1797 Penny

Obverse of 1797 Penny

Reverse of 1797 Penny

Throughout much of George III's reign, Britain suffered from an acute shortage of small change. The Royal Mint was unable or unwilling to mint base coins after 1775, due to either incompetance, decrepit machinery, official indifference or a combination of all three. Forgery became a serious problem, and it was believed at one point that there were more counterfeit half-pennies in circulation than genuine ones! Exasperated merchants eventually resorted to taking matters into their own hands by striking or commissioning their own tokens to circulate in place of the discredited and meagre supply of regal issues.

Amongst these token manufacturers was a Birmingham industrial magnate named Matthew Boulton. Boulton had for years lobbied against the scourge of coin shortages and counterfeiting, and had in his role as a magistrate taken a particular interest in going after counterfeiters in his native city. It was a particular source of shame for Matthew Boulton that Birmingham was the centre of the illegal counterfeiting industry, and he considered his efforts to diminish counterfeiting as a matter of honour as well as a business opportunity. With several years of experiance minting tokens under his belt, and with revolutionary coin manufacturing technology which he and his business partner, the legendary James Watt, had developed and perfected throughout the 1780s and 90s, Boulton campaigned to have the government award him a contract to strike legal-tender copper regal issues. Eventually, Boulton's efforts were rewarded and he was awarded a contract to provide official coinage in the form of pennies and two pence pieces, weighing 1 and 2 ounces respectively, with a face value that closely matched their intrinsic worth in pure copper. Boulton and Watt's revolutionary machinery could produce these high-quality coins much more efficiently, profitably and to a higher standard of workmanship than that which the Royal Mint's decrepit equipment was capable of. The quality of the striking and the closely matched intrinsic worth made them extremely difficult for counterfeiters to forge. However, the widespread hoarding of these beautiful coins, in addition to a price rise in copper which made their intrinsic worth higher than their face value, limited their success as a circulating medium. Nevertheless, these coins are one of the most important issues in world numismatic history, as they were the first official coins produced using modern industrial methods, pioneered by a man regarded by many numismatists as the father of modern coinage, Matthew Boulton F.R.S .

Obverse
Bust of George III facing right
GEORGIUS III D G REX
1797

Reverse
The reverse features Britannia, seated left, holding a branch and trident, holding out an olive branch.
The legend reads:-
BRITANNIA

Prices & Availability

Date	Description	Grade	Availability	Price £	Price $
1797	10 Leaves in Wreath	EF (mint lustre)	Sold	£395	$610
1797	10 Leaves in Wreath	gFine	Sold	£25	$40

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