1775 Contemporary Imitation Halfpenny Muling. George III Irish obverse of 1775-82, George III-era English Reverse. Crude Extremely Fine.134.2 grains. One of the highlights of our January 2008 Sale of the Michael K. Ringo Collection, where it brought $2300 and was described as:<p>A joyously amateurish hand-engraved counterfeit that mules mismatched but equally crude dies. Rich glossy chocolate brown with tan devices. Oriented in near perfect medal turn. Mikes envelope asks struck on cast flan?, likely because of the many fine old scratches hidden at centers but visible under a glass. Apparent file marks on the rim support Mikes thesis which, like most of his envelope commentary, appears to be correct. The obverse shows a crudely engraved outline of Georges bust with added hair, ribbon, laurel, and large curl of individual curved graver strokes that sits on and under the bust truncation. GEORGIVS III is plain, REX is not seen. Only NIA is visible of the reverse legend, and it seems more than possible that was all that was rendered into the die. A fine curved guide line is seen below it. The seated Britannia is delightfully crude and the Union Jack almost seems plaid. The 1775 date is bold. A showpiece, one of the neatest Irish/English mulings weve seen.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Robert Vlack; our (Stacks) sale of the Michael K. Ringo Collection, January 2008 Americana Sale, lot 5988.
