Great Britain 1745 half penny
This specimen was lot 75616 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $576. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Penny, 1745. London Mint. George II. PCGS MS-63 Brown. From the Richard August Collection." This third bust of George II was used on the half penny 1740-54. It is the most common type for George II. This type of 1740-45 had the king's name spelled "GEORGIUS"; the subsequent type (KM 579.2) had the king's name spelled "GEORGIVS". In the eighteenth century, farthings and half pence were the only copper denominations, the penny was still struck in silver. The mint did not produce near enough small change for the industrial boom of the eighteenth century, leading to a proliferation of private tokens. The situation would not be rectified until the reform of 1817.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 9.86 g, copper, 28 mm diameter, plain edge.
Catalog reference: S-3718; KM-579.1.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- Freeman, Michael J., The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain, Rev. Ed., London: Spink & Son, 2006.
- Peck, C. Wilson, English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum, 1558-1958, 2nd Ed., London: Oxford University Press, 1970.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, including Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection and Selections from the L.E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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