Counterfeit Scottish Halfpenny Condor Token

No response to my philosophical question? Is it possible to counterfeit a private token? What makes the original better than yours? As long as you don't state that someone else will give "ha'penny's value" for your coin, has any harm been done to anyone?

Can you guess how I knew to look in Scotland first?

Well, aside from the Scottish motto mentioned above, there's also the Scottish cross of St Andrew the guy (who is presumably meant to be St Andrew) is holding, as well as the thistle flowers to either side.


The answer to this is, "Of course". Just like in more modern times, it's possible to counterfeit a Gucci handbag or Microsoft licensed product. Counterfeiting, in this broader sense, is making an imitation of something valuable and attempting to pass that imitation off as genuine to people who had no reason to suspect the item was counterfeit.

Now, private tokens were presumably not covered by government anti-forgery laws, as the coins had no government standing. So, somebody caught issuing counterfeit tokens might be found guilty of fraud and fined, but wouldn't be hung for forging and uttering.

Eventually, laws were passed prohibiting the issuance of tokens of any kind, except under certain strict circumstances. Then, continuing to issue tokens would have been a more serious crime.


The "harm" happens when someone tries to cash in on the coin, only to find that there isn't anyone who will actually trade you a shilling for 24 of them. Gresham's Law then takes hold: the worthless tokens get circulated and circulated, if the holders of such pieces can find a sucker to take them, while the "fair dinkums" and genuine regal coins get hoarded.

I don't believe the "innocent medal-maker defence" ever carried much weight. Evasion-makers - people whose "medals" bore a suspiciously similar design to genuine coins of the realm - were rarely let off or escaped punishment when they tried this defence.

Sap, I appreciate your response to the significance of the counterfeit nature of this token. You state




I don't think there were many shillings to trade for ha'pennies. Shillings were minted in 1758, 1763 [apparently rare], 1787, and 1798 [extremely rare]. Nor were they produced annually until after Waterloo. Sixpence were produced 1758, 1787, and then after Waterloo. The first year copper pence were produced in Britain was 1797. Copper ha'pennies were produced in 1758, 1770-75, 1799, and 1806-07.

There was not enough coinage circulating. Here people were minting ha'penny-sized tokens of copper. Some were "authentic," some were "counterfeit." It seems like a public service to me. I don't know a lot about the government's view of Condor tokens, but the number and variety produced seems to indicate recognition that a public need was being met.

I have an American hard times token matching the style of my avatar. The government said that token manufacturers could not state their tokens were "cents", so the manufacturers used a commonly known patriotic statement -- millions for defense, but NOT ONE CENT for tribute -- and placed it on their tokens. These tokens passed as cents, and contained as much copper as government-issued cents. When the supply of government coinage increased, the mintage of tokens dried up.

Under these circumstances, I do not perceive any real distinction between an "authentic" and "counterfeit" token. Now if the counterfeit token was not contemporary, and authentic tokens were being collected, that is an entirely different matter.