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  • Counterfeit British Coppers Introduction

    British and Irish Evasion Coppers



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    G II Farthing                       Evasion

    Obverse:  GEORGE .   . RULES .
    Reverse:  BRITAN .     . NIA .     ISLES

    Weight:  35.9 g   (2.31 grams)                  Diameter:  21.0 mm

    Comments:  An undated evasion farthing with a royal portrait facing left in the style of George II. The letters CI are below the bust. This may represent an individual's initials or some type of mint or control mark. It is similar to the mark on the Irish style halfpenny below. Listed in Batty's Descriptive Catalogue of the Copper Coinage of Great Britain   (Manchester, 1877) in volume 2, parts 27-29 "Farthing Tokens" on p. 680 as item 2104, where he interprets the initials as CT.

    Provenance:  Donated to Notre Dame in 1887 as part of a 2,300 item coin collection (see: The Notre Dame Scholastic,   vol. 21 (September 1887) 45.


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    G II Halfpenny       1774          Evasion

    Obverse:  CLAUDIUS .     . ROMANUS
    Reverse:  [DELECTAT .     RU[S] . [rosette] C .    1774 .

    Weight:  97.1 g   (6.29 grams)                  Diameter:  27.4 mm

    Comments:  An evasion copper dated 1774 but with a royal portrait facing left in the style of George II. As with all evasion coppers the date used is as evasive as the legends. Listed in Batty's Descriptive Catalogue of the Copper Coinage of Great Britain   (Manchester, 1877) in volume 2, part 14 "Halfpenny tokens" on p. 400 as item 4017a. There are several varieties of the CLAUDIUD ROMANUS copper bearing dates from the 1770's (1770, 1771, 1774, 1775 and 1777). Many include the initials IC or C; in this variety the initial C is part of the legend.

    Provenance:  From the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Collection.



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    G II Irish Halfpenny       1756             Evasion

    Obverse:  GEORGE .        RULED .
    Reverse:  BRITAIN'S    ISLES .     17  56

    Weight:  92.2 g    (5.98 grams)                  Diameter:  27.7 mm

    Comments:   An evasion copper dated 1756 with a royal portrait facing left in the style of George II. The letters IC (inverted) are below the bust. This may represent an individual's initials or some type of mint or control mark. It is similar to the mark on the farthing above. The reverse imitates the harp design on Irish halfpence. As with all evasion coppers the date used is as evasive as the legends. Listed in Batty's Descriptive Catalogue of the Copper Coinage of Great Britain   (Manchester, 1877) in volume 2, part 14 "Halfpenny tokens" on p. 423 as item 4146.

    Provenance:  Donated to Notre Dame in 1887 as part of a 2,300 item coin collection (see: The Notre Dame Scholastic,   vol. 21 (September 1887) 45.


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    G III Halfpenny                    Evasion

    Obverse:  GDOROVIS .     TII . RDX .
    Reverse:  BRITAIN     NIAS .    ISLES .

    Weight:  98.3 g   (6.37 grams)             Diameter:  28.1 mm         Reverse die rotation: 170°

    Comments:  An undated evasion copper with a royal portrait facing right in the style of George III. On the obverse there is a die break visible as a blotch of metal below the center of the bust. In our example on the reverse in the exergue only the very top of the first I in ISLES is visible, the bottom of the L is off the planchet and the top and center crossbars of the E are defective (probably made from an I punch with the crossbars added).

    This variety is not listed in Batty's Descriptive Catalogue of the Copper Coinage of Great Britain   (Manchester, 1877). In volume 2, parts 18-20 "Halfpenny tokens" on p. 411 Batty lists four varieties of the Gdorovis obverse as 4098A-4098D but none with this reverse. In Batty item 4098A has a reverse reading BRITANNIA and the word TOKEN in exergue (his B is a counterstamped variety of A while Batty's C variety is similar with only a slightly different positioning of the letters on the obverse legend). Batty's item D has a reverse with a female holding a branch on which there are two birds.

    Provenance:  From the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Collection.


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