1778 King George III Halfpence

[Eastender]

I find quite a few 1700s Halfpence. Nearly all are KGII. And most are in good to very good condition. Today I found this KGIII nearly 10" deep with my Manticore. It's in bad shape, but my digital microscope was able to pull out the date. Tough year for the young nation and my area was divided between loyalists and rebels. Good for site diagnostics. It helps to date the artifacts I have found in that vicinity. Today I found a bunch of nails and spikes, a horseshoe, and chunks of iron nearby. My finds fit the historical narrative that by the reign of KGIII, small change was in short supply.

 

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[ironhorse]

A 1778 imitation halfpenny was made by Machin Mills..well known forgeries!

 

[paleomaxx]

What you have there is a Machin's Mills counterfeit halfpenny. They were minted by Thomas Machin at his mint in Newburgh NY likely around 1787-1788 but perhaps even later. During the day his mint made legitimate coins and tokens, but at night he churned out thousands of underweight counterfeit British halfpennies. Some had dates that matched years that regal halfpennies were minted, but others had dates like 1776, 1778 and 1787. It's theorized that the 1776 and 1778 dated ones were meant to be commemorative. Thomas Machin was a patriot so the 1776 one is obvious, but the 1778 one is thought to be in celebration of the chain across the Hudson which he designed. During the Revolutionary War the chain and supporting fortifications at West Point prevented British warships from sailing up the Hudson river and cutting the colonies in two.

Very cool find!

 

[Eastender]

I found a Machin's HP a couple of years ago. The die was weak on the obverse, but rarely do you see this level of detail on the reverse as you can see here. The planchet was thin in the area of the date so the numbers didn't impress. I'm fortunate that our sandy well-drained soils usually preserve these coppers well.