Ossian Collection > Gentleman's magazine, and historical chronicle > Volume 66, Part 2

^g2 ilf'-»PyeV Ohfervatlons on the Pet vtrfion of Prhvincial Coins. [Dec.
Ihould be, " payable in Anglef^'V or
London." There is likewife a variety
in tbe Lichfield farthinj^, No. 35 in
thfc ApF*^ndix, the reverfe being-. " S.
Bs'ker, Dozener, Sadlers-fireet Ward,
1794." I hive in mypoffedion a proof
of plate 7. No. I, with Hancock, the
dte /inker' s name, below the head.
Ar :her, ih* kin^^'s head, Genrgius III.
jLi>x; reverfe, Britannia, with a ccr-
n'jc<^p.a in !"'sr hand, f?bted on a pe-
dells , the Bcfife- colo:!rs bein^ de-
fciib' d tiiereon, wehoming the airiv<-.l
of a (h'p. the emblem of commerce ; a
iion c<iuch?nt at her fee:; exery tie,
1788; edge, Armis luierii., moribus or-
net. Another difF^re. t htad of ihs
king by the fwrne -tf.ft ; revcife, Vivail
The laft I fuppofe to hive been ttrtck
on the king's recoveiv, but never pub-
lifhed ; r.or do I call it a half-fenny.
1 muft now folicit foteivensfs for wan-
deiing fo far, and acknowledge myfelf
under ^reat obligations to R. Y. for
the commendations he bev^ows on the
publication he lefcrs to. Tbe motivf s 1
was aSiuated bv are fully explaii;td in
the advertifetrent preceding the plates.
My aim ^vas 10 give an txa£V reprt-
fentation of the bfft and moft authen-
tic coins that I cou'd procure ; and it
would have been much inotre I'^tiffac-
tory to me to have rtprefented the ori-
gin^'ls than any otheis, had I been in
poflfeffion of thera. However, it gives
me much fatisfaftion to find io accu-
rate an obferver ha» !5ot been abie to
enumerate mote errors than he has
poiiutd out. Some of them, I flatter
p.iyfelf, will be expla-ned to the fdtis-
fa5\icn of every collector. An attempt
to defcribe all the varif.ties of ilie An-
glefey penny would be an arduous taik,
Jbme differing in the head, the cipher,
the wreath, and the inicription on the
edge, cxclufive of the dates. The
Maccleshcld half-penny, pi. 3, No, 2,
I received from Hancock, who execu-
ted the original dies, Tht Edinburuh,
pi. 2, No. 4, I received from the lame
perfon. Dr. Johnfon's head, pi. 6,
No. 2, was iffued by the fame perfon
as No. 3 on the fame plate, and, I have
reafon to think, was the hrft with an
in(criptlon on the edge that was ifl'ued
to evade payment. When 1 applied
to the perfon who ilTued them to ac-
sommodate me with a few to oblige
my friends, they difclaimed any know-
ledge ofc them ; but, after exhibiting
the one I had, .t was admitted there
were fut or eight ftruck, but uut more.
The faft is, the others, being objefted
to, were brought back for payment,
and on that account the legend was
altered. Plate 7, No. 5, I ikewife
received from Hincock. PI. 8, N •• 3,
was engraved plain edge, becaufe, at
that time, [ conliJered that the im-
prefTion I had might have been ftruck
on an Anglefey blank by fome perfon
who had counterfeited them (the An-
g!e!iv;,-u
on the reverfe, "Pay-
able at J. R.,vrier and Co. MancLefle,"
confcquentl y, the l>-i>eiid on the edge
could have no cciintxion with it. I'o
the obfervatinn on pi. 14, No. 2, I
mnft p ead guilty; the djte is omiit«d.
To the next oblerv.it':on, pi. 21, No. 1,
I am not abe to give on anCwer. No. 3.
on the fame plate, I received from the
manufaftursr, and is a plain edge,
PI. 22, No. I, h^s an engrailed edge.
PI. 22, No. I, on enquiry, I ui;dtr-
ftand was a broken di«; of the Exeter,
altered by converting ihe comb into a
chalice \ and the imprellions were
fliuck on any pieces of metal that weie
at hand. No. 4 op the (aine plate ha»
an engrailed edge. Fbte 35, No. i, is
very perfe6V, and, I imagined, an
early imprtilion fronri the die.
Having now replied to R. Y's obfer-
• ations in the beft inanner J am able,
permit me to thank him for the trouble
he has tak^n, and to inform him that,
in my opioion, his mode of arrange-
ment is a very judicious one to thofe
who have been general colleftorsj
mine, i acknowiedge, is but a partial
one. The manufafturing of this rub-
bi(n, or, as it may properly be called,
waiting of copper, has been fyftemati-
Cdlly brought forward ; and collcftors
have purchafed without confidcring
that they were tnanufaftured for no
other purpofe than to impofe on them,
the venders having' produced only one
or two at a time, and charged them at
an exo;bitant rate, although the dies
wcic execu'cd L)y their order. Lately
fu.me colieflors have been ar the ex-
pence pf dies, and have a few impref-
lions ftruck for the acconimodatlon of
each otiier. Thefe are not to be pur-
chafed ; nor can they be procured but
by thofe who will put theinfelves to
the (ame expence.
J muft now apologize to you, Mr.
U.ban, for writing (o long a letter;
which I fhould not have done on any-
other account than with an idea of
communicatingfome little information.
Yours, 5;c. CwARiES Pye^
Mr.