I have this coin, barely identifiable as it is, that looks like it's a Hibernia piece, possibly. It's likely just a British half penny, but I would like to know some more about it. Also, what do you think it's grade is?
It does appear to me (not an expert) to be a George III halfpenny, made for Ireland (Hibernia). I can't make out a date, although in hand you might be able to make out the last digit. George III halfpennies were made for Ireland in 1766, 1769, 1774–1776, and 1781–1782, so a single digit might be enough. As for grade, I'd say Poor-1, again not an expert. Very little monetary value, but full of history! Contemporary counterfeits were common, and I'm not expert enough to tell that, but even those are neat coins.
You must really know your colonial coins! I am unsure if this half penny would be considered a colonial coin, but it is incredible as to how much history is in it. LOL, that tells you how much I know about colonial coinage. It's one thing I'd like to continue learning about, but if there's a harp on it, it's probably Irish. That actually sounds like a reasonable grade for it. I'm not sure why, but coins around this time, which I'll call "possible colonials" (depending on what you consider as colonial) seem to have a really weak strike to them. Some of them would be a modern coin's AG3 to a colonial coin's F15. That is another thing I'll have to grip onto with colonial coins.
While not really considered colonials, they certainly circulated in the American colonies and early US. They are often found by metal detectorists in the US.
@The Half Dime Hibernia coins can be found in your Red Book in the Colonial Issues section. They were intended for Ireland but were unpopular so they were sent to the American colonies. They were only struck for three years, 1722, 1723 and 1724. They were only struck as Farthing and Halfpennies but in several varieties. The type intended for Ireland had a seated figure with a harp on the reverse side and the word HIBERNIA. I can make out HIB and what looks to be a harp. Too worn to tell from photos otherwise.
That is the coinage of William Wood, made for Ireland 1722-1724 commonly known as Hibernia coinage. As you state, many were later sent to the colonies. Wood also made the Rosa Americana coinage for the American colonies, also not popular because they were much smaller than the British coins of the same denominations. The coin posted here, is a regular George III halfpenny made for Ireland by the tower mint.
I still don't consider them colonial issues because they were intended to circulate in Ireland not the colonies. Bruce
The Irish wouldn’t accept them so they were shipped to the Colonies. I picked one from my Florida LCS junk box a few years ago. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1723-ireland-half-penny.390244/#post-8091491
Not really, although I do like them, and British coins as well. Not only is it identified by the harp, as noted by others, but the letters "HIB" are visible from HIBERNIA, and the name of George III can be made out on the obverse. As for the dates, a quick google search found that information.
