I Thought I Had a George III 2 Pence – It Was a Penny!

I was sorting through some family heirlooms recently when I came across an old coin that had me absolutely convinced I’d found a George III two pence. Boy, was I in for a surprise! What followed taught me more about coin collecting than any reference book ever could.

The Thrill of Discovery & Growing Doubts

There it was – tucked away in my late grandfather’s desk drawer. A thick, worn copper coin that immediately grabbed my attention. “George III two pence!” I thought, my pulse quickening. But as I turned it in my fingers, I noticed how smooth it felt – almost no details left. That got me wondering: could something this worn really be special? We’ve all found coins like this, right? They might only fetch $10 on the market, but they carry stories that make your spine tingle.

Cracking the Case: Penny or Twopence?

Time to put on my detective hat. I grabbed my trusty micrometer and scale – every collector’s best friends – and got down to business. Here’s what settled the debate:

• Design Tells the Tale: On the Britannia side, check where the trident’s center prong points. For a twopence, it should line up with the downstroke of the second ‘N’ in BRITANNIA. But on a penny? It lands smack between the ‘N’ and ‘I’. My coin clearly matched the penny position.
• Numbers Don’t Lie: My measurements told the real story: 35.85mm diameter and 26.3g weight. That’s textbook penny territory (they run 35-36mm and about 26g). Twopences are bigger beasts at around 41mm – no way wear could disguise that difference!

This little exercise reminded me: always trust your tools over your eyes when identifying coins.

Finding Beauty in the Worn Places

Okay, so my coin looked like it’d been through a war – practically smooth as a river stone. But you know what? That extreme wear actually makes it special. These pennies circulated hard right through the Victorian era, and finding one this worn is genuinely uncommon. In my collecting years, I’ve seen precious few in this condition – most folks overlook them, but they whisper incredible stories. Grading scales like Sheldon don’t quite know what to do with coins like this, but they’re often “touch pieces” – rubbed smooth by generations of hands. Market value? Maybe not much. But as a piece of living history? Priceless.

Lessons From My Misadventure

This whole experience gave me some solid takeaways I’ll carry forward:

• Never skip the calipers and scale – those tiny measurements can upend your assumptions
• Memorize those little design quirks (like the trident position) – they’re golden for IDing George III coppers
• Family coins aren’t just metal – they’re time machines connecting us to our past
• Sometimes the most worn coins carry the deepest history – even if they won’t pay for your next vacation

So my “two pence” turned out to be a humble penny. But honestly? I wouldn’t trade the revelation for anything. Whether it’s a chunky copper or gleaming silver, every coin in our hands has lived a life worth discovering.