1794 Contemporary Imitation Halfpenny. George III English Type. AK-24. Choice Extremely Fine.98.3 grains. One of the keys to a date set of counterfeit halfpennies, with 3 die pairings we know of sharing the same reverse die: 2 of George III, and a mule with a George II obverse. Glossy, deep mahogany brown surfaces show little wear and are free of distractions. The strike is soft but well centered, the fields wavy as a result of worn and damaged dies, the flan not large enough to accommodate the fullness of the 1794 date, and the centers undefined due to a lack of sufficient metal to fill the recesses of the die, which may not have had much central detail to begin. We have only seen one example of this issue with a full date: the fantastic Ringo Collection specimen sold in 2008 that was cleaned long ago. This is one of the finest of this date we can recall handling, and may be one of the finest known; it will undoubtedly find a welcome home in an advanced collection in the counterfeit series.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Steve Frank, November 2010.
