1773 Contemporary Counterfeit Halfpenny. George III English Type. Crude American (Ringo) Family. Dies 30-73C. Very Fine.142.3 grains. As Mike Ringo studied the counterfeit halfpenny series, he developed a broad family based on crudity and other shared characteristics that he felt were of American manufacture. Though probably not of American origin, several in this family are quite distinctive, such as this coin, which shows solid, if very wide, lines in the Union Jack; what had probably caught Mikes attention was the similarity to the solid, if narrower, shield lines found on Machins Mills halfpence. The Ringo specimens were featured as lots 5886 and 5887 in our (Stacks) January 2008 auction of his collection.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Bobs Coins, 1996.
