Below find a description and digital images of a Great Britain 1772 halfpenny from my collection. It exhibits the following characteristics: 27mm 6.63 grams Copper Obv: The ‘Gs’ of ‘Georgivs’ appear to be closed (see digital images). ‘REX’ appears normal but impressed on a shelf of extra ‘rolled in’ metal. Other devices appear normal for a genuine British halfpenny of the period. Rev: The ‘1’ of the date exhibits a flat top with serifs on the left and right and a vertical upright consistent with the Roman Numeral I. Other 1772 halfpennies I have found on the web appear to exhibit a single serif at the upper left and an upright curved down to the left. The ‘2’ in the date exhibits an almost closed upper loop, is far from the ‘7’ and is in virtual contact with the top of the exergue (see digital images). Most ‘2s’ I have found on the web exhibit a large open upper loop and are close to the ‘7’. In other respects, the item in hand exhibits the characteristics of the 1772 halfpenny ‘Reverse A’ type shown on the allcoinvalues.com website. My query…is this a known variety of a 1772 Great Britain halfpenny? All comments welcome.
Given the diameter and weight of your example, in addition to several notable design deviations, I would argue that this is a contemporary counterfeit. Genuine examples typically have a diameter between 28.5-30 mm and weigh between 9.13 and 10.87 grams (average: 9.94). I have a book that classifies these contemporary counterfeits into known "families", but I don't have access to it at the moment.
Thanks to Coinsandmedals and expat for replying to my question. As Coinsandmedals indicated, my coin may be a British counterfeit. Another possibility comes to mind...I have in my library a book by Bill Anton and Bruce Kesse titled, 'The Forgotten Coins Of The North American Colonies'. It has among its examples two 1772 American counterfeits (#10 & #83). Though the coins appear quite similar to my coin, they differ in detail. It seems possible, that I may have a new 1772 American counterfeit of a British halfpenny not listed among the examples in Anton.
Mulling this puzzle over, I remembered the 'US Colonial' coins struck at Machin Mills in Newburgh, New York. I have the 'Vlack Plates' and for a moment thought that I might have the puzzle solved...however, I soon recalled that all the Machin Mills coins have 'single' lines in the 'Union Jack' on the shield. This fact closed the door on my counterfeit coin being a possibility, as it exhibits multiple lines. Although I still have a small hope it is of American origin, it now seems more likely that Coinsandmedals is right...that it is a contemporary counterfeit of Britain. Perhaps Coinsandmedals may be able to gain access to his reference book and shed some light on this continuing mystery.
I haven't had a chance to do a "deep dive" and I am not sure one is warranted. By most accounts, this piece seems to be in line with the basic diagnostics of the "Young Head Family" of contemporary counterfeits. According to my reference, these appear dated 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. The author notes that these pieces originated in London and made up the largest portion of the contemporary counterfeits that circulated in England. Matching diagnostics: The "youthful" depiction of George III The relative tall Britannia figure on the reverse The author notes that certain years, including 1772, appear on slightly larger than average planchets (relative to others from the same family). The closed G's in the obverse legend The relative even spacing and consistency in the date The upright 7's The form and shape of what is supposed to be a "1" in the date. As the authors note, this is actually a "J" but this is impossible to tell on your example given the strike. As you have already pointed out, the Machin Mills pieces can be dismissed as this piece does not match any of the widely established varieties. I know this is likely not the news you hoped for, but to any extent, you have an interesting piece that depicts a fascinating period of numismatic history.
Many thanks to Coinsandmedals for his thorough analysis of my 1772 halfpenny. It certainly appears to be the correct description of the coin. The most convincing evidence for me is the ‘closed Gs’. After much searching on-line, find below a description and images of a coin in the collection at Notre Dame University similar to mine. Counterfeit British Coppers George III Halfpenny 1772 George III counterfeit Obverse: GEORGIVS . III . R E X . Reverse: BRITAN N I A . 1772 Weight: 105.6 g (6.84 grams) Diameter: 27.6 mm Comments: The obverse bears a portrait of George III while the reverse bears a Britannia design. This lightweight halfpenny is a full 25% under the minimum acceptable weight of 140 grains. The obverse has a distinctive pointed nose bust, with the nose pointing to the vertical stroke of the R. Also the S in GEORGIVS is somewhat distant and in REX the E and X in REX are distant with the end on the X and the final stop very close to the bust. Not illustrated in Anton and Kesse. The reverse is similar to Anton and Kesse, figure 83. Britannia's hand points between the I and T and the top leaf points to the corner of the N. The bottom of the pole points to the right of the 1 in the date. This example differs from Anton 83 in that the second 7 in the date appears higher than in their plate. Provenance: Donated to Notre Dame in 1887 as part of a 2,300 item coin collection (see: The Notre Dame Scholastic, vol. 21 (September 1887) 45. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Alas, the Gs in the obverse image are not closed and other details of the image above including the fonts and spacing simply do not match the item in hand. I am nonetheless satisfied that I have a decent, if low grade example of a 1772 British counterfeit in my possession. Strangely enough, before I sold it 35 years ago, I also had an example of a Machin Mills 1772. Regrettably, I do not recall which Vlack variety it was, but it sold to RA a well known Colonial Collector. Many thanks again to Coinsandmedals and expat for their help in attributing the item...it is much appreciated!
