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1030

1731 Counterfeit George II Halfpenny. 94.2 grains.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:25.00 USD Estimated At:NA
1731 Counterfeit George II Halfpenny. 94.2 grains.
1731 Counterfeit George II Halfpenny. 94.2 grains.Very Fine, a shallowly-struck, example of a scarce date, this likely all the detail that was in the dies. The obverse design detail is passably good, the lettering less so, with the second ordinal high and tilted in relation to the first. The reverse figure on this type usually holds the branch in her hand, but here it is being grasped by perhaps one fingertip at best, almost out of her hand completely. The date is small and crudely formed, the first digit small, the last digit has been assumed to be a 1, though it does not look the same as the first digit, and was either cut into the die backwards, or possibly meant to be a 5 instead, with the lower loop off the planchet; this is less likely as the number would have been quite large, nearly twice the size as the numbers before it. A few letters show repunching, and there are two near vertical diebreaks behind the obverse effigy’s head. Very pleasing medium brown, the surfaces hard, the reverse showing the original planchet quality at the seated figure’s torso. Struck from the same dies as the example in Stack’s May 2008 Minot sale, lot 188, which realized nearly $500 in spirited bidding at the first auction to contain a good run of counterfeits after the runaway prices at the first of the Ringo sales held in January of that year. Very few of this die pairing have been seen, and it does not appear to be tied to any known family.
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