This coin was given to me several years ago by my sister as a gift. It is a 1769 Half Penny but other than that I don't know much about it as coins from this era and part of the world are not my area of expertise. So, any information about this coin would be helpful. Not only what it is and a little bit of it's history...but I would also like to know the grade, mintage (if recorded) and what it's worth (which I assume isn't much). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Not sure if this helps but coinraritiesonline are specialists in this area, I'm sure they could give some comments if you were to send them this photo. They also regularly visit and post on the PCGS forums if you wanted to post this over there.
This is a halfpenny from Ireland, which is made clear by the harp and the word Hibernia (Ireland in Latin). It was issued during the reign of king George III of the House of Hannover. Two types of this coin are known:type 1: George III short bust (KM#137) and type 2: long bust (KM#138) Yours is of type 2 (Ireland KM#138) It was minted in copper and Krause gives a catalog value of 3.50 $ in fine.
Thanks, I knew it was Irish (I guess I forgot to mention that in my post ). But, the rest of the information is new to me and what I was looking for. Thank you. Does Krause list a mintage for this coin or are where such records kept?
OK, thanks. I assume some kinds of records were kept just because valuable metals and government were involved...but who knows where to find them.
I just talked to Dave at coinraritiesonline and this is what he had to say. "Here is what I can tell you off the top of my head. It is a genuine 1769 Irish Halfpenny. Looks to be Fine the VF from the photos, and choice. Worth? Maybe $25-40 or so. Contemporary counterfeits were also made of that issue, often very crudely. These days the counterfeits are avidly collected, and are often worth more than the genuine article -- the cruder they are, the more collectors value them."
