George III 1788 Pattern Halfpenny

George III (1760-1820), Pattern bronzed copper Halfpenny, 1788, restrike by W J Taylor after J P Droz, long haired laureate head right, D.F. raised on truncation, eagle head below, legend with diamond shape stops and toothed border surrounding with raised rim, GEORGIUS III. D. G. REX. rev. inverted die axis, Britannia seated left on globe with shield, holding laurel wreath and spear, raised D by globe, paddle crossing with palm branch in exergue, Latin legend and date surrounding with pierced diamond stops, BRITANNNIA. 1788., toothed border surrounding, edge plain, weight 13.41g (Peck 1003 Restrike 18). A few tiny black specks and flecks, otherwise toned, practically as struck and rare.

The Latin legends translate as on obverse "George the Third, by the grace of God, King" and on the reverse "of Britain, 1788." The D.F. on the truncation is for the original designer from whom this restrike was produced Jean-Pierre Droz, and in full should read "Droz Fecit" meaning "Made by Droz." D for Droz also appears on the reverse by the globe.

The Victorian coin dealer William Joseph Taylor (1802-85) trading in London from 1829, purchased many dies at the Soho Mint sale by Fuller and Horsey in April-May 1850, the Mint having closed in 1848. Having restored many of the dies Taylor pressed them back into service producing restrikes of Soho coins for collectors as well as repairing some of the more broken dies to make some new designs of his own. C Wilson Peck attempted to class the Restrikes separately from the original Soho pieces in his publication, and Appendix 10 of his book gives a transcript of one consignment of such restrikes including 49 1788 Halfpennies of two varieties from his address at 70 Red Lion Street on 29^th June 1880.

Provenance:

Ex Property of a Gentleman, Spink Coin Auction 20, 31^st March 1982, lot 403.

Ex Herman Selig Collection, part II, Coins of George III, Spink Coin Auction 131, 2^nd March 1999, lot 1348.