Hammered Pennies

[Geordie582]

It has puzzled me for some time that while you find many hammered pennies with 'proof' or 'test' cuts made during their circulation, it appears that the mutilated penny was, seemingly, still acceptable even though the coin was worth less than its face value! Anyone any thoughts?

[Sylvester]

I had one of those somewhere!

[scottishmoney]

The metal these coins were struck on is not the best, I believe they broke quite frequently. I have more than a few of these myself.

[Geordie582]

I don't think it's a case of breaking, as the repeat of the same amount removed, but in different places around the coins, would seem to show deliberate intention. Different areas show different shapes to the cut, semi-circles, 'V' cuts, square cuts, etc. There are notes of testing coins in a number of publications and I have no problem with the need to prove a coin is not a base metal 'silvered' forgery, but it's the acceptance of the coin in later transactions that bothers me!

[Sylvester]

I can't decide on this;

Could be chipped off but looks a bit too neat, like it's been cut off.

Geordie have you some weighing apparatus? Are they underweight or correct weight? (That's not as daft as it sounds). Do all the cut ones weigh roughly the same?

[Geordie582]

My digital scale is only accurate to 0.1 grams so is no great shakes to detect that small a discrepency.

[Chris Perkins]

Wanna do a deal on a 0.01g scale? I get them from the factory here in Merry old Deutschland.

[Geordie582]

Hm! Another coin or another scale.................No contest. I'll stick with this one!

[scottishmoney]

I can't decide on this;

Could be chipped off but looks a bit too neat, like it's been cut off.

Geordie have you some weighing apparatus? Are they underweight or correct weight? (That's not as daft as it sounds). Do all the cut ones weigh roughly the same?

Notice however that it broke off right at the beading, which given that the metal changes flow there, would account for the more even break. BTW nice Bristol penny, I wish I still had the one I owned.

Edited October 13, 2006 by scottishmoney

[Geordie582]

The first is an obvious break, but the second doesnt fit any of the criterion. Break or cut?

Edited October 13, 2006 by Geordie582

[scottishmoney]

Kind of makes you wonder if they were performing medieval torture on these coins, perhaps putting them in the 14th century equivalent of the rack. Or maybe they took the evil from them by breaking them?

[Geordie582]

I can't answer that! but I do know that hammered pennies that have holes in them(for suspension not the deface kind) are usually for wearing as touch pieces against the malady of Scrofula (the King's disease)

Defacing was common to readily identify esterlings that may be of inferior metal (Below:- the first as touch peice, the second defaced.)

[TomGoodheart]

A central hole in later hammered coins is also evidence that the coin was 'withdrawn' during recoinage (normally that during the reign of William III). In theory the coins were the supposed to be melted down and recoined but many seemed to escape the fate.

[Sylvester]

I think Tom has a point there. I was going to make a comment about the fact that a hole in the coin in the centre is pretty pointless from a hanging round neck perspective.

However, quite useful for withdrawal purposes.