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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lordmarcovan, post: 3089988, member: 10461&quot;]Neat stuff!&nbsp; They obviously saw extensive circulation.&nbsp; Contemporary counterfeits, while usually not pretty, are almost always interesting, aren&#039;t they?</p><p><br /></p><p>While metal detecting here on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, I once found two colonial coins within just a few feet of each other.&nbsp; Both were dated 1782 and both happened to be contemporary counterfeits.&nbsp; A short distance away, on the same site, I also dug a 1779 Spanish 2-reales piece that was <i>not</i> a counterfeit.&nbsp; I affectionately refer to these three pieces as my &quot;Colonial Trio&quot;, and have a strong hunch that the two 1782 pieces were dropped at the same time.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s obvious that American pocket change in the late 1700s and early 1800s was quite a hodgepodge of assorted coins from all over the place - some real, some counterfeit.&nbsp; My local relic hunting buddies&#039; finds bear this out.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first of the &quot;Colonial Trio&quot; was this<b> 1782-A French Guiana (Colony of Cayenne) 2-sous piece</b>. I think these were referred to as &quot;black dogs&quot; in the colonial Caribbean. This one happens to be a contemporary counterfeit. With these, as with some kinds of British coppers, I believe the counterfeits outnumber the regal issues, but I don&#039;t think there&#039;s much difference in the numismatic value today.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/Diggers%20Diary/DD-189-1782A-French-Guiana-Cayenne-.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This trio of dug coins were all metal detecting finds at the site of the old <a href="http://www.glynngen.com/plantations/hampton.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.glynngen.com/plantations/hampton.htm" rel="nofollow">Hampton Plantation</a> on the northern tip of Saint Simons Island. This very historic site was where a live oak tree was cut to make the stern post for the <i>USS Constitution</i>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Burr" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Burr" rel="nofollow">Aaron Burr</a> stayed there as a guest in 1804 while he was laying low after killing Alexander Hamilton in their infamous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr%E2%80%93Hamilton_duel" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr%E2%80%93Hamilton_duel" rel="nofollow">duel</a>. A catastrophic major hurricane struck the island while he was here.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just a few feet away from the French Cayenne coin, I found another 1782, this one an <b>Irish &quot;Hibernia&quot; halfpenny</b>. It <i>also</i> happens to be a contemporary counterfeit, which is also common for this type. At the time, the supply of official, regal coinage for small change fell far short of the demands of commerce, so lots of privately-struck imitations like these circulated in the colonies.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/Diggers%20Diary/DD-188-1782-Ireland-halfpenny-conte.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>These two 1782 coins were found so relatively close together that I have a strong hunch they were dropped at the same time, probably from the same pocket. And there&#039;s a chance that <i>could</i> have been <i>Aaron Burr&#039;s</i> pocket! This is the sort of stuff that was in circulation in 1804 when he was on the site.&nbsp; It&#039;s fun to think about.</p><p><br /></p><p>The third coin in my &quot;Colonial Trio&quot; found at Hampton was a <b>1779 Mexico City 2-reales piece</b>.&nbsp; I thought it was an aluminum key fob or tool check when I first dug it, since it was found right beneath some new wooden stakes marking the corner of some footings being dug for the foundation of a new house that was being built on the site (right next to the crumbling 18th century <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_concrete" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_concrete" rel="nofollow">tabby</a> ruins).&nbsp; It is so well worn and holed I did not see the lettering at first.&nbsp; This one <i>isn&#039;t </i>a counterfeit, to my knowledge.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/dd-187-1779-mexico-2-reales-jpg.701541/?temp_hash=166ebc102ce84d595bf8321cb1a753d9" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I also dug a nice <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/dd-186-1929-25c-jpg.701540/?temp_hash=166ebc102ce84d595bf8321cb1a753d9" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/dd-186-1929-25c-jpg.701540/?temp_hash=166ebc102ce84d595bf8321cb1a753d9">1929 quarter</a> near the three colonial coins. It was no doubt lost by an earlier visitor who, like me, was exploring the old ruins at Hampton.</p><p><br /></p><p>The next was not a detector find but one I bought from [USER=16994]@LostDutchman[/USER].</p><p><br /></p><p>It is <i>another</i><b> 1782 Irish Hibernia halfpenny</b>, <i>also </i>a contemporary counterfeit, and interestingly double-struck. This one was briefly in my &quot;Eclectic Box&quot; collection until I realized I couldn&#039;t get it slabbed, even as a counterfeit.&nbsp; It was pretty porous but an undeniably cool coin.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k173/lordmarcovan/Ireland-halfpenny-error-1782-022965-coin.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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