http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk JANUARY 2016 123then William III, and finally to
Queen Anne. Obverses altered with
every new ruler; but Britannia’s pose
and features remained stubbornly
unaltered, an assurance to poor folk
that the coppers they accepted as
change were English and genuine.
During the 18th century Britain’s
transition from an agricultural to
an industrial economy quickened,
increasing the need for low
denomination coins as small change.
Unfortunately the Royal Mint’s
copper output never matched
demand, thus providing ideal
conditions for counterfeiters to
flourish. In the reign of George II
(1727-1760) it was calculated that
at least one in five halfpence and
farthings in circulation had been
made beyond the walls of the Royal
Mint because earlier laws protecting
the crown’s monopoly on gold and
silver currency had overlooked base
metals. Belatedly, in 1751 the specific
crime of issuing base halfpence and
farthings was added to an earlier
law against counterfeiting gold and
silver money. The wording of the new
clause ran: If any person shall make,
coin or counterfeit any brass or
copper money called a halfpenny or a
farthing, such offender and his aiders
and abettors shall, on conviction,
suffer two years imprisonment. For
the encouragement of persons to
discover and bring such offenders to
justice, a reward of £10 shall be given
for every conviction.
The counterfeiters spotted at
once that the amended Act referred
only to coins of the realm. It made
no mention of tokens. If the false
die makers could imitate copper
halfpence and farthings, engraving
them with an obverse bust that
looked regal, and a reverse figure
in a pose not much different from
that of Britannia holding her spear
and shield, they might avoid the
consequences of conviction for
forgery and earn handsome profits
from their underweight tokens. Thus
was born what became known as
evasion money.
Picture the scene: a rowdy
Georgian tavern on the quayside
of a bustling seaport. A sailor calls
for a pot of rum and tosses down
what looks like a halfpenny on the
bar. The sharp-eyed landlord spotsthat it’s not a coin but a copper
token carrying the reverse legend
‘BRITANNIA ISLES’ around a seated
figure holding what might be a spear.
He picks up the piece, registering its
light weight between his fingers; and
when he turns it over the inscription
around the male bust reads ‘PITT
FOREVER’. He could thrust it back
into the sailor’s hand, refuse the sale
and risk a flying fist. Or he could
accept the payment and, while the
sailor’s eyes are on a barmaid’s ample
bosom, add a few slops of water to
the pot before pouring the rum. He
has probably covered the expense of
accepting a lightweight token, which
he will no doubt give back in change
to the next customer who proffers a
silver sixpence. Thus the potentialloss from an evasion piece was
handed on until the transaction was
refused, whereupon the loss fell on
the last person holding it.
George III’s Cartwheel penny of
1797, with its full weight of one
pennyworth of pure copper, soon
swept lightweight evasion money
makers out of business. The new
coins had a reverse showing Britannia
seated for the first time amid waves.
She faced left, held her laurel branch,
and now carried a trident in place of
a spear. A sailing ship also featured
in the left background; and the mint-
mark ‘SOHO’ was placed below her
shield in reference to the Soho Mint,
Birmingham where the new coppers
were struck. Alas, cartwheel pennies
proved too unwieldy; a shilling’sBRITANNIA ON BRITISH COINS
There was never enough small change to meet public need in
Georgian times. This George I copper farthing of 1717 would
have passed through thousands of hands before it was eventually
lost in the river Thames... and turned up as a detectorist’s
find almost 300 years later. Britannia has come through it all
remarkably wellThis George II copper halfpenny of 1744 was lost in Scotland
not far from the site of the Battle of Culloden. Britannia as a
symbol helped to unite Britain in the post-Jacobite yearsBy the time this George III farthing and halfpenny were struck at the Royal Mint shortages of small change had allowed counterfeiters
to off-load their evasion money on the poorp122 Tails.indd 123 23/11/2015 14:49