| For some 20 years now I have collected Canadian colonial tokens. Among these tokens were copper and brass imitations of British and Irish halfpence known as Tiffen tokens dated 1812(Breton 960-1) and Bust & Harp tokens dated 1820(Breton 1012) and the undated Candian Blacksmith Coppers. Soon enough I was collecting actual English and Irish counterfeit copper halfpence and farthings of Kings George II and III. These are a largely neglected group of copper tokens that saw extensive circulation in colonial Canada. The publishing of "Forgotton Coins Of The North American Colonies" in 1992 by Willian T. Anton and Bruce Kesse has served to spark interest in this fascinating topic. Collecting of these humble coppers has advanced to the point where recently a British made counterfeit halfpenny sold for some US$2000.00. One doesn't have to venture far into Canadian numismatic literature concerning colonial times before hearing stories of cheap underweight coppers making their way to the colony while any good sterling coin left as taxes payable to the King in Britain. The present topic is perhaps one of the most understudied in all of Canadian numismatic literature. What type of silver coin was used by the colonists forced to use halfpence sometimes only a third the nominal weight of regal coppers in Britain? The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins reports usage of silver coins from all the likely suspects as France, Great Britain, Spain, Spanish America, the former Spanish Colonies and of course the United States. But if the colonists were forced to accept such extremely sub standard copper in daily trade is it likely the next step in fleecing these hardy folk would be passing them full weight fine silver coin as mentioned in Charlton? A more likely scenario is that the average residents of Canada during the colonial period were, in addition to copper, having cheap inferior silver coin foisted on them. This came in the form of good silver certainly, but only the most worn flat, damaged and holed to be found. Apart from the available "good silver", the colonists were awash in counterfeit silver coins from many sources. The prime source during British colonial rule in Canada was logically Britain itself. Coins have always been counterfeited but the efforts of Mathew Boulton and James Watt during the Industrial Revolution left early 19th century Britain with many private mints any one of which was capable of producing high quality silver coin counterfeits. And so, they were produced and at every opportunity dumped in hapless colonial Canada. I am speaking certainly of counterfeits of the British coinage boom that occurred in the decades immediately preceding the death of King George III in 1820. Prior to this, fiscal situations precluded the production of almost any silver coin at the Royal Mint for many decades. In 1797 the Bank of England issued crown size tokens in the form of Spanish dollars or 8 reales pieces countermarked with a small oval punch bearing the likeness of King George III. This mark was to raise the value of the eight reales piece to ensure the coin wouldn't leave Britain. Some of the punches went astray and many genuine Spanish dollars were countermarked without Bank of England sanction. In addition many entire Spanish dollars were counterfeited and stamped with either genuine or bogus punches. The Bank of England itself may have counterstamped some of the best counterfeit Spanish dollars in circulation at the time. What a mess! This had to be fixed. The 1797 oval countermarked dollars were recalled and the decision made to redeem any genuine dollars without regard to the origin of the countermark. In 1804 more Spanish dollars were countermarked, this time with a larger octagonal punch bearing the exact likeness of George III found on the current Maundy pennies. This easy reference and tighter control on distribution of the octagonal mark punches was to solve the problem. This was not to be. As fast as they were released to the public it seemed new counterfeits surfaced. Another recall ensued. At this point Mathew Boulton, owner of the Soho Mint produced complete dies for the 1804 Bank of England 5 Shillings or Dollar token and it's Irish counterpart, the Bank of Ireland 6 Shillings token. These were followed with other issues from one bank or the other in the years 1805, 1806, 1808, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815 and 1816. The counterfeiting never stopped. Another change in fiscal policy produced actual coin of the realm in the form of sixpence, shilling and half crown denominations for the years 1816 - 1820. The counterfeiting continued unabated. As interesting as are the circumstances surrounding the British counterfeiting boom of 1797 through 1820 the present report makes no assumptions about presenting an accurate picture of them. This has been covered well elsewhere. Presented here is a simple survey of my collection of these counterfeit coins. I have casually interviewed a few Canada colonial token collectors who seem to accept without much question the existence of these plated brass and copper tokens and coins but express little insight otherwise. Many people do not realize these are counterfeits and sell them as genuine or as patterns or off metal mint errors and more often recently as forgeries. The coins, lacking a denomination, I have seen many times proffered as medals. I am hoping here to shed a little light on the topic that has previously lurked quietly in the shadows. By and large these imitation tokens and coins are well struck on high quality brass and copper planchets with various thickness and quality of "silver" plating ranging from a possible simple mercury dip to high quality sterling Sheffield plate of significant gauge. Notably many of the smaller Bank of Ireland pieces seem to have been cast as opposed to struck and as well are for the most part much scarcer than their English counterparts. It is the English pieces that compose the large bulk of what remains for study today. In general the smaller denomination pieces have lesser quality or simply thinner plating with the heavy Sheffield type plating being found usually on the largest coins. An in depth study of manufacturing methods and varieties of these most interesting pieces must wait for another time. I present this survey of my "accumulation" as I approach a new phase in the collection of these most interesting tokens. To this point I have bought virtually every piece I have seen for sale. It is only recently I have started sorting most of the collection into distinct varieties and tried to demonstrate differences. Again recently I have decided to pass on purchasing specimens that are not an upgrade or new to me. The following then should present as close as possible to a random type and date selection of what may remain of these curious issues. I have neglected to purchase or mention to this point specimens that are in so poor condition that a date and variety designation would not be possible. I feel the ravages of time being as random as any influence make this slight omission reasonable. I am always interested in correspondence on the topic of these private silver issue copies. |
| Counterfeit British Silver Tokens and Coins of George III Circulating in Colonial Canada |
| by Gord Nichols |