Not sure exactly what this coin is but was told this English 1770 coin circulated in the colonies. Can anyone tell me the history of this coin and approximate value?
What you have is a British Halfpenny with the bust of George III. Difficult to be certain whether this one is a genuine (Regal) coin made by the Royal Mint in London; a contemporary counterfeit made illegally in the UK; or a colonial counterfeit made later in the US. An accurate weight and diameter would help. Both Regal and counterfeit coins circulated widely in the colonies. My guess is a counterfeit - the portrait doesn't look quite right to me - but that doesn't really affect the value hugely as both regal and counterfeit coins are collected. Here in the UK such an example would only make a few pounds. It might make more in the US because of the colonial history.
These coins, along with many other coins struck south of the American colonies, circulated widely. They were THE normal form of money before the Declaration.
One of the reasons so much Spanish and French coinage circulated in the colonies is because a lot of the British stuff didn't. Many of the colonial issues were necessary because there was a shortage of coinage. So yes, that type was issued during the time of the colonies, but not many of them really made it over here. And if you look at the date, things were starting to go downhill between us and them around that time. I'm guessing that one didn't spend much time circulating in America.
That is a colonial counterfeit and circulated solely in America actually. Edit: possibly eastern Canada as well.
It's not 100%, but it appears to be that. The homeland counterfeits are much more scarce and usually better quality. By this point counterfeiting of British coppers was well established in the colonies, and it seems they based each generation of them on the previous one. From personal experience when you see the legends going right up to the edge it is usually a colonial version. The dentils were not always visible on genuine coins due to weak striking, but the space allotted to them was still there and homeland counterfeits seem to account for that. Again, not a certainty but a strong hunch. Probably should have noted that initially
Is the weight the same on a genuine, homeland counterfeit, and colonial counterfeit? Or does one generally weigh less than another? Because that could be a very easy way to tell.
From what I've seen the weights are sort of all over the place and not a good means to separate British from colonies. I also want to add that when I said in the previous post that homeland counterfeits are more scarce, that applies to what is found here in the states. The opposite would be true for coins found in Europe.
Do you think a TPG sevice would slab such a coin or would it be worth the effort. Potentially very interesting background
I can't see it would be worth slabbing - the value is in the history, not the quality of the coin. To answer previous queries about weight, the correct weight for Regal issued halfpennies would be around 9.8g. (The law required 46 per pound and this is what that works out to.) Most counterfeits were well below that - typically around 7g or even less. Also, to add to the date debate - the 1770s issue of copper coins was the last until 1797. Many of the counterfeits on both sides of the pond, were created in the intervening years and deliberately "worn" so as not to attract attention. Counterfeits of much earlier George II coppers were also made at this time and into the 19th century, so it is difficult to relate the date on any given coin to the particular history of that year.
...oh, and if you are interested in further knowledge on this topic I was recently pointed to this book as the best. https://wordery.com/contemporary-cou...AyOjNmYTY0ZTI0 I don't have it myself but I am told it is good.
Thanks for the link Paddy! Only reference I had is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeit-Georgian-Copper-Richard-Coleman/dp/1908828234 The one you linked appears to be more thorough and I'm ordering it
