Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

James Murray, Duke of Atholl (1736-1765), Penny and Halfpenny, both 1758, restrikes from rusty dies [c. 1785], 8.76g/6h, 5.84g/3h (cf. Prid. 15, 30; cf. S 7411-12; cf. KM. 6-7; cf. Cain 2723, 2727) [2]. First about very fine, second good very fine and with usual die flaw on obverse £150-200

Provenance: Second Baldwin Auction 23, 3 May 2000, lot 950 (part).

The attention of the authorities to the problems with counterfeit coins circulating on the island was made clear by the Governor, Edward Smith, in a letter to Lord Stormont, 3 March 1784. Smith pleaded for a new coinage for Man, or to abolish the Manx coinage completely (Kelly, 1986, p.6). The resulting new coins, from dies engraved by Thomas Pingo, were struck in early 1786 and had arrived on the island by 3 June, by which time the Lieutenant-Governor, Richard Dawson, had expressed the opinion that there was such a plethora of counterfeits of the 1758 issue in circulation that islanders could not distinguish them from the genuine article. By 22 July 1786 the new coins had started to circulate, though the population preferred the 1733 and 1758-dated coins that they knew and trusted. The 1758-dated counterfeits were made in Birmingham by a person, or persons, who had access to the original dies executed for John Florry – perhaps his daughter, Sarah (1744-1832)