I have been asked to sell this halfpenny by a friend and so I would like to get some idea of what it should make in the US in the present market. It was found under a window ledge whilst renovating a house in Dorset England. George III Halfpenny Evasion dated 1776. It has to be an evasion - the standard of strike is not right for the Regal coinage and the date 1776 was never struck in England. The only book I have on these (Withers dated 2010) lists 3 similar but these are dated 1775, 1778 and 1787. I am fairly sure this is 1776 not 1775 despite the break in the last digit, but it may be I am wrong! Please let me know your thoughts.
I'm going to look it up later. This is a really high grade example. My first impression is it is a 1775 British H.Penny and not an evasion piece (double bars in shield). Too bad. ONLY if an evasion piece , it needs to be sent to NCS before sale....I would put this one up for auction where IMO (if not British H.Penny) it would bring near $1000 or more.
Cannot find anything. IMO, it is not one of the copies made in the USA (the valuable evasion pieces). It still could be one of the British copies. Sorry cannot be of any help!
Thanks for the input so far. It may be a British copy, but it is NOT a British Regal mint coin. Not only can I see the imperfections, but the vendor submitted it to the Royal Mint in 2005 and they came back adamant that it was not up to their standards. So it is either a US Evasion or an illegal British copy - not that I have heard of many of those before on a coin of such low value as a halfpenny. I look forward to any other input - and in the end I wil take whatever you tell me!
Evasions are loose copies of British coins made in America around and after Independence for use as currency before formal new US designs came into being. Some are very close to the original coins, some very loose and some even rude!
The reason I said 1775 is that I see what appears to be the ghost of the upper horizontal stroke of the 5 and that the metal which should have formed that stroke has slipped down because of a die break. If I'm seeing things, it might be because the eye doc gave me a new prescription last week but I haven't got new lenses yet. Steve
In case any of you are interested, this is now listed on Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351799037636?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
While the supposed "6" looks more like a "5," I believe this to be an EVASION PIECE. So it is most likely "1776" with a bad casting of the "6!" I did a thorough side by side with a known 1775, and your coin was NOT EVEN CLOSE! Compare the lettering ... especially on the back. The A's are nowhere near the known coins' A's. The leaves on the branch in the hand are totally different. The breasts are wrong, the creases in the shirt at the neckline above the breast are totally wrong! I could go on and on and on ... But this thing is NOWHERE NEAR comparable to a legitimate copy of a 1775 British Half Penny! Here is the coin I compared it to ..... https://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/mycoinfacts/1775/1318358/103964
I have a 1775 Britan nia Half penny which I have just found amongst some other coins and believe it is NOT an Evasion (Where does that word come from). The coin when inspected carefully looks in goodish condition. Is it worth keeping for any reason.......not that I knew we even had it, and was literally collecting together a whole lot of Aus 1 and 2 cent coins to take down to the Bank (Probably about $2.00 worth) and this half penny was with them.?? I see it's probably worth between $50 and $200. How and where can I get it looked at. We are in Dunsborough Western Aus.which is 250 kms South of Perth. Regards, David Bell edited
I can give you no advice on who to get to look at it in Australia. If you take some good pictures and post them here you will get some feedback on condition and value. I would say that they have to be pretty excellent condition to get good money, and most make much less. The term "Evasion" is used for loose copies generally struck in the US around Independence. They are usually clearly NOT the same as Regal coins. Non-regal counterfeits were also made in England, and that is a different collecting area. Counterfeiting at that time was a Capital offence, so making a loose copy that was obviously not regal made it not a counterfeit and so (hopefully) evaded the hangman's noose! Hence, I presume, "Evasion". If yours is Regal, which we will be able to tell you with pictures, dimensions and weight, we will be able to give you a good idea of value. (If it is low, I recommend keeping it as a family heirloom!)
Looks 1775 to me based on another coin listed here : https://www.ma-shops.com/saenn/item...hTEvK9mQxFq_GkIYupLGXq_FIgsBqfHIaAtcnEALw_wcB
If it is a 1776 than it is a machin's mill penny, which are worth a lot of money, machin's mill coins were counterfeit coins made in the late 1780's to help with the coin shortage in the young United States
This coin appears to have all the correct design/legends of a genuine coin. THERFORE: NOT an evasion piece because nothing is being evaded. If not genuine, it is a counterfeit. When it was made is now the question.
