Cast counterfeit 1746 King George II Half Pence

[Donnie B from VA]

Thanks for looking. I found this cast counterfeit King George II Half Pence on Sunday. I was detecting an old colonial cellar hole with three friends and, interestingly, three coppers were found with two of them being counterfeit. We hit several sites and hiked for many miles only to find the best site at the end of the day. That was ok because we munched on Danny's home made beef jerky to fortify ourselves for the hike.

This is my very first cast counterfeit colonial copper. It appears as if the counterfeiter did not align the mold correctly as you can see a "rim" of poured metal on the reverse in the date area. I found it with my new AT Max but checked it on the MXT Pro and it rang up low (50). I have done quite a bit of reading since finding the coin and, apparently, cast colonial counterfeits are much rarer in relation to the struck counterfeits.

 

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[A2coins]

That's a cool relic nice piece of history real or fake!!Well done

 

[Colonial78]

Nice Find!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Awesome old copper with some cool history!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great find Donnie!
I'd love to find a counterfeit coin some day.

Dave

 

[smokeythecat]

Want to hear something funny? 90% of my colonial coppers are counterfeit! It is much more likely to find a counterfeit than the real thing! Go figure.

 

[CRUSADER]

 

[toasted]

Want to hear something funny? 90% of my colonial coppers are counterfeit! It is much more likely to find a counterfeit than the real thing! Go figure.

Ive got around 50 colonial coppers and I doubt more than a few are counterfeit.

 

[xcopperstax]

Nice find the counterfeits are awesome to find!

 

[Jyverb64]

Always interesting to get a counterfeit, congrats

 

[Red James Cash]

Think about it,back then people risked their lives to simply make a counterfeit coin.Twas the death penalty.

 

[CRUSADER]

Ive got around 50 colonial coppers and I doubt more than a few are counterfeit.

If they are Geo II that makes sense if they are Geo III's I would question your judgement as that would be extremely unusual in the US.

 

[Dennis1209]

For the time period and purchasing power of the copper coin; I've never understood the risk - reward ratio, to go through all that trouble and potential consequences for what seems to me very little profit? Unless done in quantity as a war tactic to destabilize a countries economy. I do know some counterfeit old coins can be very valuable and collectible. Great find.

 

[toasted]

If they are Geo II that makes sense if they are Geo III's I would question your judgement as that would be extremely unusual in the US.

80% of my colonial coppers are KGIIs. The few British coppers I have that are probably counterfeit are KGIIIs

 

[CRUSADER]

For the time period and purchasing power of the copper coin; I've never understood the risk - reward ratio, to go through all that trouble and potential consequences for what seems to me very little profit? Unless done in quantity as a war tactic to destabilize a countries economy. I do know some counterfeit old coins can be very valuable and collectible. Great find.

I'm not being funny, but it matters little what you think about it, the facts are out there for anyone to research. Most Geo III coppers in the US were counterfeit so it MUST have paid to do so.

 

[CRUSADER]

80% of my colonial coppers are KGIIs. The few British coppers I have that are probably counterfeit are KGIIIs

That is why, very few Geo II were counterfeited & when they were they were more likely to be cast, in fact now I think about it I've seen very few struck one's which I believe must be rarer. Geo III were massively counterfeited (struck mostly).

 

[Red James Cash]

Considering you could eat for a couple of weeks on what a couple of coins bought you.

 

[Donnie B from VA]

Think about it,back then people risked their lives to simply make a counterfeit coin.Twas the death penalty.

The death penalty was reserved for counterfeiting silver and gold coins. I believe the penalty for counterfeiting copper coins was two years in prison and, perhaps, getting your ears cropped, if I am correct.

That is why, very few Geo II were counterfeited & when they were they were more likely to be cast, in fact now I think about it I've seen very few struck one's which I believe must be rarer. Geo III were massively counterfeited (struck mostly).

According to the book, Forgotten Coins of the North American Colonies, cast counterfeits are extremely rare as casting was "entirely unsuitable for mass manufacture;" however, you raise a very intriguing point regarding the George II coins in that most counterfeits were probably cast. Struck counterfeit KG II's may be rarer than cast.

 

[Red James Cash]

Paper currency also donnie.

 

[Hawks88]

That’s a cool find. Congrats