1766 (?) Contemporary Counterfeit Halfpenny. George III Irish Type—Double Struck—Very Fine.81.6 grains. An absolute puzzler, a coin that will make your brain hurt in the process of unraveling its mysteries. What is clear about this coin is that is from utterly crude and jumbled dies, multiply and unevenly struck on a thin flan, and uniformly dark and porous-three factors that make this coin difficult to interpret. We see at least two strikes that are on center, but with about a quarter turn between them, jumbling the legends. What is visible of the legends appear to be GEO III REX, the letters GE each rotated by 180 degrees, and the letters REX are not clear enough to be definitive. The reverse seems to read H…NIA, with the legend probably starting around the 3 oclock position and running counterclockwise rather than starting at 9:00 and running clockwise! The date apparently reads 9971 from left to right, with the 7 retrograde; we can only assume the engraver intended this to be 1766, having engraved the 7 backwards and the 66 upside down! Not enough of the harp remains to be descriptive, but elements of the crown, angel, frame and strings are visible. The obverse effigy is similarly incomplete, but the chin and two lips are clearly visible and essentially the same size, and the long thing nose hangs down like that of Gonzo of the Muppets. The ribbon ends appear more like crosses than ribbons. Syd thought that this coin was probably unique. As amazing as that would be, we hope someone comes forward with an example that is not multiply struck so that we can decipher what this amazingly crude die pairing looked like when it first fell from the dies in the late 18th century.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex John Kraljevich, 2013.
