1791 Liverpool Halfpenny. Musante GW-19, Baker-17, W-10650. Copper. Lettered Edge. AU-55 (PCGS).

1791 Liverpool Halfpenny. Musante GW-19, Baker-17, W-10650. Copper. Lettered Edge. AU-55 (PCGS).，Glossy medium copper surfaces reveal tinges of lighter reddish-brown patina in isolated areas. The strike is off center to approximately 3 oclock on both sides, the left peripheral devices somewhat soft, the right borders through the tops of the letters in PRESIDENT on the obverse and HALFPENNY on the reverse. The remaining devices are suitably bold, although the off-centering also affects the date and end of the right reverse oak branch. The top of Washingtons head is softly struck, as often noted for the type. A few minor disturbances along the lower obverse border are noted, but otherwise both sides are smooth in hand and free of significant blemishes.<p>Sharing the same obverse die as the 1791 Washington Large Eagle cents, the Liverpool halfpenny is part of a large series of tokens that circulated widely in Great Britain in the 1790s. These provincial pieces came to be known as Conder tokens after James Conder, an Ipswich merchant who, in 1798, published one of the first popular lists of these tokens. While many Conder tokens were produced specifically for the numismatic market, the Liverpool halfpenny appears to have been intended for use in circulation in Britain to alleviate the chronic shortage of small change, as almost every known specimen is found with some degree of wear. That said, the Liverpool halfpenny does not appear to have circulated in America and instead, most examples found in American collections originated with numismatic imports starting in the 1860s. Believed to have been struck at the Westwood mint in Birmingham, and possibly as late as 1793, the obverse die bears a military bust of Washington with the date 1791. The Liverpool halfpenny was struck after the Large Eagle cents, as all known examples bear die cracks and die rust. This is a particularly pleasing example that will appeal to the dedicated collector of early Washingtoniana.，From Heritages FUN Signature Auction of January 2015, part of lot 3059; our sale of the Antony Bettencourt Collection, March 2017, lot 397.，