Back to photostream

1797 British Twopence-Obverse

Need numismatic photography for your auctions, books, advertising or promotion? Check out our huge online gallery of numismatic images and get a quote today at HipShot photography

 

In 1797 the British government authorized Matthew Boulton to strike copper pennies and twopences at his Soho Mint, in Birmingham. It was believed that the face value of a coin should correspond to the value of the material it was made from, so each coin was made from two pence worth of copper (2 ounces). This requirement means that the coins are significantly larger than the silver pennies minted previously. The large size of the coins, combined with the thick rim where the inscription was punched into the metal, led to the coins being nicknamed "cartwheels". All "cartwheel" twopences are marked with the date 1797. In total, around 720,000 twopences were minted.

755 views
0 faves
0 comments
Uploaded on May 16, 2020