1773 Colonial Virginia Half Penny

Hiya Everyone.

I recently acquired this beautiful 1773 Virginia Half Penny. I've been wanting one for quite some time now and I've finally been able to get my hands on this nice one. :eat:

All comments and questions are more than welcome!





Thank you!
Ryan

 

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NICE COIN!!!

That's the way I like my coins!
Very little wear so that someone can look at it and see what the intent of the engraver was.

 

I know nothing of these coins, but I must say it has very nice details
Nice Coin? (I think?) LOL!
Very nice Ryan, and can't wait to see what else you acquire.

 

Ryan:
The piece looks very nice, however, considering that there are about a bazillion copies of that piece out there that are copies,

I'd get it certified.

 

That looks like a nice coin Ryan!

I bought one of these at a local coin show in Springfield, MA last year; it was a bit rough and dark, but well detailed. Was happy with it until I got back home to Germany and had a chance to masure it and weigh it...... it was 1.5-2 mm below Red Book specification in diameter, and as I recall underweight as well. It was a fake. It was a real hassle getting the dealer to take it back, but at the end he did. I think he knew what it was.
Please note I am definitely NOT saying yours is anything but real, it looks quite lovely, but to be absolutely sure you may want to measure it.

Regards,

Eduard

 

The coin weighs 7.2 grams. I was told by a friend that not all Colonial's like this weigh the same, so that's when I took the chance. The coin looks good in my opinion, but I have not collected these long enough to be able to give a professional opinion.

 

From what I see it looks real.

Of course there are also a bazillion real ones in fairly nice shape as well. The VA half penny is about the easiest colonial to get in decent shape. They arrived from England right about the time the revolution started and pretty much went into storage until after it was over. Then they cme out shortly before the great collapse in the value of copper coinage (1788, 1789) so that discouraged their circulation as well. So a very large number of these are available in VF to Unc.

 

I too can't find anything wrong with it so I believe it's authentic also. :thumb: But this is one you will want to have authenticated, since there are so many quality copies out there that can fool most anyone. You don't have to send it to a TPG but rather, take it to a coin show and show it to others and get their opinion on it.

Ribbit

 

Looks nice to me - I really do not know these so I just hope it is real.

 

Great looking, minimal wear. I would get it certified.

 

I've had some people help me out to decide if it's counterfeit or not and it's most likely not to be one. Not only for it's look, but the coin weighs 7.2 grams which would be very light for a counterfeit, but normal for the original. Also, when I do the table drop test, the coin makes a high pitch sound, which is a good thing since the counterfeits are dull. The coin also doesn't have any obvious reasons for being a counterfeit such as a seam.

 

Glad to hear that. Your coin has a nice look to it.
Enjoy it!

 

I believe I just saw one of these on Heritage and it was $54,000!

 

Nice coin, Ryan!

 

Thank you everyone for your great comments. I plan on keeping this beauty and hopefully some time in the near future getting it certified.

 

My bad...it was a 1773 Virginia penny in proof 66 that I saw on Heritage for $54,000.

 

I believe the penny version is much more rare that the half penny.

But, this is a great coin...I have been dreaming about one for years. Are you planning on competing the set (and by that I mean getting the non-period coin too)?

 

Not any time soon. Right now I'm wanting to get a few of the other Colonial's into my set first, before I start getting to detailed with their varieties.

 

I have a 1773 Virginia half penny and on the face of mine is Georgivs(gap) Rex. Reverse side is a cgrest divided into four. There's no Bird of any kind on this coin. I'm 100% sure yours is fake. And weight is 7.34 grams

 

Can you provide evidence that it is fake? Nothing immediately seems off about this coin.