1784 Early American Imitation Half Penny

Coin Details

Description

Part of the broader category of colonial-era counterfeit British halfpennies, this 1784-dated imitation copper documents the widespread practice of producing unauthorized copies of British coinage to address the severe copper coin shortage in post-Revolutionary America. Thomas Machin, an engineer for the Continental Army who had built fortifications in the Highlands and laid the chain across the Hudson at West Point, set up a works on Machin's Pond near Newburgh, New York, that Crosby says opened in 1787 with coining copper as its main purpose; its machinery was taken out in 1792, and its work was done in secret. The pieces on these pages imitate the British halfpenny of George III with dates from 1747 to 1788, and NGC files them as Machin's Mills and related pieces; Vlack's die numbers are the standard reference.