The Complete Guide to
British Colonial
Three Halfpence
by
C of VICTORIA over smaller C. Large G of D:G:.
In date low relief 4 above 8's baseline. 2 below 4 & 8's baselines. The 2 of thefraction was repaired with the smaller 2, used for the date, also double struck bar. With or w/o die crack[s] from dentil to leave at 5 o'clock and from dentil to berry at 10 o'clock.
C of VICTORIA over smaller C. Large G of D:G:.
In date 2 above 4's baseline. Double struck neck of 2 in date.
The 2 of the fraction was repaired with the smaller 2, used for the date, also double struck bar. With or w/o die crack from dentil to crown at 11 o'clock.
C of VICTORIA over smaller C. Large G of D:G:
In date smaller 1 above 8's baseline. 4 below 8 & 2's baselines. Double struck 1 of fraction. The 2 of the fraction was repaired with the smaller 2, used for the date, also double struck bar.
Δ Variery discovered by William Pugsley of Alton, Hampshire, U.K. in May 2010.
C of VICTORIA over smaller C. Large G of D:G:.
In date, smaller 42. 4 above 8's baseline. 2 below 4's baseline. The 2 of the fraction was repaired with the smaller 2, used for the date, also double struck bar. With or w/o die crack[s] from dentil to crown, from dentil to leave at 10 o'clock & from dentil through ribbon, brach, field and number 8.
Δ Variery discovered by William Pugsley of Alton, Hampshire, U.K. in June 2010.
C of VICTORIA over smaller C. Large G of D:G:.
In date 4 below 8's baseline. 2 below 4's baseline. The 2 of the fraction was repaired with the smaller 2, used for the date, also double struck bar. With or w/o die crack[s] from dentil to crown at 1 o'clock, from dentil to leave at 2 & 10 o'clock.
Δ Plate coin's reverse, was obviously struck with a die that was in a very-late-die-state where several cracks, clash marks and planchet flaws dominate the surface before it was completely unusable.
C of VICTORIA over smaller C. Large G of D:G:.
In date, smaller 1 below 8's baseline. 4 above 8 & 2's baselines. The 2 of the fraction was repaired with the smaller 2, used for the date, also double struck bar.
Many authors take for granted the information published in the account rendered by W.H.Barton, Deputy Comptroller of the coinages in silver executed at the Royal Mint from January 1st, 1816, to December 31st, 1847.
They were assuming theoretically the figures to be misplaced, the data from 1843 and 1844 corresponds to the coins dated 1842 and 1843 respectively, but I have a different hypothesis.
In such report, no official mintage figures are given for the coins bearing the date 1842, so it is likely that the figure for 1843 would have included approximately £1,000 [160,000 pieces] worth of those coins. I support this, relying on the scarcity of the coin dated 1842, which is a very similar pattern to that of the 1½ pence dated 1836, 1841 and 1860, which mintage figures were from 158,400 to 158,896 pieces in each year.
In short, the final figure of coins struck dated 1843 was perhaps about 2.184,000 pieces or equals 37% of the total production of 1½ pence, thus balance the facts:
1 — It is a single date in the series, extremely common, which represents over one-half of the surviving specimens in today's market.
2 — With a mintage figure less than 500,000 pieces for that year, according to the report, is rather doubtful because is very little compared with the number of dies known used for its minting.
However, I am reserving judgment on this topic.
In the other hand, many collectors claim the existence of a 1842 1½ pence with a normal punch 2 in fraction. I personally examine several examples of this coin since 2007, and every single coin's reverse turns out the 2 of the fraction has been repaired with the wrong punch, using the smaller 2 that was prepared for the date. If such coin exist, it's the rarest of all 1842 varieties, being unique or a few in existence.
