and post here. I do not have a scale to weigh the coin but will go to a coin dealer to get the weight. Thank you very much for your response. See you in a few days.

Hello everyone. I purchased a 1773 VA 1/2P from a very reputable dealer two months ago. Very lovely, scarce, XF details, for $675.00. I had the coin graded and was shocked to find out yesterday that the coin is a counterfeit. According to a scholarly article titled, "The Copper Panic and Small Change Notes 1789-1799", there is mention of , the halfpence in 1773. About five tons (about 670,000 coins) of specially designed halfpence minted in London for the colony of Virginia. I can not find any other information on this coin to inform the purchaser/owner on how to determine if the coin is counterfeit? I would like to learn more about this coin. Below is the article. Coppers in the colonial period During the colonial period there was an inadequate coin supply throughout the American colonies. Colonists had to adapt to foreign silver coins as the British government outlawed the export of silver coinage from the homeland and discouraged colonial minting. The creation and retention of an adequate supply of small change copper coins was also a continual problem in colonial America. This situation differed from the problem with silver coinage. There were no restrictions on importing British coppers, so while the colonists had to look toward foreign coinage for their silver they could expect British denominated small change coppers. The earliest supplies were brought over by the colonists themselves. In 1681 Mark Newby brought a large supply of Irish St. Patrick coppers to New Jersey. In the following year, 1682, a group of Quakers brought some 300 pounds of British halfpence and farthings to Philadelphia. Even though small change continued to be scarce, the colonists resisted lightweight base metal coinages imposed on them by Britain. In 1688, with government approval, Richard Holt coined tin "American Plantations Tokens" that were never accepted by the colonists. Later, in 1722-24 William Wood made another attempt at minting coins for the colonies obtaining royal authorization to produce "Rosa Americana " coppers (actually the coins were made of a compound called Bath metal composed of Brass, zinc and a little silver). These coins were two and a half times lighter than royal British halfpence and were rejected by the colonists. In Massachusetts the colony printed small change currency notes on parchment so citizens would have an alternative to the hated Rosa Americanas. To increase the local supply of small change Samuel Higley minted his own coppers in Simsbury, Connecticut in 1737. Beyond the small quantity of Higley coppers, the colonies primarily relied on counterfeit and royal British coppers imported from Britain and Ireland. In 1734-35 a unknown number of tons of such coppers were sent to Georgia. In 1749 Massachusetts received 800,000 royal halfpence and 420,000 royal farthings as part of a reimbursement for expenses incumbered during a military expedition against Fort Louisbourg on Cape Breton. Although some counterfeit coppers had entered the colonies earlier, in 1753 in Boston and New York notices started appearing about the seizure of large quantities of lightweight counterfeit halpence being smuggled into the country. The only other colonial produced copper was a small number of un-denominated tokens thought to be designed by James Smither of Philadelphia in 1766 honoring William Pitt as a leader in repealing the Stamp Tax. Finally, in 1773 about five tons (about 670,000 coins) of specially designed halfpence were minted in London for the colony of Virginia.

1773 Virginia 1/2P