Coinage of the American Confederation period : coinage of the Americas Conference at the American Numismatic Society, New York, october 28, 1995 / ed. by Philip L. Mossman

8/20/2019 Coinage of the American Confederation period : coinage of the Americas Conference at the American Numismatic…

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E R S TY

onference

ticSociety,NewYork

C r e a

t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N

o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e

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onference

tethisvolumeto

edprofessionalism

cannumismatics

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SS MA N ( H a md en , M )

SS MA N

ion:TheTimes

T H ( U n i v e rs i ty o f M ai n e, O r on o

I ContemporaryCounterfeit

Study

bution23

B E R G ( A m er i ca n N um i sm a ti c S oc i et y

ithfulSteward:

t h e E x p o rt o f

fpence55

A N( S t. L o u is , MO

Constellatio

9

M in ne ap ol is , MN

dentR epublic115

O ( M id la nd P ar k, N )

ken" A L etterPunch131

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O T Y ( S m i t hs o ni a n I n s t i tu t io n

ederation:

ewB oulton153

( O w en sM il ls ,M D )

geW ashington165

A mericanNumismaticSociety

ricanaSeries

mericanNumismatic

nstitutions261

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nfederationPeriodwasthesub ectof

eAmericasConference,sponsored

NumismaticSociety.Sinceitsi nception,

edtheenthusiasticsupporto f theSociety s

mforthe disseminationofemerging

d currencyofNorthandSouthAmerica.

rencesisto facilitatethee changeof

nd,e pertsinthefield areinvitedto

areinvitedtoe hibit,andnoticeofthe

delytoencourageattendancebyall who

pic.TheSocietyalsomountsane hibition

sregistrantstravelling totheNewYork

Society scollectionsandlibrarybetter

gtheconference.

ibitsweremountedonthethemeof COAC

watthe Societyforseveralmonths.Two

ia lf romtheSociety sco llection: asurveyof

alfpenceandaspecialdisplayof medalsof

ndiv idua le hibitorsincludedDanie l

andMikeR ingo( counterfeitso f theperiod ; on

ntitemsfromtheD onaldGroves

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hefollowingcontributorswhohelped

theAmericasConferencepossible:

ertM. Martin

ricP . New man

aldG. Partrick

orgeC. Perk ins

othschild

geEdw ardJ . R udnicki

tSchonw alter

a r ry D . T a y ma n

thony J . Terranova

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ethatI introducethepapersdeliveredat

mericasConference.Thiswasthe eleventh

theredin1984, forthee pressedpurpose

ocuson aspecifictopicin American

ogram," CoinageoftheAmerican

embracesabriefbute tremelyactive

nhistory.W earenotj ustconcernedwith

mofe change, butratherw ev isua li e

sciencewhich drawsuponhistory,

ography,linguistics,metallurgy,physics

oubt,thepapersintheseProceedings

onofnumismaticsas wee plorethe

theConfederationperiod.

wasatimeofchangeand challengeas

ountry,strovetoestablishits own

nationhadnocurrency ofitsownand

elyon thesameforeigncoinswhichhad

theearliest colonialtimes.Asa

omicstagnationwhichfollowedthe

wascrippledbya ma orpost-wardepression

rtuallydisappearedfromcommerce.I n

changemediumremainedabundantly

s,especiallycounterfeitE nglishhalfpence

on foryears.Asareaction againstthese

tcoins,severalstatesmintedtheir own

persduringtheConfederationperiodwith

pularre ectionof the lightw eight, inferior

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omcirculation.F orthisreason,themany

henumismaticsof thisperiodcameinto

llectionofpapers whichdescribe

usecoinagemintedin theperiodafter

tothe establishmentoftheF ederalmint;

tdie varietiesofdomesticcoppershave

ever e pandingasnewdiscoveriesare

etyandsheernumbersofConfederation

muchattentionandresearch,andrightly

beenhamperedandfrustratedintheirefforts

ngartifactsusedinthemanufactureofthese

tionmustbe e trapolatedfromthe

istingco insthemselvesandf romliterary

emporarynewspaperaccountsandother

of immediatelyavailabledatashouldnot

dpursuit ofinformationaboutthis

rsago,D amonG.D ouglas,wellknown

ugiocents,stateditverysuccinctly." The

ical periodinAmericanhistory,thefirst

tion,stillpresentune haustedfieldsfor

engesbeforeusfor continued

wemustremainhumblein thefactthat

wersabouttheseintriguingcoinages.I

a tthere ismorethatw edon tk now than

nvestigatorsmustpossessthewisdomto

ationandunsubstantiatednumismatic

act.I nregardtoConfederationcoppers,

ee ceptions, w eknow painfully litt leabout

s,theirbusinessassociatesandpractices,

eyenteredcirculation. I e pectthatnew

nddocumentaryevidencewilldisclose

vesandactivitiesofsomeof the

heseConfederationcoinageshave

earestilluntappedliterarysourcesyet

mplif iedintheseProceedingsbyE ric

e partyresponsiblefortheNovaConstellatio

ormanyofthesecoppersare still

ymintswereassignedbased solelyon

oning,someofwhoselogic hascollapsed

ertechnologysuchascomputerimage

photography,andhighenergy,

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tanalysismayassumealeadingrolein

mysteries.

rej ustbeginningtoappreciatethe

penceasthemostprevalentcopperof the

sshasunfortunatelyspawnedatemptation

eitE nglishhalfpennyasanAmerican

evidencethan aroughappearance.

dencetosupport American" blacksmith

notidentifythemastotype andit

gneverybarbarouscounterfeithalfpence

Contemporarynewspaperaccounts4

eursdidcast counterfeithalfpencewhich,

ltale evidenceastositeof origin.Thus,

pencefoundinthiscountry todaymay

a factwecanneitherprovenor disprove.

Machin sMillsim itations, itbecomes

therstruckcounterfeithalfpenceas

dersthesophisticatedandcomplicated

omintcoppers.Thesheer magnitudeofsuch

o prepare,roll,andannealplanchets,

ke coins,wouldhavebeenama or

etobutafew inpre-industrialAmerica.

sshouldnotdeterone fromcontinued

eitE nglishhalfpence,bothdomesticand

portantpapersin theseProceedingsdeal

humble,coppers,coinswhose

earningrecognitionasimportantplayersin

ics.

canseries,generallyofE nglishorigin

onfederationperiod,includesthe

ilethesetokensen oyednoofficialstatus,

rculated.W earepleasedtohave a

ashingtoniabyGeorgeF uldincludedin

shasbeenplacedonthemoney

dofthe R evolutionandtheadventof

reasthecoinsin ourcabinetstodayarethe

fthosetimes,wehave anotherbodyof

umentedbythemedalsstruckto

teventsoftheperiod.AsF redericH .B etts

hisbrother sposthumouslypublished

ponacabineto fMedals' asatreasure , not

de . . . . Withthesensitiv ity thatthe

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dyof numismaticsincludesan

tsand factorsthatshapedthehistory

anM.Stahlhasprovidedus aninventory

medalsauthori edbyCongresstohonor

ralA merica.

heparticipantsinthisyear sC o inageof the

heircontributionsoftime,effort,and

ssistanceI receivedinpreparationofthese

sC.SpilmanandMichaelH odderisgratefully

e alle pressourgratitudetothe staffof

Societyformakingthissymposium

ughwhichwe canshareourinterestin

ngperiodofAmericanhistory with

e.

.

neyoftheAmericanColoniesandConfederation,ANSNS

p. 203.

.6 7.

l sC oppers, C N 76( 1987 , pp. 997-1000; " TN-111,

p . 10 1 9- 2 1.

1 , p. 121.

s, A mericanC olonia lHistory I l lustratedbyContemporary

94 .

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ion:

y

onference

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maticSociety,1996

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ion,e tendingfrom1781until1789,

odof ournationaladolescence.These

meframebetweenouremergenceasa

nfant colonialismuntilourstartonthe

deralR epublic. I tw asa" betweentimes

oughallthe growingpainse pectedfrom

teenager,suchastheevolutionofcharacter

lopmentoftrustingrelationshipswith

ofadultresponsibility.I tisthe monetary

pochwhichis thefocusofthisyear s

onference.1

nfederationperiodasan isolated

onemust considerthepriore perience

dournation sadolescentpersonality.

permanentsettlementinJ amestown,un-

ntby theE nglishmilitaryofthegarrison

hcoloniesw erefoundedontheNorthA merican

wereverydifferentincompositionand

rwithdistincteconomic,geographicand

North,theeconomywasdominatedby

dsmallfarms,whereasinthe South,large

veswerescatteredoverthecountryside.

allyconcentratedincitiesalongthe eastern

coastalcommunities,occasionaltownsand

ousespunctuatedthelargelyforestedand

mmunication,andcommercebetween

ea,wasverydifficultand tedious.R oads

nt;eveninthebest ofconditionstheNew

chcouldmakeonly40milesa daytravel-

ingtotenat night.2R arelydidpeople

om theirbirthplace.Thepopulationwas

action,generallyilliterate,andlivedonfarms

conomy.3British NorthAmericawasnot

acollectionof" severaldistinctregional

iedmorecloselyto GreatB ritainthan

e" regionaldifferencesamongthecolonies

tweenthemsoweakthatitis misleading

aneconomy oran' A mericanpopulation

d. 4

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ion3

tsweredissimilar;onlyConnecticutand

erepublicswhereall publicofficialswere

nthreeothers— Pennsylvania,Delawareand

ietaryselectedthe governors;andinthe

ngNovaScotia ,thegovernorwasappointed

dpoliticalstructure ofthecoloniesnot-

okedontheseNorthAmericanplantations

alresources andeconomicdevelopment

regulatedfromL ondonandanypoten-

ctedtowardincreasingthewealthand

ryundera systemcalledmercantilism.

trictivelawswaspassedby Parliament,

ctsof TradeandNavigation,whichwere

ecolonial economiesremainedsubser-

rcountryandthatE nglishinterestswere

rousthesecontrolsmightappearatfirst

enefitedfrommembershipinthe B ritish

tradingarea,navalprotection,easycredit,

petition.Thenegativeaspectsofmercan-

colonialmanufacturing,restrictedforeign

tofearnedspecieto payformanufactured

s. 6

coloniesbecameentangledintheNorth

seriesof E uropeanconflictsascontinental

ceaselessdriveforpower.E ngland swar

argepart byrawmaterialsfromNorth

smercantilistpolicies.I naddition,Parlia-

colonieswouldbearsome ofthefinancial

renchandI ndianWars.7

nActshad littlepracticalimpactonthe

rgelyignoredor effectivelycircumvented

ers. I nspiteof theserestrict ive law sonthe

se pandedandprospered.B ut,withthe

renchandI ndianWar, thescenechang-

dnowemergedasthe mostpowerfulna-

massivewardebt. Tobolsteritseconomy

nglandnowturneditsattentionacrossthe

randbeganto enforcetheoldActs of

attemptto s uee efromtheirplanta-

th. GeorgeI I andhisTorygovernment

as politicalcommunitiesbutsimplyas

crownpossessionswhereanyfreedoms

stedonlyatthek ing spleasure . F orthef irst

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apermanentstandingarmyinthe colonies

erthan thatdeployedonthebattlefront

videntthatthe presenceofsuchtroopswas

therthantoprotect. 8

oreunpopularlawswhichweredesign-

herthancolonialinterests.As ifthisincreas-

ough,thecolonialeconomieswerecrippl-

wardepressionwhenforeigntradeand

rtuallyceased.Theuseofpaper moneyin

690had beenhelpfulinfinancinglocal

gulatedin1751andagainin 1764bylaws

ensurethatE nglishmerchantsbepaidin

nstablepaper.Parliament,stilloperating

ntilism,wasalwaysreadytomanipulate

sbenef itbutrarely inclinedtoassistthe ir

eirsakealone.Nowsugar,teaand other

edasanaddit ionalrevenuemeasure . I f it

StampActwouldhaveseverelyen-

ses.Commonlawrightstotrial bypeers

ated.Ta ationwithoutrepresentation

theStampActCongressassertedthatthe

verights asallfreeE nglishmen.The

growntheirdependenceonE nglandand

ntrolovertheirli veswhichL ondonwas

warperiodafter 1763.U nfortunatelythe

ackedthewisdomandthepoliticalgenius

esof itsoverseascit i ensasdefinedandpro-

hConstitutionandblindlyperceivednoneed

alorgani ationtoaccommodatethese

oniesdidhavesomevocalsupportin

Will iamP ittandEdmundB urk e. P itt sad-

dgedbyamedalletstruckin hishonor.

interpretedtherebell iousactionsof theco lonists

dience " re uiringdisciplining, P itt, inhis

tifviolenceever erupted,anypeaceful

wouldbedifficult.H isconciliatoryef-

rtedbyakingdominatedToryParlia-

eonA pril19, 1775, attheB attlesofLe -

heB ritishattemptedtosei ecolonial

latedintoafull fledgedwarj ustasPitt

mmerof1776,there wasnovestigeofroyal

onieswhichhadbecomeopenlyhostile

edpower.Theirbasicconflictwasnot

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ion5

nd economicindependencefromE ngland

hedto retainthosehistoricalfreedoms

chtheyhaden oyedf romthebeginningand

ninsensitiveandautocraticmonarchyand

manycolonialToriesremainedloyaland

otherfactionspressedfor complete

bnailsketchof theeconomicand

erica attheoutbreakoftheR evolution,

remultifactoralandcannotbe e plain-

nce.All ofasuddenauni uesituation

rica.F orthefirsttime, 13diverse,

colonieswereforcedintoapositionwhere

oneanother torepelatyrannywhich

mindividually.I twasaneasytask toburn

aD eclarationofI ndependencewhich

romanoppressivemetropolitanregime.

onwhichseveredthebonds ofcolonialism

ivered,these13colonies,whohad had

stillviewedeachotherwith suchmistrust

mediateconsensusastohowtheywould

okuntilMarch1781 forthemtoagreeupon

s setforthinthe ArticlesofConfedera-

olitywasdrafted,itwasnotratified until

reCornwallissurrendered.

onwereconceivedasaninstrument

eagueof friendship,butitdidnot

hecollectivestates undertheArticlesof

lingtoabdicatetoacentralgovernment

eywerewillingto acceptfromtheirco-

al,foreignpolicyandwarpowersset forth

rationwerej ealouslyguardedbythestates

rteenwerere uiredforpassageofmost

vidualstatesdidretainthesole authority

greeto sharewithCongresstheparallel

tand emitpapermoney.Tofinancethe

unwillingto asserttheirprerogativeand

ursuedanalternativesolutionwith aprint-

ofunsecuredpapermoney.Congress,

ority,hadnoalternativebutto circulatebills

wartomeetgovernmente penses.

pressedintheArticles ofConfedera-

whichhadbeen conditionedfromyears

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lonialfiscal policy.Throughouttheco-

moneysuppliesfluctuateddependingupon

alcolonial economies.E venatbest,small

salwaysindemandforlocaltrade.D ur-

e e portofrawmaterialsandsupplies

ecamemoreplentifulasthe economypros-

tywerefollowedbycycles ofpostwar

marketcontractedandhardmoneybecame

nguished.D uringsuchintervalsof

ncirculatinghardmoneywasscant,alter-

sedtoensureade uatecurrencysothat

inue.Suchsuccessfulmeasuresinclud-

the1600s,thedevelopmentofregulated

intingofMassachusettssilver,andmore

fpapercurrencybycolonialgovernments

credit,asfiscalinstrumentsbackedby

semittedagainstanticipatedta receipts.

,hardmoneywasparticularlyscarce,driven

cesssupplyofdepreciated,unsecured

llowingthewar,therewasa suddenabun-

areas occupiedbyforeigntroopswho

ney.Thissurpluswasshort-livedsince

ing-spreeandsoonthespeciewasreturn-

many importedcommoditiesandlu uries

upplyduringthewar.As wouldbean-

erience,in1784adevastatingpostwar

evolutionwitheffectswhichwerenear-

tryasthosew itnessedin1929. E x ports

ensive,merchantswereburdenedwithaglut

ods,hardmoneywasj ustnotavailable,

f inancia lruin. B arter, asamediumofe -

eralareas;bankruptcieswerecom-

setts,returningwarveterans,unpaidfortheir

erenowobligedto meettheirta bills

encyorface financialruinwiththreatsof

son.Anarmedencounterbetweenthese

ternMassachusettsandthemilitiaensued

sR ebellion. Tothenorth, thestateofNew

nkruptandinother legislaturestherewas

moneytoreleaseciti ensfromtheburden

acteri edthepostwarConfederation

ecrit ica lperiod 13ofA mericanhistoryor

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ion7

4sincetheyspeculatedthatthenew nation

hyanddissolution.Anothercommented

nf rightenedGeorgeWashingtonoutof retire-

yrate, thetimesweredifficult.I tdidnot

thisnewgovernmentestablishedunderthe

wascompletelyinepttoleadthe emerg-

menditsmultipledefectssoon became

eenanimpossibletasksince ama orflaw

ere uiredthatanyamendmentmust

provalofallthestates. I nstead,theentire

nfavorofthe Constitutionof1787.This

nthasstoodthetestoftime,enduring now

utthisfinalunion didnotoccuruntil

tsseriousproblemsof adolescentbicker-

iththeseinternalconflictsdispelled,the

ow emerge" f rommany intoone and

unchedthemselvesintoyoungadulthood

enewand differentchallengesofthene t

en somepassingreferencestothecur-

ngtheConfederation.Thefollowing

ncipalmoniesof theperiod:

evolutionaryWarissues continuedto

theConfederationperiod.17

y1786,ninestateshadissued speciemoney

ocal currency.Thesewere:Penn-

York,NewJ ersey,

hodeI sland,South

doubloons,pistolesandfractionalparts

moidoresanddivisions

milleddollarsand fractionalparts

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ngreatnumberssince

swerelegallyauthori -

nynumbersprior to

riginhadcomprisedthe

changemediumfor

evolution,importation

truckinNewYork

.

erswerecommonin

mmerceof the large

pers,severalstatesbe-

edtheir ownmoney

rticles ofConfedera-

oodstate coppers

ceivedandthereby

terfe itsoutofcirculation.

uedunderthe authori-

onstellatiocoppers;

s.

mmunisColumbia

Yorkissues.

,thestatesandContinentalCongresshad

ofinancethewar butthesenotesrapidly

thepostwarperiod,mostlegislatures

esumeprintingbills ofcreditsoat least

ofcurrency forlocalcommerceandthe

Manystates,havinglearnedtheirlessons

neyduringthewar,resistedthis tempta-

sbynotesunbackedbyspecie.Some of

thatheld itsvaluedidcontinueto

od,dependencycontinuedonSpanish

er,D utchsilverandPortuguesegold.Since

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ion

ueofco inedSilverandGold, andE nglifh

ngs,as.eftablifhedbyanACTof the

A c f fV s E TTs.

d , 1 78 4 . ]

e n c h Cr o wn , a t > 7 o 6

f fuchCrownsinproportion.£

ollarsinproportion.J

uineaof thew eightof$dw t, 6gr. at-1i9

ineasine ualproportion.}

w ei g ht o f . d w t . 6 j r . a t — I • ~ j

monlycalleda J ohannes, )

ohannesinlikeproportion.J

f6dw t . 18gr. at— 1ll%

sin likeproportion.3

ledaDoubloon, o f the" 1

mecoininlikeproportion.J

ingsataPtnny,andE ngli hH alf-Pencein

fa idL aw , thata llP iecesofGo ldC oin,

which( hallweighmoreorlefs thanisby

eircurrent weight,lhallbereceivedin

ereaftertobereceivedinto theTreafury

dinallD ebts,foraSumproportionedto

ereby f tated, tow it, at£ . 56/ . I d. by the

eorCuftomcothecontrary notwithftanding.

uropeanspeciecoinsinMassachusettsmoniesofaccountcur-

84( C ourtesyofEricP . New manE ducationSociety .

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WeightandV alueofC o insastheypafsintherefpedtiveStatesof theUnion, w iththeir

a lue.

a .

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ion

oinsinuse duringtheConfederationperiod.

66 p i ll a r ei g ht r e al e s of C h ar l es I I I

a lf realo fF erdinandV I a lsoca lledaha lfbit, medioorpicayune.

spistareenofPhil ipV .

c r ow n o f W i ll i am I I I .

eddollar,firstmintedin Me icoCity

portantsilvercoinonthiscontinentfrom

he middleofthelastcentury.Overits

reales pieceremainedtheworld ssilver

ity.I tsfractionalpieces,includingthe

,formedthebackboneofoursilver small

hneverrecogni edwithlegaltenderstatus

ent,thepistareen,adebasedtworeales

wasanotherveryimportantplayerin

ationperiods( fig.3 .Spanish,Portuguese,

ldcommonlytradedashighdenominational

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insinuse duringtheConfederationperiod.

o ub l oo n o f Ch a rl e s I I I .

ha l f J o h a nn e s of f o ur e s cu d os o f J o s ep h I .

ou is d o r ( F r en ch g ui ne a o f L o u is X I I I .

g u in e a of J a m es I I .

50yearsofourhistory ( f ig. 4 . Sincethe

notkeepup withthedemandsofthe

rtheU nitedStates,theseforeigngoldand

edasl egaltenderinthiscountry until

cto fF ebruary21, 1857.21

n,thecoppersmallchangemediumwas

o thehardcoinmoneywhichwasin

astatingpost-R evolutionaryWardepres-

tinggoldandsilver moneywasfromthe

,thecoppermoneywasregalE nglishsince

ainstthee portofTowerhalfpenceand

695to 1775,about17% ofthecopperout-

s e portedtotheNorthAmericancol-

£69, 000. I n1749alone, 10tonsofcop-

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ion

nny , Newman25-M( 118. 4gra ins .

theyear sproductionof farthingsand

nalargesum ofmoneysentto

entaspartialrepaymentofthedebtincur-

ndI ndianWars. Theonly legit imatecopper

riodwastheV irginiahalfpennymintedfor

hesecoppersweredeliveredj ustweeks

andso werewithheldfromgeneralcir-

eased( f ig. 5 .

r egalE nglishcopperswasaboutdou-

hemetalplusthemintingcosts, signifi-

notonlyto thekingbutalsoto the

edingreatnumberstomaketheir fortunes.

hadlittleto fearfromtheauthoritiessince

ended,amountedtoavirtualslapon the

s weresandcastbutsoonthese illegal

counterfeitsinpressesfromengraveddies.

wasestimatedthatabouthalfthe circulating

elargenumbersofregalE nglishcoppers,

f pe n ny o f Ge o rg e I ( 1 5 2. 1 g ra i ns .

counterfe it( 98. 6gra ins iseasily identif iedduetoroughsurfaces

he kingsheadwherethemetalwaspouredinto themold.

kingofthemoltenmetal uponcooling.

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f pe n ny o f Ge o rg e I I I ( 1 5 4. 9 g ra i ns .

rarycounterfeit( 121. 1gra ins f romengraveddies.

wereq uicklyfollowedbythespurious

sfloodedwiththeselightweight,

ereacceptedbya generallyuncritical

wasthatthey receivefullvalueincom-

ers.Theimportationof thesecoppers,

lution,resumedagainaftertheW arand

entlyduringtheConfederation( figs.6,7 .

erindustryin E nglandwassoprofitable,

umberswhich circulatedonbothsides

naturalforthis illegalactivitytospread

a.Originalresearchon counterfeitGeorge

aspresentedinthesymposiumbyC harlesW. Smith.

hhalfpenceofdomesticmanufacturehave

tsourcebelievedtohavebeen Machin s

rk ( f ig. 8 . Sim ilarly , I rishha lfpenceand

elycounterfeited.Both thefalseandregal

Americainlarge numbersassubstantiated

w York. I nfact, 1781and1782bogusI rish

sMillsim itationha lfpenny ( V lack 18-87C

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ion15

r i sh h a lf p en n y of G e or g e I I I ( 1 4 1. 0 g ra i ns .

arystruck I rishcounterfe itha lfpenny (92. 1gra ins . The latter

ostcoinsfor certainV ermontcoppers.

yusedasplanchetsforseveralV ermont

Thee portationof thesecounterfeitha lfpence

landintoB rit ishNorthA merica ise amined

eeberg.

ssertedthatnearlyhalf thecoppersincir-

0to 30yearswerecounterfeit.Thenew

mpoweredboththestateandnational

eyand,underthisauthority,Connecticut

786,andMassachusettsin1787 commenc-

ercoinageswiththee pressedgoalof

e,basecoppers,which wereperceived

ury,especiallyuponthepoor.Theplanwas

dcoppersofconsistentqua lityw iththee -

nswouldonlyacceptthesenew,trueweight

thecounterfeithalfpencewhichcompris-

the Confederation,Vermontalso

in1785 andissueditsowncoppers.The

c andthebackgroundofitsmint arethe

eteSmith.Theattractivelandscapecoppers,

larto theNovaConstellatioissues,were

mintin1785and1786. L aterbustissuesare

redor directlycopiedfromConnecticut

ssueswerestruck overunnegotiable1785

sandcounterfeitI rishhalfpence.

seyAssemblystroveto improvethequality

mbyauthori ingthreemillionlegaltender

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: ( a 1786Marls14- f romtheR ahw ayMint( 147. 8gra ins .

oneof threehorseheadleftvarieties( 141.7gra ins .

n, struck overa1787C onnecticutMill le r30-hh. 1( 129.6gra ins .

,for whichprivilegethelicenseeswould

hestate.Theofficial contractwasshared

andestineoperationshavealso beeniden-

NewJ erseydievarietieswithatotal com-

rmillionpieces. Theearlierissuesfrom

weretypicallyofhighq ualitybutsoon

ghtcopperswhichdiscreditedtheintegri-

ge( f ig. 10 . These inferiorcoppersinclud-

ttributedtoMorristownandothers,

hostcoins,believedto befrom

entw ork byHodderhasaddedmuchtoour

ple series.22

of Connecticutstatecoppersinclud-

ypesdatedfrom1785to 1788withan

nofaboutsevenmillion.Theonly

CompanyforCoiningCoppersof New

persfromdiesengravedby AbelB uell.Their

dlega lly to J amesJ arv isandC o. onJ une

mintConnecticutcopperson stock

ralF ugiocontract.B esidesthesetwomints,

cclandestineoperationse istedwhichin-

byignoring the5% royaltypayableto

oppersconsiderablybelowtheprescrib-

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ion

a 1785Miller3-1.1.fromtheCompanyforCoiningCop-

ypicalMailedB ustR ightissuef romdiesengravedbyA belB uell.

-a . 2a lso fromtheC ompany forC o iningC oppers( 142.9gra ins ;

ustL eftdesignfromboththeCompanyforCoiningcoppers

mostcommonConnecticutdesign.

(114. 0 ; thisB ustR ightissue istypica lo f thoseattributedto

gwellbe low authori ed144grains.

. Theendresultw asthattheabundantlight

cticutcoppersj ustaddedtotheglut of

circulationratherthan toreplacethem

sthe attempttoridcommerceoflight

edinmoreinferior coinsbeingadded

chalreadywasfar largerthanthe

mesA . Goudgepresentedadiscussionofcer-

s verypopularConfederationseries.

ousstatesawardedfranchisestoprivate

tsconstructedastate-runmintwhichpro-

rso fconsistentqua lity in1787and1788.

new F ederalstandardof157grains.The

d thise pensewasonereasonitwasclos-

ersactuallymintedbytheseveralstates

patternissueswerealsostruckduringthe

ngcontractorsinanticipationthata

eawardedtothewinner.Otherissues

he familiarI mmunisColumbiapiecesand

ers.23Otherspeculativecoinageswere

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ent, R yder11- ( 157. 9gra ins .

swere everstruck.Someinterestingpro-

sionsinthe imaginationsoftheirad-

ichardG. D oty .

bservedtheappearanceofsimilarlet-

ousstate series,particularlynotingthose

ks.I thasbeenintriguingto speculatethat

nidentified,belongedtoanindividual

ationhasevolvedtotreat theseobserv-

eof theengraverandtheattemptmade

ormintoforigin tomanyofthestate

hisapproachhasnotwithstoodthe test

sarereview edindeta ilby JohnL oren o

eandthebrok en" A letterpunch.

y,a largenumberofcoppertokensar-

nglandwhichcirculatedwidely.These

swerelighterthanthestateissues yetto

tlyusedashostcoins onwhichtooverstrike

ndNew J erseycoppers. E ricP . Newmanhas

ncerningtheseimportantcoppers.Another

dfrom1783 to1795,primarilyofE nglish

medtheW ashingtoncoppers,appeared

evo lution. GeorgeF uldhaspreparedane -

hingtoniamintedduringtheConfederation

atemintsfailed todrivethelight weight

circulationandin mostcasesj ustcon-

inferiorcoins.So,asonemight e pect,

nmenttrieditshandatthe samegame,it

ugiocoppers,thefirstU nitedStated

mintedunderacontractaw ardedto J ames

osto f the1787C onnecticutseries( f ig. 13 .

the authori edamountwaseverminted

the summerof1789inNewYorkat a

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ion19

an11-B ( 165. 3gra ins .

sPanicwhencoppersceased tocirculate,

tichistoryof theConfederationworth

remainedintheclutchesofa seriouspost-

earnedmoneyfrome portswasscarce

circulatingspecie,thesmallchange

ithinferiorgradecoppers.Merchants

rgeq uantitiesofthismostlycounterfeit,

eonlynegotiableinsmallsums.I thad

ouldnotbee changedforgoldorsilver;

I nthesummerof1789,public confidence

mcollapsedand overnightthee change

48 copperstotheNewYorkshilling.

mityfor thepoorwhoseentirewealthwas

edium.Coppercoinswerenot even

usetheworld priceforcopperhadfallen

perspanicprimarilyinvolvedthearea

fNewYork andPhiladelphia.New

eivedpreferentiallybecauseoftheirlegal

dedagainat 24totheshilling.A stheworld

lyroseinto thene tdecade,faithincop-

oncediscreditedissueswerecalledback

nesweremintedby theF ederal

ewConstitutionof1787had beenratified

thatamorestable federalsystemwouldbe

blicwere tosurviveasasingle country

of13bickeringsiblings.A priorityon

respondto theneedfora standardi ed

dedinthisplan wastheblueprintfora

edin1793 toprovideforthemonetary

ttookseveralyearsbeforetheoutput

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couldsatisfythedemandfor moneyand

remainedlegaltenderuntil1857.I nthe

andotherpre- ederalcoinsandtokens

mallchangemediumandcontinuedtocir-

ecountryaslateas 1856.ManywornCon-

mbedtoalessnoble fateandendedupas

buttons andfryingpans.Othermonetary

ceold habitsdiehard.F ormanyyears

ateinthe oldcolonialmoneyofaccount

.

ationcoinageshasbeenj ustthat;asum-

ournationalnumismaticheritage.Con-

politicalcomple itiesoftheperiod,it

ndthefactorsthatgaveri setothisvast

nrichedthis eraandcontinuestostimulate

y.

ricP.Newmanforhisc riticalreviewofthemanuscript

d2.

tca lPeriodofA mericanHistory ( C ambridge, 1899 , p. 61.

eaningof theA mericanR evo lution( New York , 1964 , pp.

ndR usse llR . Menard, TheE conomyofB rit ishNorthA merica

p . 1 2.

, pp. 64-65.

above, n. 4 , pp. 50, 354; L acy ( above, n. 3 , p. 37.

velyca lledTheF renchandI ndianWars, includedK ing

6 89 - 97 , Q u e e n A nn e s W a r ( 1 7 02 - 13 , K i n g G e or g e s W a r ( 1 7 44 - 48 ,

dI ndianWar( 1754-63 .

, pp. 37, 83; q uotep. 83.

ferencebetweentheAmericanR evolutionandthesoon

lutionwherethecommonpeoplehadalongterm historyof

ression.Thesetworevolutionswereentirelydifferent

sationandneitherise pla inedbyanysingle factor. SeeGeorge

vo lution( New York , 1988 , passim.

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ion21

, pp. 69, 85, 121-27, 128, 132-33; quotespp. 69, 128.

above, n. 4 , pp. 373-74.

,slanderouslytermed" ragmoney byitscritics,was

neyissuedtoprovidecirculatingcurrencyduringthis

cP . New man, TheEarlyPaperMoneyofA merica(lo la , WI ,

.

ter, " A PeriodofPeril, Historica lA ddresses( Portland, M ) ,

New Nation. A Historyof theU nitedStatesDuringtheC on-

New York , 1950 , p. 250.

ntroductiontoa veryinvolvederaofnumismatichistory.

hissub ectisfoundinPhil ipL. Mossman, Moneyof the

nfederation,ANSNS20( NewYork,1993 .

istoricalA ccountofMassachusettsC urrrency (B oston, 1839 ,

anuary26,1779smallchangenotes" arestillissuedplen-

lth...thusfar,theyappearto havebeensustainedintheir

man( above, n. 12 , pp. 188-89.

1764B roadsideL ocatedC overingC irculationofE nglish

ngland C N 100( 1995 , pp. 1531-33, forarecentdiscus-

rtesyof theEricP . New manNumismaticEducationSociety.

lestterms, abil lo fe changeiscreatedw henonepartypur-

aportionof hiscreditbalancewhichis heldbyathird

tAhasa creditbalancewithL ondonmerchantA;American

ysomeEnglishgoodsf romLondonmerchantB , buthehas

n tosendbyship.Therefore,AmericanmerchantB pur-

rchantAa portionofthelatter screditbalanceheldby

remitsthisbil lo fe change, purchasedf romA mericanA ,

topay forhisgoods. A mericanB paysA mericanA w ithloca l

hichwasprobablyunnegotiableinE ngland.

ndR aphaelE . So lomon, A merica sF ore ignC oins(New

vediscussionof thisinterestingtopic.

h e N ew J e r se y R e v er s e J , A B i e nn i al D i e , A N 1 ( 1 9 8 9 , p p .

rseyR everse ' U ' : A B iennia lD ie , TheA mericanNumismatic

thology( ColoradoSprings,1991 ,pp.19-34.

The1787' New York I mmunisC o lumbia ; A MysteryR e-

1 9 9 0 , p p . 12 0 3- 3 5.

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I

sticalStudy

bution

onference

ticSociety,NewYork

maticSociety,1996

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ectoris fascinatedbyacounterfeitcoin.

tionis baseduponthefactthata

totellthatgoesfar beyondgovernment

conversionofmoneysofaccount. It hasa

historyandseemsto struggletospeak

.I haveoftenheardcolleaguesremark,

H counterfeitha lfpenny, " I fonly this

myopinion, toacerta ine tent, coinscante ll

sifweask therightq uestionsandlisten

tolookatthecontemporary

ha lfpenny f romascientif icandstatist ica lpo int

growingande cit ingliteratureonboththe

ionbystyleanddietype andsocio -economic

thesecounterfeitcoins.2Catalyticto

continuousflowofe cellentscholarship

edingsvolumesoftheCoinageofthe

onsoredannuallybytheAmeican

MuseumNotes( nowAmericanJ ournal

eColonialNewsletter.

theB rit ishGeorgeI I I contemporary

esabouttenyearsago,butit wasonlyin

ca lattheUniversityofO ford, thatI began

anewperspective.I nthesummerof1992,

mberofcounterfe ite amplesbya loca lco indea ler

edtohimthatthisco inseriesnotonlycir-

italsocirculatedduring thecolonialand

ycountry.Aninterestingconversation

medmethat themostcommondatein

1775,butthat wasnotthecasefor the

ating.H ewasalsoofthe opinionthatthe

tiallylighterinweight,onaverage,than

theR oyalMint.Acursorye amination

pportedhis observations.

riositytogeta moreq uantitativepic-

roachedacolleagueintheD epartmentof

studying,tosponsormefora librarycard

orthenumismaticlibrary intheA shmolean

id.F ormanyweeksthereafter,I spent

allygoingthroughthenumismaticliterature

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rfeitH a lfpennySeries25

pleq uestion, " Of thesi years1770, 1771,

5,whatis therelativefre uencyofoc-

tha lfpence Thereweresometanta li -

onehadcarriedouta carefuldateanalysis

etailedinformationabouttheproductionof

Mint,butmostlyanecdotalinformationabout

winter,myspare-timeinteresthadgrown

alsoe pandedinscopeto includeaplanto

unterfeite ampleswhileinE ngland,and

ollectedbackintheU .S.fromsourcesnot

lishsources. I naddit ion, I sooncameto

amplesw ithdatesoutsidetherega linterva l

ngq uestionsonw eightandsi e , andv irtua lly

talcompositionasitappliesto mining

setopicsaddressissuesof productionand

oldscientific adage,tomeasureisto

findanswerstothis ever-growinglistof

someofmy studiesareincorporatedin

dpresentingdata,ina broadsense,is

I tisa verypracticalwaytounderstand

ngata smallersub-groupofthepopula-

rinstance,byshakingouta fewpilesof

nprettymuchassureourselves( inferfrom

mberof redM&Msinthebagisthesame

Msinthebag,even thoughwehavenot

ntentsof thebag( thepopulation . H ow ever,

epresentationofits population,caremust

esample istaken. ( Wew ouldn tw anttohire

stician Wealsoneedtok now w hetherthe

gisbiased.( D idsomeonegettothebag

eatsomeof thegreenM& Ms Theseare

tisticalstudyandsinceweknowthat acoin

biasedgroupofe amples,notatall

alpopulationfromwhichit wasassembl-

a fairsamplingtechni ueandassuring

sed,areformidable.

ature,areassembledwithspecificgoals

dw hoco llectsshil l ings. I tmak esabeautiful

ynotrepresentativeofthegeneralpopula-

reventhepopulationof B ritishmonarchs.

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co insofC harlesI andthushisshil l ingco llec-

rest( isbiasedinthisregard andtherefore

thepopulationofall B ritishshillings.

ngerrorand populationbiasinthisstudy,

w ingmeasures. F irst, I assembledaco llection

plesundercontrolledsituations,sampled

thoutregardtograde, date , orcost. I w ould

counterfeitsava ilableatcoinshopsormark et

ndandI wouldeitherbuyallthatwere of-

t being,I didnotpickand chooseby

iteria.I nadditionI regularlypurchased

ndealersw hoac uiredlarge lotsformeus-

ue. Theonlycriterionforre ectinge -

mage,e cessivecorrosionorcoinswith

wasinterestedindateanalysisaswell as

edco ins( ho led, bent, ordeeplypitted w ere

arstoassembleThe StudyCollectionused

sametime, andinasim ilarw ay , I puttogether

ga le amples.

iedamediumsi eprivateE nglishcollection

collection,eachassembled,tomysatisfac-

r.3

. S. , I assembledaninventoryofe amples

contemporarycounterfeitha lfpencew ithnok nown

hiswasverydifficultand afterconsidering

vechosento include60e amplesinthisin-

nsfromthearchaeologicalrecord( sites

New England , co insthroughbe uestto

allgroupswithnosystematiceffortto " round

dpurchasedcoinsforw hichI w asabletotrace

eU .S.previoustomehavingnoknown

eircollectinghobby,and nomilitary

ecollections,aswellasothers,and a

lmetalliccompositionofbothcounterfeit

bepresentedinthe sectionsthatfollow.

ha lookattheregalproductionof

nce. I nresponsetobotha lack ofsuf ficientsilver

afterL ondonTradesmenhadpetition-

percoin,inorder tothrowcounterfeits

R oya lMintresumedmintingofcopperin

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mentofaTemporaryR elie f to thePublic ' con-

eoutputofha lfpencef romtheR oya lMint

tons,was:1770,9.0;1771,55.0;1772,

.0;and1775,22.8fora totalof200.95

rcentageoftotal production,thevalues

4.0%;1772, 25.1%;1773,19.8% ;1774,

Thesevaluesareillustratedasa histogram

senumbersthat theregalproductionof

fpencew asconcentratedintheyears1771, 1772, and

theoutputduringthatperiod.

distributionofcounterfe itGeorgeI I I

aterangeas theregalissue,namely

mustkeepinmindthat thedateona

sonlytheearliesthypotheticaldateof cir-

yitsactual earliestdateofcirculationor

ewillreturnto thispointatthe endof

dyCollectionidentifiedabove.Thisis

nof300coinsassembledinsuchaw ayas

practical, thee tantpopulationinE ngland

dateforThe StudyCollectionis1770,

355;1774,51;1775,167orbypercent

; 1772, 3. 3% ; 1773, 18. 3% ; 1774, 17. 0% ;

valuesareillustratedasa histograminfig.

ntrasttotheregal productionvaluesin

cantways.Themostobviousdifference

ounterfeitpiecesaredated1775.Second-

nterfeitpiecesareconcentratedin thelast

,mightsaythat weshouldnote pect

eite amplestocorrelateinanyway with

amples. How ever, thisisnotw hatthe

ade pectedw hentheypetitionedtheR oya l

ye pectedpreciselytheoppositeef-

coinagewoulddrivethe counterfeit

Thiswasdefinitelynotwhathappened.

ftheprofounde tentofcounterfeitpro-

tthewB oultonofSoho,ina lettertoL ord

14,1789,states:

ourneysI observethatI rece ived

scounterfeithalfpencefor

ndI believetheevilis carried

stclass ofmanufacturerswho

rtofthewagesof thepoor

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ibutionHistogramofR oya lMintP roductionof theE nglishGeorge

er i es

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rfeitH a lfpennySeries

ibutionHistogramofE nglishGeorgeI I I C ontemporaryC ounterfe it

ollection

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purchasefromsubterraneous

f copper( coinsinnominal

thattheprofitderivedfromthe

orgeI I I , ca . 1800, theEarlo fL iverpoo lw rites:

uantityofcounterfe itcopperco ins

uantityof legalcopperco ins: the

ftheopinion,inthe year1787,

eededthelegalcoppercoins.

increasedeversince:the q uali-

percoins isintruth beyond

counterfeitcoinagein circulation,the

asample in1787andfoundthatonly8% had

thekingscoin, theremainderbeing

tantlyinferiortotrash.6

plicationofthedate distributionof

ted1770-75withintheircontemporary

sets forthbelowtheresultsoffour addi-

dies.

B U T ON ( % ) :

NT R F E I T H A F P N NY S R I E S

eU. S. Med. P riv . B ramahYaleCo ll. Defaced

hSurveyCa.1886L ondon

ction145Coins60V ar.H oard

Coins

.3

.3

.1

5.016.3

5.014.7

8.361.2

uiresnofurtherdescriptionat thispoint.

ollection( thirdcolumn wasputtogether

gE nglishcoindealersasthe sourceof

nwasessentiallysetasideasit wasac-

t ly (J uly1995 asystematicstatistica l

twascarried out.Thedatedistribution

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remarkableagreementwiththatofThe

ishcollectionwasinventoriedin1993and

atecollectoroveraperiodof about10

edatedistributionofthisc ollectionisin

ecttotheprevioustwocollections.

929isthe nameI givea" grabsample

encedescribedbyE rnestB ramah.7Togetan

galcoinstocounterfeitcoinsand adistribu-

ates, w ithoute laboration, " F orsak eofcom-

givenofanassortmentoftheissue, got

Whatever" gottogetherpromiscuously

grabsample f romthee tantpopulation

ble1, feelingitshistoricuni ueness

hanscientific samplingmethodology.The

ahSurveyare includedasA ppendi A . This

e,isin goodagreementwithTheStudy

entoriedbyC.W yllysB etts,andin-

sstotheAmericanNumismaticand Ar-

ril1886,entitled" CounterfeitH alfPence

loniesandtheir I ssuefromMintsofCon-

8Threepointsmustbemadeclearto

Table1. F irst,thenumberofcoins in

iedbyB etts,onlythenumberofdie

ts,indiscussingtheYaleCollectionstates,

ichisthechief sourceofinformationon

1886 , containscounterfeitso f thefollowing

numeratesthecollectionbydate butdoesnot

itishcounterfeits.Third,wearenotinformed

sputtogether,that is,thesampling

owever,weseea remarkableagreement

ionfortheYale CollectionandTheStudy

nthesi eoftheYaleCollectionis taken

haveincludedit inTable1foritsuni ue

spective.

ble1 isaninventoryofthe D efaced

ard. E numerationof theentirehoard, found

L ondonin1981,isdescribed inAppen-

GeorgeI I I counterfe ite amplesare included

Table1 establishestherelativefre uen-

shGeorgeI I contemporaryha lfpennyseries.

ellasall theothercollections,shows

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amplesaredated1775:aremarkableresult

I fweassumethatthecollectionsare fair

ofcoinsproduced,we areledatonce

s:1 eithercounterfeitcoinproduction

1775 andthenabruptlystopped;or,

uctiondidnotchange substantiallyin1775,

earsemployingthedate1775. Several

ondhypothesis.I fweimagine,forthe

ofa mintmakingcounterfeitcoinstoward

1776andour lastreversediefinallyfails,

tionwe musthavenewdiescut.

wifthe R oyalMintplanstoproduce coins

tevenclearif theR oya lMintk new in1775if

coinsdated1776. Wecanorderournew

uestadiedesign thathedgestheissue

a6, orwecanspeculateandorder dies

nfact,itappearsall threeoptionswere

ed1776areonlyaboutone-halfasscarce

scussedbelow . F armorecommonaree -

slikea6,as illustratedinfig.3.H erethe

pandthebaseof the5curls arounduntil

formsaclosedloop.This leadsonetoask,

feithalfpencedid continuepast1775,

ease Theredoesnotseemtobe a

uestionbut,ascanbe seenfromfig.4,dies

stillbe ingusedaslateas1797 F ig. 4shows

I ha lfpennystruck overanE nglishtok en(Mid-

/ MailC oach 9of1797. Theseoverstrik esare

slessthan12k nown butnonethe lessprov ide

actthatthedateonacounterfe itcoindoes

duction.

berofcoinsrepresentedinthe firstthree

1( about2,000e amples , onecanform

fthetypesand relativefre uencyofcoin

05error coinse amined,themostfre-

double strike.Thistypeoferroroccurs,

a struckcoinisnot fullye ectedfrom

broughttogetheragain,makingasecond

rockagesaccountfor29% oftheerror

occursw henastruck co inisnote ectedf rom

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GeorgeI I I C ontemporaryC ounterfe itHa lfpenceI l lustrating

o1776

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C ontemporaryC ounterfe itHa lfpenny , Dated1775, Overstruck

lC oachToken, typeMiddlese 363

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dinand struckbetweenoneofthedies

oin.R eversebrockagesarenearlytwice

rockages,63% comparedto37%, respec-

atit wascommonpracticetoloadthe

dieonthebottomandthe obversedie

sstruckbutnot e ected,becauseitsticks

tpresentsitsreversetothene tblank

facingtheothersideof theblankfrom

ofallbrockagese aminedwerefull

ankisfullyregisteredoverthe lowerdie.

metype ofblankcenteringfi turewas

technologyandas longastheinitial coin

fullbrockageresults.Thisis furtherborne

nterstrikesareunusual,accountingfor

errors.I ncountingoff-centerstrikes,I

eslessthat5% off-center,assumingthat

wasprobablywithincontemporarypro-

mpleteblanksorclippede amplesaccount

uctionerrors.Thisresults iftheoperator

advancethecoppersheetmorethan a

owinglyreachestheendor theedgeof

multipleerrors, unifacee amples,tabor

ple strikesmakeuptheremainderofthe

tesurprisedtofindfive pressloadingerrors:

ithanobverseon bothsidesfromtwodif-

age,buttwofullystruck obverseimpres-

reversee ample, w itheachdiedated1771.

ressedaspercentages,isbasedupona

amples.H owever,itwouldbeinaccurate

e aminedabout2,000co ins, oneco in

.Collectorstendtohold ontonovel

vely seek themout. Since I hadcontro lo f

yforTheStudyCollection,itis onlyfrom

entureanestimateofabso luteerrorf re uen-

StudyCollection,elevenareerror e -

s,threeoff-centers,twobrockages,and

anabsolutefre uencyestimationofabout

mplesoferrorcoins, onecantestthe

ationofanerror coinisanaccidental hap-

fsayingthisis ifthehypothesesistrue

ror coinisarandomevent,then the

bydate,should trackwiththepercentage

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gthedateddoublestrikes,off-centers,and

sdoesappeartobetrue:1770,0% ;1771,

15% ; 1774, 18% ; and1775, 55% ; f roma

ederrors. ( Of the205errorco ins152w ere

es,andseveraloff-centersanddouble

mpressions. Thematchtothepercen-

pulationasa wholeisnotperfect,but

e it issti l lverygood. Theyear1771stands

beaconse uenceofthefactthat,

GeorgeI I ha lfpennyseriesbeganin1770,

rationslaggedbyabouta year,basedon

sande tante amplesf rom1771ascom-

calproblemsassociatedwithenhanced

in1771.

havenotincludeddiecuttingerrors, such

ersedletters,etc.inthe aboveerror

strikeor anoff-center,eachofwhichis

oducesinnumerable identica le amples. This

y edusingentirelydifferentstatistical

employedinthispro ect. A studyof thistype

sis

coinsin TheStudyCollectionarelisted

Y S S :TH E S TU D Y C O L E C T O N

Y S S :TH E R E GA CO L E CT O N

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acticeofcounterfeitingcontinued,

cceptedbymerchantsandtoleratedbycon-

rcoppers continuedbeyondtheGeorge

seriesintotheremainingdecadesof thee ighteenth

onofall typesofcommercialtokensas

nyseries,thelatter beingofevenlighter

e1775counterfeits.10

mtobea simplematterofcareful

newhetherasmallerthanaverageblank

eetstockwas employedinmakingalight

hethicknessofacoin,consideringthe

gn,is notawelldefinedconceptand the

thesameasthediameterof thecoin

t,coinsstruck withoutacollar,astheGeorge

ennyseriesw as, arenotround.

rikingdependsuponthecoindesign,

metalinthe fieldareasofthedesign,where

ther,is pushedradiallyoutwardmorethan

thedevicearea.Ona weaklystruckcoin,

ectinthatthe rollermarksfromthesheet

faceof theblankatthebust areashow

,eventhoughthefieldareasare smoothly

ndesign isconcentriconbothobverse

ithoutacollar arenotround.TheF ugio

concentricdesignsonbothobverseand

thoughstruck withoutacollar.Coins

1770-75ha lfpennyseriesarew iderthantheyare

w iththedatehori onta l, thehori ontal

gerthanitsverticaldiameterby asmuch

becausethefieldareasonboth obverse

ft/rightandthe metalpushesoutmore

onthanitdoes intheverticaldirection.The

ircularitytakesplace dependsuponthe

oinpress andthesoftnessofthe blank,

minedbythecoin sdesign.Thesoftness

dduringcoinproduction.Mechanical

workhardening,fore amplewhiledraw-

ling abarintoa sheet,makesitharder.

dannealing,resoftensit.A barofcopper

timesduringprocessingto makethesheet

punched.Since punchingiseasiertocarry

thesheetis notannealedduringthefinal

rtoblanking.Theblanksare annealedbefore

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I I

o to fWeight, inGra ins, versusV erticalD iameter, inMillimeters,

x amplesdated1775areshownassolid circlesand1770-74

amples,1770-75,areshownassoliddiamonds

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ofW eight,inGrains,versusNoncircularity,inPercent

x amplesdated1775areshownassolid circlesand1770-74

amples,1770-75,areshownassoliddiamonds

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rin ordertohelpassurea well-defined

tak en, lik e inf re uentannea ling, cracks,

wstrikesresultandinferiorcoinsare

othesisthatcounterfeitersusedinferior

ndnaivetechnologiesascomparedtothe

giesusedby theR oya lMint. These

e,butarenotlimited to,inferiorcoin

dandirreproduciblestriking pressureand

duresduringrolling,blanking,andbefore

esislet usconsidertwopairsof correla-

n plotoftheweightofeach coininThe

scorrespondingverticaldiameter,i.e.,

rprisingly,astrong correlationbetweenweight

gfeatureinthis figureisthatthe solidcircles

75, w hiletheopencirclesaree amplesdated

ter1775coins aresmaller.I fcoinerswere

process,producingcoppersheetof

getoedgeor fromsheettosheet,wemight

f thedataandlittlecorrelationbetween

hensmallerdiameterblankcutterswere

ondsinthisfigureshowthe correlation

ameterfora smallcollectionofregale -

ew eightrangeof therega le amplesisnar-

nterfeits,thescatterinthesi eisessen-

ris ameasureofthevariabilityof thepro-

ure implies,amongotherthings,that

ounterfeitersincontrollingtheirrolling

abletothato f theR oya lMint sabil ity to

ies.I assumedinthisanalysisthat the

ools,beinga straightforwardlatheopera-

olledasfaras choosingthediameterof

n plotoftheweightofeach coinagainst

larity.Noncircularityisdefinedasthe

eenthehori ontaldiameterandthever-

aldiameter,e pressedasapercent.Again,

shownasso lidcirclesandthe1770-74e -

circles.W eightandnoncircularityare

htandsi e . Herethescatterisameasure

pressureandadherencetothepractice

orto striking.Thesoliddiamondsinthis

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ofweightversusnoncircularityfor regal

arrowerw eightrangefortherega le amples

atterin noncircularity.Thisimpliesthat

tersto controltheirpressandannealing

otheR oya lMint scontrolo f the irpress

es.Thusthehypothesisthatthe

rproductione uipmentandnaive

notsupportedbye tantcoinsamples.

lightercoinswereintentionallymanufac-

of counterfeitcoinscontinuedthrough

eenthcenturyinwhatappearstobe well-

useofproductiontechnologies.

nterfeitingoperationswerenotnecessarily

attempttoworkwithina specifiedrange

dwhatwouldbeaccepted intocirculation.

chbetterj obinthisr egard,adheringwell

nge,140.9-167.9grain;average153.4

minally28.5mm-30.0mm;average29.1

s thecounterfeitersappeartohavebeen

perhapsasw elle uippedastheR oya lMint.

k,discussingfacsimileGeorgeI I I counterfeit

a lm istak eto j udgeaspecimensole lyonits

eworkmanshipandweightofsomeofthe

goodasthe genuineonesanditis only

of thedesigns thatthespuriouspiece is

plesnotD irectly f romEnglishSources

llinventoryof counterfeite ampleswas

omsourceswithnoknowndirectE nglish

ewordhereisdirect.One wouldliketo

ntlycarefulin sampling,acollectionso

nte amplesofcounterfeitGeorgeI I I

culatedinNewE nglandduringthelate

eenthcenturies.Nodoubtsomee amples

atcategorybutitis notclearwhatfrac-

epresentand thusitwouldbenaive to

ssuch. Thesecoinsaresimplyacollec-

erentsamplingtechni ue;thehistoryof

edasfarbackas practicaltoverifythe

romE nglishsources. Thisstandsincon-

ngtechni ueemployedinassemblingThe

fiedE nglishsources.I talsorepresents

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madifferentpopulationofe tantcoins.

andEnglandtheseco inscirculatedfor

ngland,contemporaryrecordstellusthatat-

ounterfeitcoppersout ofcirculation.

werenotverysuccessfuland,becausecop-

orsmallscale commerce,from1814on-

eedtoacceptat facevaluethe1719-75

unterfeits" ascouldnotbee cluded

' 2I nNorthA mericathesecoppersw ere

coppers.Crosby,indiscussing coppers

tes" Averygreatnumberof piecesin

ence...generallycalledbythenameB irm-

dethereandimportedincasksunderthe

roughtcopper. 13

gacollectionin theU

Documents

Coinage of the American Confederation period : coinage of the Americas Conference at the American Numismatic Society, New York, october 28, 1995 / ed. by Philip L. Mossman