Colonial English copper need ID help

[islandscope]

Digging with a friend this weekend, I found 3 old coppers and he found 1. Still working on mine but he needs an ID. I originally thought King George II farthing because it's 24mm with left facing bust, but I can see the "DEI" and I don't think those farthings had that on them, only the name. There's some discernible enough lettering so I though you guys might take a shot, please let me know any and all ideas. Thanks!



Reverse

 

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[ironhorse]

James ll Irish farthing seems right
that's an oldie!

 

[DCMatt]

James ll Irish farthing seems right
that's an oldie!

Good call!

 

[islandscope]

Wow, even has the "6" in 1686 right on there. That's a new record for us, James wasn't even on my radar. I think I'm going to take a closer look at the others I pulled out that same day. Thank you so much!

 

[washingtonian]

Man, that is so crazy to imagine you guys are pulling those up. Makes me a bit jealous over here. Nicely done!

 

[A2coins]

Wow that's old I hoping some day in my town founded in 1826 I'll find one lol. Really cool coin and great ID

 

[Jeff H]

WOW! Those rarely show up even at old colonial sites. It may be toasty but it is a great find. Most folks get into the 1600's with a William III. Getting there with a James II is very cool.

 

[CRUSADER]

Good call!

View attachment 1780686

Confused, I'm not aware of a 1686 James II Farthing only a Halfpenny at about 26mm.

I'm going to put my neck out & state it's an Imitation of a James II Halfpenny, hence its smaller size & weight. (hence the odd way it corroded as well, which looks to be due to poor metal quality)

 

[xcopperstax]

Confused, I'm not aware of a 1686 James II Farthing only a Halfpenny at about 26mm.

I'm going to put my neck out & state it's an Imitation of a James II Halfpenny, hence its smaller size & weight. (hence the odd way it corroded as well, which looks to be due to poor metal quality)

My recent find of a Woods Hibernia was around 25.5 MM. I was sure it was a farthing because it was much smaller than a halfpenny. In fact it was a halfpenny and the Woods were just smaller. This one I have no idea but it it's that big it's probably not a farthing. Great find either way.

 

[islandscope]

Yeah I'm not sue about the farthing vs half penny thing, I initially thought farthing because it looked closer in size to the KG farthings than the KG half pennies I find. But it sounds like the King James farthings were tin with copper plug? If it's really an imitation, then wow that's almost a crazier story behind it. In any case, here are some comparisons to a modern quarter for reference. Very grateful for all your input thank you again.

 

[Jeff H]

All my KG II farthings are slightly smaller than a modern quarter. Perhaps is is a halfpenny. Either way, I would be thrilled to have dug any James II!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Killer old copper recovery!

 

[CRUSADER]

Yeah I'm not sue about the farthing vs half penny thing, I initially thought farthing because it looked closer in size to the KG farthings than the KG half pennies I find. But it sounds like the King James farthings were tin with copper plug? If it's really an imitation, then wow that's almost a crazier story behind it. In any case, here are some comparisons to a modern quarter for reference. Very grateful for all your input thank you again.
View attachment 1781048 View attachment 1781051 View attachment 1781052

Unless my book is wrong there are no Irish farthings from this period of James II.
The half pennies from Ireland in 1685-88 were copper only & then it was into the Gun Money. It was the English Farthings of 1684-87 that were tin & copper plugged.
Therefore, this has to be a counterfeit of that period.
Any Irish coinage of James II is rare & I have had only 3 gun money examples in all my years, none similar to yours.
Whether a counterfeit is rarer than the real deal, I have no data on, but maybe.

 

[DCMatt]

Confused, I'm not aware of a 1686 James II Farthing only a Halfpenny at about 26mm.

I'm going to put my neck out & state it's an Imitation of a James II Halfpenny, hence its smaller size & weight. (hence the odd way it corroded as well, which looks to be due to poor metal quality)

C'mon man. You know we're Americans. To us a 'far thing' is an object that's a long distance away... Like in England...

Either way it's a cool find and very old for this side of the Atlantic. If it's counterfeit, that's even cooler.