Hey, guys, I only collect Russian coins, so I'm hoping to get help for this new discovery: I came across this 1754 coin labeled "Britannia" with what appears to be a George II portrait on it. I don't even have references for anything pre-1800, so my questions are: What is it and is it authentic? And what is it worth, if anything? The peeling "copper" makes me doubt it's real, but I have no idea how the British coins were made back then... Any help is appreciated.
If it's real, it's either a copper farthing orhalfpenny ... the farthing (¼d) would be 22.0mm in diameter, and the halfpenny (½d) is 28.0mm. In both cases, 1754 was the last year those denominations were made for his reign. These were not minted again until 1770 or 1771 (George III). However, the peeling does lok suspect.
If it is counterfeit after all, would you say it's a modern one or an 18th century counterfeit that was made to be used? No one has seen this type of peeling before?
I don't think it's an electrotype. It doesn't look cast. It looks struck because in the areas where it looks like whatever's on it has peeled off, there's still design. So I can only surmise it's some kind of "coating" on it - perhaps lacquer. What's odd is the "coating" appears to be died with a copper color - check out the visible cross section of the "coating" just under George's bust on the coin's edge. I'm not sure yet whether it's a counterfeit, contemporary or modern.... all of the specimens I've seen have a STOP after 'NIA'. Are bits of the "lacquerish" stuff peelable off the coin?
Excellent piece! This is what's known as a fourrée, a plated counterfeit. I haven't seen one from this period, but I'm sure they're known.
Hard to prove either way. But given that it looks to have a good bit of wear, and that it spent some time in the ground since it is so corroded, in all likelihood it's not a modern fake.
Yes they are known, I had a similar penny that had been treated in a similar fashion Unfortunatly all that coating had come off the underlaying coin was lead and this one looks lovely (I lost it during a move )
Modern counterfeiters would not use this method. Think about it - would they really need to save the .02 cents on using tin for the core?
If I recall correctly, 18th century British counterfeiting gangs often used to melt down genuine halfpennies to extract the copper and use it with other metals make greater numbers of fake halfpennies...
