Great Britain 1748 half penny
This specimen was lot 2380 in Jean Elsen sale 160 (Brussels, November 2024), where it sold for €100 (about US$127 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"GRANDE-BRETAGNE, Georges II (1727-1760), AV halfpenny, 1748. D/ B. l. et cuir. à g. R/ Britannia assise à g., ten. un rameau et un sceptre. Très Beau à Superbe. (Great Britain, George II, 1727-60, gold [sic] half penny of 1748. Obverse: laureate and armored bust left; reverse: Britannia seated left, holding a branch and a scepter. Very fine to extremely fine.)"
This type is listed for 1746-54 and is fairly common in worn condition. The previous type (KM 579.1) of 1740-45 had the king's name spelled "GEORGIUS". 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 but a better date.
Specification: 9.86 g, copper, 28 mm diameter, this specimen 10,02 g.
Catalog reference: KM 579.2, S. 3719.
- Freeman, Michael J., The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain, Rev. Ed., London: Spink & Son, 2006.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- Peck, C. Wilson, English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum, 1558-1958, 2nd Ed., London: Oxford University Press, 1970.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 160, Collection de deniers liegeois et Collection de monnaies d'or francaises, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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