Stamped marks on a silver 1776 Penny?

[coyner]

Hello,

Thanks for a great Website on coin collecting. Very much a beginner and finding my way.

I have this little coin, dated 1776 but I know little about it. I love it, even though it's too damn small for my eyes to see it without magnification.

Anyone advise what the little stamp marking are? When was this done? They must have been able to make unbelievably small tools to do that..

Any value to this coin? I wonder what it would have bought in 1776?

[Peckris]

Hello,

Thanks for a great Website on coin collecting. Very much a beginner and finding my way.

I have this little coin, dated 1776 but I know little about it. I love it, even though it's too damn small for my eyes to see it without magnification.

Anyone advise what the little stamp marking are? When was this done? They must have been able to make unbelievably small tools to do that..

Any value to this coin? I wonder what it would have bought in 1776?

It's been engraved post-production - possibly a love token. One of our members here, Debbie, is very interested in such things, and hopefully she will see this topic.

[scott]

would add no value, but the fact it looks like it is 1776/5 might.

[Rob]

would add no value, but the fact it looks like it is 1776/5 might.

Doubt it. The whole early small change field is littered with unrecorded overdates/legend errors etc. It is highly likely that the die in use at the end of the calendar year was overcut and continued being used the following year. The chance of a die becoming unserviceable on New Year's Eve is low, but not impossible. The only reason they are unrecorded is because no one has bothered to do the research. There's a task for someone, including those with shallow pockets given most years struck can be obtained in UNC for less than £100.

[TomGoodheart]

Any value to this coin? I wonder what it would have bought in 1776?

Well, obviously there's the romantic (particularly for Americans) value of a coin dated 1776. As for worth, well, you'd still have been able to buy a loaf of bread with it (a pennyloaf in fact!), though by that date it would have been poorer quality. A proper meal would cost you about a shilling.

[Peckris]

Any value to this coin? I wonder what it would have bought in 1776?

Well, obviously there's the romantic (particularly for Americans) value of a coin dated 1776. As for worth, well, you'd still have been able to buy a loaf of bread with it (a pennyloaf in fact!), though by that date it would have been poorer quality. A proper meal would cost you about a shilling.

As much as that? We must be talking about fat cats then, because I'd guess a shilling would keep one of the working classes in food for a week!

Edited May 28, 2013 by Peckris

[Debbie]

Yes it could well be a love token made by one to give to another commonly to mark a “hatch, match or dispatch†situation. The engraving is quite crude and could’ve been done many years after the date on the coin. I agree with Tom that it could be of interest to American collectors as it is identifiable as an early British coin. Letters drawn the wrong way round and spelling mistakes are not unusual.

[coyner]

Many thanks for the fascinating replies.

I forgot to add, it came over from the USA, a fleabay scrap coin purchase from a few tears ago.

Back then, the Taxman didn't hammer me for Import Fees like he does now...

Cost me about 10 quid for this and a passel of other old coins.

[HistoricCoinage]

I forgot to add, it came over from the USA, a fleabay scrap coin purchase from a few tears ago.

Back then, the Taxman didn't hammer me for Import Fees like he does now...

With import duty I can understand that a few tears have been shed.

[Generic Lad]

I'd imagine that if you promoted the 1776 date enough you'd be able to find a buyer in the US who'd buy it for the date alone for more than someone who collects UK coins would buy it for a year/type example.