George III Halfpenny, 1862 & 65 IH, 1913 CDN Dime

[ANTIQUARIAN]

On Friday, I headed to a new archeological site that my farmer friend showed me the week previous. The arkies last dug here in the fall of 2020, so the 12 - 18" of dirt the excavator had scrapped off the top of the homesite was for the most part weed-free. This is the site standing alone in the field marked by a green 'X'. You'll notice this site is not identified on my c1870, which means that it likely burnt sometime before this date. I also found evidence of a melted pewter teaspoon and a lot of 'red' square nails here, which is evidence of the building having burned. I found the 2 IH's in the dirt piles at the sides of the site, several flat-buttons and lots of early porcelain and pottery fragments. I also found an early axe head here, unfortunately the back portion where the handle ran through was split wide open, so I left it at the site.

On Sunday morning, I head back to another arkie site in the adjacent field (marked in green on the maps) that I've been detecting for the past few weeks. It was here that I found a 1913 Canadian Dime and the 1821 George IV Halfpenny. The GEO IV initially looked to be in rough shape when I found it, but he cleaned up surprisingly well for a 200-year-old-man.

George IV Halfpenny - 1821
The King George IV era UK halfpenny obverse features the laureate head of George IV facing left, with the date below. The reverse shows the helmed Britannia, seated facing right, holding a trident, her hand resting on a shield. George IV ascended to the throne in 1820, after his father?s death (George III). Prior to ascension, George IV served as Prince Regent from 1811 until 1820, due to his father?s ill health. Dubbed 'the first gentleman of England', he was disliked by the general population for his extravagance and lack of leadership during the Napoleonic wars. The first King George IV era UK halfpenny was minted in 1825, and the last in 1827. Dates not minted: 1820 - 1824, 1828 - 1830.

Thanks very much for looking,
Dave

 

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[DigToChina]

Excellent finds you have there Dave! Can?t believe how much that field has produced.

Didn?t George III die in 1820?

 

[Steve in PA]

Nice digs Dave

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Excellent finds you have there Dave! Can't believe how much that field has produced.

Didn't George III die in 1820?

Of course you're right Dallas.
Thanks for the help,
Dave

Nice digs Dave

Thanks very much Steve.

 

[JeffInMass]

Fantastic finds- Congrats!!

 

[Red-Coat]

Hi Dave. Cool finds.

I don’t know where the information on the George IV halfpenny came from but if you read it again carefully (it’s not well expressed) then it confirms your coin is not a halfpenny. It’s a farthing.

As the spiel says: “The first King George IV era UK halfpenny was minted in 1825” whereas your coin is 1821, when no George IV halfpennies were issued. It also says the halfpenny obverse has: “George IV facing left, with the date below”, whereas your coin has the date below Britannia on the reverse, which is correct for the farthing.

If you check the diameter, I think you’ll find it to be 22mm, whereas the halfpenny would be 28mm.

Lots of folks seem to get confused about our older coins because many of them don’t have any denomination on them to help and some of our coppers were surprisingly large for their value because we had a principle that they should contain their face value in metal.

 

[Blak bart]

Nice digs dave...well done !!

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice Saves!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[ArfieBoy]

Great finds and super information from Red-Coat... again! Thanks guys!

 

[islamoradamark]

nice finds great pictures and story thank you

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Excellent hunt, congrats!

 

[Louie D]

Nice Rake!

 

[Relicific]

Awesome hunt Dave

 

[scruggs]

Well done, that's the way to do it!

 

[Hunk-a-lead]

such awesome finds, wtg

 

[Florida Finder]

Beautiful finds! I always look forward to your posts!

 

[Tony in SC]

As usual good finds! Just goes to show, research pays off!

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

A great haul - congrats !

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Fantastic finds- Congrats!!

Thanks very much Jeff.

Hi Dave. Cool finds.

I don?t know where the information on the George IV halfpenny came from but if you read it again carefully (it?s not well expressed) then it confirms your coin is not a halfpenny. It?s a farthing.

As the spiel says: ?The first King George IV era UK halfpenny was minted in 1825? whereas your coin is 1821, when no George IV halfpennies were issued. It also says the halfpenny obverse has: ?George IV facing left, with the date below?, whereas your coin has the date below Britannia on the reverse, which is correct for the farthing.

If you check the diameter, I think you?ll find it to be 22mm, whereas the halfpenny would be 28mm.

Lots of folks seem to get confused about our older coins because many of them don?t have any denomination on them to help and some of our coppers were surprisingly large for their value because we had a principle that they should contain their face value in metal.

Thank you for the information you provided Red-Coat, I don't recover many early British coins here in Ontario, so I still do most of my research online.
This is a good lesson for me to not take everything that's posted on the internet as being true.

Please let me restate, that this actually is an 1821 British Farthing.

Nice digs dave...well done !!

Thanks Bart.

Nice Saves!!!! Congrats!!!!

Thanks Randy.

Great finds and super information from Red-Coat... again! Thanks guys!

Thank you Arfie, I too appreciate Red-Coat's help in correctly identifying this coin for me.

nice finds great pictures and story thank you

Thanks for your post Mark, best of luck to you.
Dave

Excellent hunt, congrats!

Thank you Professor.

Nice Rake!

Thanks buddy.

Awesome hunt Dave

Thanks very much Tony, I appreciate your support.
Dave

Well done, that's the way to do it!

Thanks scruggs, hope you're keeping cool and staying safe in Alabama.
Dave

such awesome finds, wtg

Thanks buddy.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Beautiful finds! I always look forward to your posts!

Thank you so much for your words of support Florida Finder, I appreciate you recognizing the amount of time and effort that goes into making an interesting post.

As usual good finds! Just goes to show, research pays off!

Thanks Tony... as you know, research is always the key to making the finds.
Dave

A great haul - congrats !

Thanks for your post E-Trac.