Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 2/9/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi Dmitry, hope you can help i have been searching with no success .. I have a 1773 King George half penny..
It appears to be minted off centre on the coin face and back ..
I assume its King George 2nd because of the date also that it has the words Britannia on the back ..
But the Kings head has a long beard .. and shows long lengths of head hair ..i have attached a picture hope you can help its driving me crazy....
Regards Colin

ANSWER: Hi Colin,
The "beard" is actually just excess material that bonded to the coin. This is common on these non-regal examples, which are often very crude, off size and off weight when compared to official coins.
The interesting thing is that this coin is actually in excellent condition. It is a very weak/crude example, as expected, but I see no real wear.
It's funny, but this one would be worth a whole lot more than a genuine halfpenny that was worn to this level of detail. Most of these pieces are unique in ways, so it's hard to put an exact value on it. The market for non-regal pieces is quite hot however. I would expect $30-$50, but would not be a bit surprised if it sold for more at auction.
Thanks for the question! =)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Dmitry , thank you for your quick response.
I was very fortunate to have been working on timber frame house that was dated around 400 yrs old, it use to be a old pub in its early days , and when the floor boards was removed ,I found a few different coins of half pennys and cart wheel coins , dating upto 1918. some are in just as good conditions..
When non-regal coins were made , what would normally happen ? was they melted down again to make a new coin??
regards
Colin

Answer
What an interesting story, and a rare opportunity to open a long sealed "crypt" of history.

The non-regal coins were made in much the same way as the genuine thing, just without the most modern technologies or most skilled workers, that the government would have had.

Basically an artisan would make a mold or die by carving it to look as close as they could to the real thing. A blacksmith would either melt copper from either ore or pre-existing items to make blank planchets for striking, or use copper ingots to melt and pour into a mold.

Most people knew the difference, but the non-regal pieces were still solid copper and often accepted as currency regardless. That was one of the best things about the direct money, where the face value was in the weight of the metal. Nowadays the face value on a coin is just a suggestion that has no relevance to the material value of the coin.

Thanks again! =)