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1/2 Penny George Rules - Britains Isles
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1756 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 27 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A crowned Irish harp displayed at centre, surmounted by a royal crown rendered in moderate relief. The divided date 17 and 56 appears to either side of the harp's base in the lower field. The circumferential legend BRITAIN'S ISLES arcs above in raised Latin lettering, characteristic of evasion token design intended to avoid direct copying of official regal types. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The mid-18th century British copper coinage was in a state of near-collapse by the 1750s. The Royal Mint had struck almost no regal halfpennies for decades, leaving commerce dependent on a flood of lightweight counterfeits so pervasive that genuine coins were the exception in everyday transaction. This piece dates to that vacuum.
Atkins 182 places it among the provincial and trade tokens documented by James Atkins in his 1892 reference — not a regal issue but part of the unofficial coinage that filled the gap until Boulton's Soho Mint reforms of 1797.