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Defaced Irish Penny 1822

A

Anonymous

Guest
<img src="http://www.findmall.com/photo/stevecan/irish1.jpg">
...I've had this a couple years now, with no real explaination. It is a seriously defaced Irish George IV Penny (1822-1823). Who ever did this used a chisel, lining it up 4 times with the center to X out the Irish harp symbol and then gave it one for good luck (the chisel left a very distinctive "feather" impression each time it was struck).
On the other side, they were careful not to mark the King's image, giving it 4 swats along the edges with a punch. Who ever defaced the coin meant business as each of the strokes are deliberate and go halfway through the thick coin.
Other than someone playing with a chisel on a rainy afternoon, the only explaination I have heard is that this is the attempt of some individual who hated the Irish (not uncommon in the 1800's) to take this coin out of circulation. I have heard that Colonel Talbot of the Talbot Settlement on the shores of Lake Erie was known to do this, but have never been able to substantiate this claim.
Below, the coin as minted:
 
Neat find Steve.I wonder if it was something as innocent as a bored kid playing with a chisel-or something more sinister to do with political hatereds.As a child I remember laying wheaties on train tracks and retrieving them after the train ran over them.I once dug a Indian Head penny with a bullet hole thru it.I also dug a 1918 S.L. quarter that had been made into a ring.Don't you sometimes wish that some of the things we dig could speak?Imagine some of the stories they could tell....
 
Seriously, it looks to have been stuck more than once doesn't it.The first thing that comes to mind is if the coin was used as backing to chisel/punch up something else.Part of it seems to be flattened a bit, other parts pinched.There looks to be a lot going on there.I'll suggest something out of the blue like working leather.Does the coin look like a forgery to you?
 
...the only thing is those strokes are very deliberate, powerful and controlled. That coin is 1-3/8" dia. and thicker than an American large cent, yet some of those marks go more than half way through it. Personally I doubt a kid could do it.
Besides, I'm looking for a story for it... <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":D">
 
...I hadn't thought of that. If they were punching leather though, they sure dulled their punches!
Below the the two images again. I don't think it's a forgery--all the details that remain seem to be in the right place and there is no spread on any of the type that you'd expect from a cast coin...
<img src="http://www.findmall.com/photo/stevecan/irish1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.irishcoinage.com/JPEGS/J00059X2.JPG">
 
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