1812 1/6 Bank Token

[Gary]

I recently acquired my first 18 Pence Bank token but I am having problems with it!

This is the first time I have had one of these in my hand and it just does not seem right.

The colour is that of white metal

The weight is 7.33g which is about right.

26.89mm in Diameter.

1.71mm Thick.

Are there recent forgeries of these and how can they be recognised?

I have ringed a few notable features that I have noticed, just in front of the eye there is an elongated protrusion.

On the bottom of the bust is a raised Dot. Also the hair detail seems to be different to other pics that I have seen.

On the Rev just below the 2 there is a raised Dot and in the field below the N is a tiny raised Dot.

Anyone?

[DaveG38]

I recently acquired my first 18 Pence Bank token but I am having problems with it!

This is the first time I have had one of these in my hand and it just does not seem right.

The colour is that of white metal

The weight is 7.33g which is about right.

26.89mm in Diameter.

1.71mm Thick.

Are there recent forgeries of these and how can they be recognised?

I have ringed a few notable features that I have noticed, just in front of the eye there is an elongated protrusion.

On the bottom of the bust is a raised Dot. Also the hair detail seems to be different to other pics that I have seen.

On the Rev just below the 2 there is a raised Dot and in the field below the N is a tiny raised Dot.

Anyone?

These are a lower grade of silver than sterling, which probably accounts for the colour/texture of the finish. I wouldn't be particularly worried about the odd surface blemishes, but I must say the hair curl that you highlighted is a bit odd as it seems much more exaggerated than it should be. Add to this the fact that the coin appears to have been cleaned quite harshly and I can see why you might be concerned.

Edited March 16, 2013 by DaveG38

[Rob]

The hair curl might be due to die polishing. The two that I have listed are 1812 and 1814. The first shows a full head, but the later coin shows a similar feature albeit not as accentuated. On the full head, the hair to the left of this curl is in lower relief.

There are quite a lot of gren spots on your coin. Is it plated copper?

Edited March 16, 2013 by Rob

[Gary]

The hair curl might be due to die polishing. The two that I have listed are 1812 and 1814. The first shows a full head, but the later coin shows a similar feature albeit not as accentuated. On the full head, the hair to the left of this curl is in lower relief.

There are quite a lot of gren spots on your coin. Is it plated copper?

No Rob it is not silver plated and please don't ask how I found that out!

Dave said that these were struck using a lower grade of silver than sterling which could mean that a small amount of copper or bronze was mixed with the silver which would account for the green spots but I can find no mention of this in any publications.

Does anyone have any info on the metal composition for this series?