I went to the Winter FUN show with a fairly open want list. I had my usual list, but nothing was standing out on it. Ultimately I ended up buying some things that I didn't think I'd find. Here are my two British additions. These coins were nicknamed "Cartwheels" because of their size and weight. They had official British coin status, but they were struck by the Soho Mint, which was a private concern. Steam coinage was just getting started, and it was a numismatic revolution. The steam pressed coins were made faster and were higher quality than the pieces the antiquated British Government Tower of London Mint were making. it was a real "win - win." Here is a "cartwheel" penny. It is 3.6 mm or 1 and 3/8 inches in diameter. I don't have a scale handy, so I can't weigh it but it is heavy. The dealer who had this one had a second piece, which was thinner. It was higher grade than this one, but not as flashy. It was also more expensive. This piece has hints of mint red in the protected areas especially on the reverse. Here is an example of the real "cartwheel," the two pence. This piece just over 4 mm in diameter and is quite heavy. It came in an extra thick NGC slab which is far too thick to fit in a slab box. It is almost double the thickness of a normal slab. The NGC grade is MS-62, Brown. Why were these coins so large? For many years prior to this, England had been plagued by many light weight counterfeit copper coins. The idea was to make these coins full weight, 1 and 2 pennyweights, which would contain close to their face value in copper. The idea turned out to be a failure. The coins were too heavy to carry, and people rejected them. Later copper pieces were more "user friendly."
Did you mean over 4 cm diameter? Or 4 mm thickness? Here's my only 1797 twopence with a 1 penny and later penny for comparison.
