I picked up this coin recently along with a lot of others, mostly tokens. I didn't have much light and didn't look too closely and when I bought it I thought it was French. When I got it home and could look at it I realized it was King George on it and I didn't recognize it. A little Googling says it is a 1773 Virginia halfpenny, supposedly the only British coin issued for the colonies. While there were reproductions made I think mine is original. It's in rough shape but that seems typical for these from what I can tell. Anyway it was a nice find and I didn't pay much for it.
Oddly enough, the Virginia Half Penny is not that tough in Mint State from a hoard of 700 or so pieces that surfaced in the 1870s. It's actually unusual to see them heavily worn like this piece. Nice find! This one is graded MS-63, R&B. It was graded 25+ years ago. It might be "better" now.
Most of the uncirculated ones probably come from a hoard of about 5,000 pieces held by Col Mendes Cohen of Baltimore. The origin of the "hoard" is unclear, possibly a keg of coins found in Annapolis, or in Richmond. In any case, the cache was dispersed slowly from 1875 until 1929 by the Cohen family. (Bowers, "Colonial and Early American Coins") Being a Virginian with roots going back to the early 18th c., I'm glad to have one in my collection. MS64 BN
