1785 Contemporary Imitation Halfpenny. George III English Type. Newman 52-85D. Very Fine.116.5 grains. A very rare die combination, not listed in the original 1988 Newman article but announced in Anton and Kesses 1990 <em>Forgotten Coins of the North American Colonies</em> as their number 25. It was missing from both the Ringo and Newman Collections, and the only other example to have come to numismatic auction market is the piece we sold in our November 2019 Baltimore Auction that was decidedly sharper than Syds but with some green pits on the reverse; the Anton specimen is a bit sharper than this Syds, which is glossy golden brown with a light iridescence and an old hit between III and REX. An important coin for a collector looking to amass all ten die marriages of 1785 halfpence currently known.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier pedigree not recorded.
