Trade Token or King George III Copper

[Riggleman]

This item was found yesterday and posted under "Todays Finds", my initial thought was I found my first King George copper coin. Then a few comments stated the coin may be a trade token, a jeton or a gaming piece.

I found the coin in WV, in a small 10ft area where i also recovered a colonial shoe buckle and 5 small to very large flat buttons, some of which being tombac. All finds were 6 to 10 inches deep.

All my research suggests these trade tokens were made of brass, my coin is copper. Also most tokens read "In Memory of the Good Old Days" on the reverse, mine does not. All markings appear to match that of a gold King George III spade half Guinea.

The coin has a grooved edge, weighs 2.8 grams, .938 inches in diameter, and .04 inches thick.

I have read jetons were struck later than the printed date, my coin reads 1789. If it is a jeton was it struck in that year or later? My other finds date the site to the later part of the 1700s.

Where was this coin minted and what was the value. Is it more rare to find than a KG of that time?

I look forward to all comments, having never found a King George copper, this coin has me stumped. I apologize for so many questions and Thanks all for looking.

 

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[Riggleman]

Also wanted to add a link to a page detailing some info on these trade tokens. The specs of my coin do not match the example.

https://24carat.co.uk/frame.php?url=medallioninmemoryofthegoodolddays.html

 

[Bramblefind]

It looks like the standard spade guinea token style. There may be initials under the bust...? There are a few different styles this for 1789 - as an example I found this one which is similar.

https://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=166384

It's a very neat find for the US! I think that these standard style types are older and were made closer to the dates indicated. There is a whole series of advertising types and the "In Memory Of" types that were made much later - into the Victorian era and even the 20th century.

Actually I have a copy of A Thousand Guineas +Plus+ (Neilson / Warburton) and I just consulted it so I will attach a excerpt from the intro.

 

[Riggleman]

Wow, thank you very much for the lengthy explanation. Although very grateful for the find my search for a KG copper continues!

 

[Silver Searcher]

Yes as Bramblefind says spade guinea gaming token, it would have been heavily guilded at some point. A common find in the UK but not so much in the US, so great find

SS