Question: 1797 British penny/Australian 2-pence

[villa66 1,819]

There’s a good bit of knowledge about the coinage of the British Empire, here on the Forum, so maybe…

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x: A near-basal 1797 British penny with a rather elegant “2” countermark on both obverse and reverse. 

As I pulled this coin from a five-for-a-dollar junk-box I remembered this from  my notebook entry for  Britain’s 1797 penny: ‘In Australia this ‘Copper Coin of One Ounce’ was rated a tuppenny by a proclamation issued in November 1800, ‘...that no one may plead Ignorance of the Rate or Legality of this or any other of the coins circulating in this Colony.’ Also announced was a shipment to Australia of £550 in copper coin via the ship Porpoise.” 
 
So a 1797 British penny was also an Australian 2-pence…

And I wonder, could this smooth-worn 1797 penny with its “2” countermarks have once landed in Australia? And could its “2” countermarks possibly be official or semi-official in nature?  (19)

 

 v.
 

Edited December 29, 2019 by villa66

[luke_idk 1,200]

Obviously the countermark remind us of its real Australian value, so it could have been shipped to the South Seas, but we got no proof at all that it could be something official. In addition to that, it looks like the countermark is not as old ols as the coin itself.

[villa66 1,819]

I’m sorry this is so late in coming—I can only plead a prolonged and unavoidable digital drought.

 

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I definitely agree with your comments, @luke_idk …

 

And I note—despite my trying to connect it to Australia—that this particular countermarked penny was keeping company with a couple of old Canadian tokens when I found it.

 

;) v.

[luke_idk 1,200]

If it has been used as a token, it could be interesting, but...