1776-78 William Taylor, Regulated Gold, US $8.00, Brazil 1749 6400R, KM149, NGC VF20. This rare 1776-78 William Taylor Regulated Gold 6400 Reis or Half Joe has been clipped, re-edged, plugged, and stamped with the WT monogram in a rectangular cartouche for William Taylor of Philadelphia. The coin weighs half a grain less than the post-Revolutionary standard of 9 dwt or 215.4 grains. The coin was clipped around its circumference and then re-edged. The obverse shows a circular plug that is nearly flush at the center. The monogram is upside down within it. The reverse plug is also flush. The surfaces are a medium, yellow gold. The plug is slightly darker than the host coin. A cut in the obverse right field is a test mark.

The host coin is a 1749 Half Joe made in the Rio Mint. Its obverse shows a right facing portrait of King John V of Portugal, who was also known as Fidelissimus (in Portuguese Joao V) the Magnanimous, king of Portugal and the Algarves. He reigned from 1706 to 1750. Inscribed around the portrait are his name and title with the date below. The reverse shows the crowned coat of arms.

Usually numismatists are concerned about a coins pristine quality. In fact, today a perfect coin is given a grade of Mint State 70. Coins that are holed, clipped, filed, plugged, and counter stamped have considerably diminished value to most collectors. Most coins in these categories are considered undesirable and would not be certified by any of the major grading services except in the details category. However, in the realm of regulated gold coins, all of the previous notions of quality and appeal must be abandoned in favor of a different set of assumptions. Even counterfeit coins have been regulated and are highly collectible today. Obviously a regulated coin cannot be in Mint State condition. The host coin must be described in detail and, if possible, graded separately from the plug or plugs.

Regulated coins have been found in collections of famous collectors and numismatists. These include Virgil M. Brand, Louis Eliasberg, John J. Ford Jr., John Work Garrett, Waldo Newcomer, and John L. Roper. Edward Roehrs had an excellent collection of regulated coins that was auctioned in 2010 at the ANA Boston Worlds Fair of Money.

It seems unusual to modern sensibility that colonists and citizens of the early republic would have silver tankards, beakers, and porringers; however, it should be noted that these items represented a persons surplus wealth. Since there were no banks where a colonist could keep hard money, they took all their surplus coins to a silversmith and had them melted and made into useful objects. Since paper money often depreciated, savings were safer if invested in silver plate where they could also be useful in the home. In case of a theft, silver could easily be identified by the hallmark and engraving and recovered. If cash were needed, the silver could be taken to a silversmith and be reconverted into money. The silversmith had to be a man of highest integrity because he was expected to turn a certain quantity of silver plate into coin or the opposite.

William Taylor appears in the Pennsylvania Evening Post of November 6, 1777 as someone who signed a petition with other merchants agreeing to accept Half Joes weighing 9 dwt at 60 shillings.

There are only 2 regulated gold coins known that have William Taylor as regulator. Theres one which is also double regulated and this specimen. The other specimen is held in a collection and is off the market. This coins esteemed provenance includes the John J. Ford Jr. Collection of West Indian Cut and Countermarked Coins and Edward Roehrs Collection of U.S. Regulated Gold.