Hi Mike, just catching up after getting home from holiday, sorry for delay replying. Guess where we were staying?
I'm sure I have come across several bronzed current pieces. Like Peck, I haven't got too excited about them. If you read his pages 206/7 (under George III), and then Page 405 (Victoria) where you will see that he says Victorian "current pieces subsequently bronzed to resemble proofs are not uncommon". Half way down Page 405 he then describes "specious bronze patina", and I am sure that most Victorian 'Young Head' penny collectors will have noticed the 'patchy' type of coin which he describes within their own collections.
I'm pretty sure that the reason why he doesn't bother to categorise them with separate reference numbers is that he didn't consider them anything special, just copper pieces treated post-mint. I think this is why he has simply added a footnote at the bottom of his Page 407 list.
Specious means "misleading in appearance, especially misleadingly attractive".
This increased attractiveness was probably a good little earner, particularly if the treated coins could then be passed off as genuine bronzed proofs.
Personally I don't think it's worth spending a lot of time searching for bronzed current coins.
It does help to have an 1839 penny to see the clear differences.