Cartwheel Pennies

[handyman [Alan}]

enjoying the evening sunshine i sat down and read a coin book printed in the mid 60s. enjoy this article from it.

Cartwheel Pennies

Between 1770 and the end of the century the practice of counterfeiting became so prevalent in England that scarcely any genuine British copper coins remained in circulation. The 1770 – 1775 issue was melted in huge quantities and made into lightweight counterfeit coins; the only other pieces in circulation were the merchants’ tokens issued by private firms.

It was during this period that Matthew Boulton offered a solution to the problem by proposing that
a.   each coin should contain its intrinsic value of metal,
b.   a retaining collar should be used to maintain a constant diameter, and
c.   a broad raised rim should be used to save the coin from undue wear.

On June 9th 1797, the government signed a contract with Boulton providing for the coinage of 20 tons of twopences and 480 tons of pennies. The coins were made current on July 26th, 1797, and the one penny piece was to weigh one ounce avoirdupois and correspond as nearly as possible to its nominal value.

They were to be legal tender up to one shilling. A total of £310,885 worth of pennies were coined between  1797 and 1807 by Boulton at the Soho mint. Conrad H Kuchler was the designer. The unique piece dated 1808 was formerly in the Boulton estate.

Source
‘A guide book of English Coins’ K.E Bressett, 7th edition.


cheers

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

Nice Handyman , a wealth of knowledge there.

Heres one which was blank   cleaned in Rumbler though the front i finished with oil and light brillo pad

[geordiefred]

Interesting article Alan well done, & nice coin Kev