Posted 02/27/2020 11:05 pm
At 60 grams weight and 40mm diameter, yes, it's a twopence.
The other handy way to tell them apart from a picture, if all you have is a picture, is to look at where the trident is pointing. On the twopence, as on this piece, it's pointing directly at the second "N". On the penny, the trident is pointing away into the space between the second "N" and the "I".
"J. Hale" would probably have been stamped there as an advertisement, by a shop-owner of that name. Defacing coinage with advertisements was illegal then and is still illegal, but people used to do it anyway, especially in the Colonial regions (like Australia) where supplies of replacement coinage were scarce.
It's also possible that Mr. (or Mrs.) Hale was simply stamping their property. Twopence coins were very convenient two-ounce weights - just about the only people who actually liked these twopence coins were shopkeepers, for this reason - and it's possible that Hale wished to ensure that their precious shop-weight was not accidentally given away in change, or if it was, then they would be likely to be able to retrieve it when someone brought it back to them.
The other handy way to tell them apart from a picture, if all you have is a picture, is to look at where the trident is pointing. On the twopence, as on this piece, it's pointing directly at the second "N". On the penny, the trident is pointing away into the space between the second "N" and the "I".
"J. Hale" would probably have been stamped there as an advertisement, by a shop-owner of that name. Defacing coinage with advertisements was illegal then and is still illegal, but people used to do it anyway, especially in the Colonial regions (like Australia) where supplies of replacement coinage were scarce.
It's also possible that Mr. (or Mrs.) Hale was simply stamping their property. Twopence coins were very convenient two-ounce weights - just about the only people who actually liked these twopence coins were shopkeepers, for this reason - and it's possible that Hale wished to ensure that their precious shop-weight was not accidentally given away in change, or if it was, then they would be likely to be able to retrieve it when someone brought it back to them.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
