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III Forgeries Part 2 >>
George III Forgeries
It is generally well documented that forgery was
very big business during the reign of George III (1760 - 1820). With shortages
of small change and of most silver denominations there was a massive demand for
coins, and the forgers just filled this void. Arguably, the forgers probably
made it possible for smaller transactions to take place and provided a well
needed service, although at the expense of the treasury!
It is thought that during certain times of the
reign a very high proportion of the coins in your pocket were probably not
genuine. Around 40% of the forged coins I have collected are from this period
and I nearly have a full type set (one coin for each denomination) of George III
forged coins. Below I have illustrated some of them:
Forged George III, 6 Shillings Irish Bank
token.
The first is not a British coin and is in fact a
large Six Shilling Irish bank token. I have included it here because it is fine
example of a forgery and at that time the whole of Ireland was part of the
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
I've never seen the genuine article but believe
at 41mm in diameter it's a little smaller than the real thing. It is weighty and
if it wasn't for the darker, black metal showing through the worn parts it would
have been a very convincing fake! It's dated 1804 as that was in fact the only
date with which the real ones were struck. I could speculate that because of the
quality of this piece that it was made in recent years to fool collectors, but
with the amount of worn away 'silver' plating on the coin I believe it is most
likely a contemporary example aimed at fooling the rich people of early 19th
Century Ireland (It's highly unlikely poorer people would ever have seen it as 6
shillings was a lot or money!).
As a point of interest where the silvering is
completely intact you can clearly see that when the copy was made it would of
started life with a worn appearance.
Forged George III, 3 Shillings (English) Bank
token.
Another bank token, although it would have
circulated as a normal coin at the time. A Three shilling denomination dated
1812 from the Bank of England. The real thing would have been silver and it is
quite evident from the image that this coin is somewhat brassy. Although weakly
struck the quality is not bad, as is the weight and size. I have two of these
and this is the best one, the other is dated 1815 and quite crude in comparison.
Forged George III Half Crown
I have a number of George III Half crowns
indicating it was probably a popular coin for forgers. This is one of the better
ones with much original thin silvering. It's a fraction of a millimeter smaller
in diameter and thickness than the real thing but the quality, especially of the
bust is superb. This one is dated 1820.
Forged George III Shilling
I have several of these George III fake shillings
and a few sixpences of similar quality. This is the best shilling example with
most of the original silvering remaining. It's very convincing now and would
have probably been undetectable without scratching the silvering of in 1819! In
comparison with a real one it would seem this coin was either struck in inferior
metal with the original (stolen) Royal mint dies or copied by a very very
talented engraver. The artistic aspects of this coin are parallel with the
original and there are no differences whatsoever with the quality and
positioning of the design elements. Well done that forger!
Next, George
III Forgeries Part 2 >>
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