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1/2 Penny - George III Pattern
| Issuer | Soho Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Penny (1⁄480) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | BRITANNIA ·1788· |
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| Additional information |
The Soho Mint in Birmingham, Matthew Boulton's private operation, produced this 1788 pattern as part of his sustained campaign to convince the British government to reform its catastrophically degraded copper coinage. Counterfeit halfpennies were so prevalent by the 1780s that merchants in some regions refused copper outright. Boulton's patterns — struck with a hardness and precision the Royal Mint could not then match — were essentially sales proposals in metal.
The silver-plated version was almost certainly a presentation piece rather than a circulating proposal, intended to impress rather than test production economics. The contract Boulton was lobbying for finally came through in 1797.