Scotswood Bridge, two halfpennies

HER Number:
13543

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Scotswood Bridge, two halfpennies

Place:
Scotswood

Map Sheet:
NZ16SE

Class:
Monument

Site Type: Broad:
Findspot

Site Type: Specific:
Coin

General Period:
POST MEDIEVAL

Specific Period:
Hanoverian 1714 to 1837

Form of Evidence:
Find

Description:
Two George II halfpennies. They were found on the site of the new Scotswood bridge during the demolition of the one one. They are the size of a modern penny and date to 1799. The obverse reads GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX. It is unusual to find REX after the full form of DEI GRATIA. The only other example of this inscription in Brooke's 'English Coins' is on a Bank of England five shilling dollar of 1804. The reverse is badly worn but Britannia is shown seated left, with an oval-shaped shield at her left side and the waves beneath. At her feet is a ship. This and the five shilling dollar in Brooke's book must represent the issue struck in 1799 at the Soho Mint in Birmingham.

Easting:
419970

Northing:
563700

Grid Reference:
NZ419970563700

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Ernest Sockett, 1968, A Walbottle Miscellany in Archaeological Newsbulletin for Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland, No. 3, Sept 1968, pp 9-11; Brooke, English Coins, p. 221