UK Half Penny Sized, Blank Token - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 1,835
Muppet New Member Germany 3 Posts	Posted 11/17/2021 1:25 pm Hi folks, I'm searching for help identifying two possibly British tokens. While metal detecting in Germany I found a 1921 British Penny and two blank "planchets" out of the same hole. While the Penny is just a regular Penny coin, the two blank planchets might have been used as tokens. They are made out of bronze, most likely the same alloy as the Penny coin. They are exactly the size (diameter wise) of a pre decimal half Penny coin but they are a very little thinner in thickness. With a weight of 4.2 to 4.25 grams they are also a bit lighter than half Penny coins. Both planchets / Tokens don't show any signs of significant use / wear and on one side each have a little sharp edge as if they were just cut out of the original metal sheet short time before they were lost. They are perfectly round and plain and appear to be manufactured with a machine rather than by hand. I suppose around the end of world war II the British troops might have manufactured and used these planchets as half Penny tokens because there might have been a coin shortage for the soldiers fighting abroad. What are your ideas about these unusual finds? Because they came out of the same hole in the ground as the Penny I strongly believe that they were lost together. Thanks for your help in advance, sorry for my bad English and best regards from Germany, Muppet Report this Post to the Staff

John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 11/17/2021 2:37 pm Report this Post to the Staff
NumisRob Bedrock of the Community United Kingdom 17905 Posts	Posted 11/17/2021 2:40 pm Hello Muppet and I've never heard of any blank halfpenny-sized tokens, but I wonder if they could have been tokens issued by the local NAAFI establishment. Possibly British troops forming part of the army of occupation received the tokens to pay for goods or services. Maybe they originally had values painted or marked on them. I'm sure someone else will have a theory. My Trade List: https://goccf.com/t/194596 My Wants List: https://goccf.com/t/191710 Report this Post to the Staff
Muppet New Member Germany 3 Posts	Posted 11/17/2021 3:20 pm Thank you very much for your support and suggestions! Actually today was the 2nd time I found pre decimal British coins in my northern German home town. The first time I found a pocket spill including a 1900 Penny, a 1942 nickelbrass Threepence and a 1940 (fifty percent silver) Sixpence. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187862 Posts	Posted 11/17/2021 4:57 pm to the Community! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16809 Posts	Posted 11/17/2021 5:21 pm The British were only involved in a small way during the occupation of the Rhineland, controlling a small territory around Cologne. Unless your finds were in that area, I suspect they have nothing to do with British soldiers. If they're blank, rimless, and have a "spur" where they seem to have been broken off a larger piece of metal, then they're probably not numismatic, but rather pieces of "Scrap metal" that just happen to be coin-sized. I don't know how things were done in Europe, but in America, when electrical boxes are installed they need to have holes punched in them for the wiring; the resultant round metal discs can look very coin-like and are often found by metal detectorists and confused for coins, but they're just scrap metal. It's possible that the British coin was treated as just another piece of scrap metal too, rather than as money. 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 Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34397 Posts	Posted 11/20/2021 7:11 pm @mup, any chance of you posting a couple overall pictures of one of these? Also, based on your description it sounds as though these were punched from sheet stock, so please also add a pic of the edge. Thanks! "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Muppet New Member Germany 3 Posts	Posted 11/22/2021 10:02 pm Hello to you all, especially Spence Tomorrow I can upload some pictures if you want. Actually today I went to the site where I found the items, again. Unfortunately this time I only found some modern change (Euro) and a Prussian uniform button from the German empire. Best regards, Muppet Report this Post to the Staff
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