Is it possible this 1771 GB halfpenny is stamped on the wrong planchet

[dooly]

Hi all another from the lot of coins i am wondering about

 

as you can see it is a bad fit for the planchet but is well centred it is between 27 and 28mm across and 7.2g .. i have had a lot of contempory forgery's through my hands and i cannot see any markers which would suggest that it is not real

a 1771 from my collection is 30mm across.. also i cannot think of a coin during this period which would be the size of this one ??

[Conder101]

Real? One question:

 

A 1771 half penny of George II?

[dooly]

I know .. must have gone coin blind on this one .. it has to be a forgery wrong date for the king .. never mind the U for V in the kings name !!

[the_Thing ®]

Is it possible? Yes! I've seen quite a few errors of those type coins and other related issues. I'm guessing dooly dug it up? If so, it's real. Neat stuff.

[dooly]

Cheers mate no not this time .. I think it has very little circulation and is almost as struck hence the red colour

[the_Thing ®]

looks real to me. I see no indications of being a cast. For what its worth, I give it a thumbs up.

[Conder101]

I'm guessing dooly dug it up? If so, it's real.

He didn't and it's not.

 

Took a chance and found it listed in Cobwright as G.0504B0418 It is an evasion piece These were contemporary counterfeits with either deliberate misspellings in the legend, completely different legends, or "impossible" coins. This is a combination of a mispelled legend GEORGIUS instead of GEORGIVS, and a coin of George II dated eleven years after he died.

 

The British government did not issue much in the way of coinage during the last third of the 18th century, and most of what they issued was gold and silver. Except for a moderate issue of farthings and half pence from, 1771 to 1775 no copper, the coins of the average man, was issued between 1740 and 1797. By the 1780s, 90% of all the coins in circulation were evasions or outright counterfeits. That was why the Conder tokens came into existance. Tokens of good copper, of full legal weight or better, and redeemable by large businesses and local merchants that the people knew and saw every day. The people had such faith in the Conder tokens that they actually forced the good legal tender out of circulation. Prices were higher if purchased with Government coinage than with local tokens.

[dooly]

great information .. yet again (thumbs u (thumbs u

[nunfa0]

I LOVE being educated when I least expect it .

 

Thanks Dooly for posting the coin and thanks to Condor for the lesson.

[the_Thing ®]

But it is a period piece! Just as cool in my opinion anyway and I'm sure there is value to it. Good work Condor, thanks!

[HiHoAudio]

Heck of a good thread!

 

[coinman1794]

I'm guessing dooly dug it up? If so, it's real.

He didn't and it's not.

 

Took a chance and found it listed in Cobwright as G.0504B0418 It is an evasion piece These were contemporary counterfeits with either deliberate misspellings in the legend, completely different legends, or "impossible" coins. This is a combination of a mispelled legend GEORGIUS instead of GEORGIVS, and a coin of George II dated eleven years after he died.

 

The British government did not issue much in the way of coinage during the last third of the 18th century, and most of what they issued was gold and silver. Except for a moderate issue of farthings and half pence from, 1771 to 1775 no copper, the coins of the average man, was issued between 1740 and 1797. By the 1780s, 90% of all the coins in circulation were evasions or outright counterfeits. That was why the Conder tokens came into existance. Tokens of good copper, of full legal weight or better, and redeemable by large businesses and local merchants that the people knew and saw every day. The people had such faith in the Conder tokens that they actually forced the good legal tender out of circulation. Prices were higher if purchased with Government coinage than with local tokens.

 

I like where you are going with this, but I want to clarify a few things, and also mention what I am not sure about.

 

Production of halfpence and farthings under George II was the longest and most abundant coinage of copper in the history of Great Britain, with the production running from 1729 to 1760 with few breaks. All coppers issued in 1754 and thereafter were dated 1754.

 

The problem of counterfeits began during this reign, and reached crisis proportions during the time of George III. The coppers of 1770 were the first copper issue of George III, and yet they only ran through 1775, doing little to satisfy the exploding demand for coppers in Great Britain and the Americas. When bankers and traders realized they could produce underweight copper forgeries at a lower cost than if the full weight of copper was used, the counterfeits began to flood commerce as they made money on the exchange. Even American minters like Machin's Mills in New York got in on the act in the late 1780s. They were universally hated because they were underweight, and regal issues were much preferred, but too scarce to be an effective coinage. Some merchants demanded more coppers (higher prices) if the transaction was completed in these forgeries, instead of authentic pieces, and laws were passed in America that placed a limit on the amount of a transaction that could be paid for in coppers. England merchants created the Conder tokens in the late 18th century to deal with this problem at home. I’m not sure if they were the appropriate weight or not, but weight was usually the factor in how well they were received.

 

[dooly]

"I’m not sure if they were the appropriate weight or not, but weight was usually the factor in how well they were received."

 

I think in answer to this they were of good weight but i think this did not matter as the coins/tokens were garenteed at the premises listed on them .. and other associate premises (there are records in newspapers of the time with adverts as to whos tokens were taken "or not")

but unlike today the real scrap value of a coin was meant to be very similar hence the Mad 2p cartwheel penny of George III