Replicas Or Real? (Id: Replica 1788 Massachusetts Cents)

Sad to say, but both of these are somewhat crudely made copies. Here's an authentic one. To me, the most noticeable difference is the lettering; it's in a seriffed font, like THIS. Your coins are more of a "hand-drawn" style, without serifs, like THIS.

Second, the detail on the shield is mostly missing - specifically, the denomination is supposed to be written there, either CENT or HALF CENT. This detail is blurred beyond recognition on your coin, just a couple of blobs where the letters should be.



There are a multitude of possible reasons. These are too crude to fool an experienced collector or coin dealer, so I don't think the manufacturer was trying to fool anybody. They may have been sold as souvenirs at some kind of colonial-period tourist attraction; or it may have been part of a (misguided) attempt at getting people interested in coin collecting ("Collect the full set of authentic imitation replica colonial coins!!). Without a maker's name or other context, I don't think it's possible to be certain.

The lack of the word "COPY" stamped on them dates them to before 1973, when the Hobby Protection Act made this a legal requirement for manufactured or imported replica coins.

Unfortunately this law is not always obeyed. There are many replicas sold today which do not bear the word "COPY." I posted pictures of a few I bought last year in this thread. None had "COPY" imprinted on them.