Catalog
1/2 Penny Regal Imitation - George III left
| Issuer | Canadian provinces |
|---|---|
| Year | 1835 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Crude imitation effigy of King George III facing left, rendered in a rudimentary style characteristic of contemporary counterfeit regal coinage. The laureate bust is clumsily executed with broad, undefined contours, the laurel wreath barely discernible atop the head. Drapery at the truncation is suggested by schematic incised lines. The surrounding field is entirely blank, devoid of any legend or inscription, distinguishing this piece immediately from genuine regal halfpennies. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
These brass imitations circulated in the Canadian provinces during a chronic small-change shortage that plagued the region through the 1820s and 1830s. Officially sanctioned coinage from Britain arrived irregularly and in insufficient quantities, leaving a vacuum filled by private tokens, bank issues, and outright counterfeits — this piece falling somewhere in the murkier end of that spectrum. The leftward portrait orientation is a deliberate inversion of standard Hanoverian regal convention, a common trick used to skirt counterfeit coinage statutes while still trading on the coin's recognizable authority.