subs. (old).—Birmingham. BUNGTOWN-COPPERS = money coined for the government by private Birmingham firms: hence counterfeit coin. Also (American) see quot. 1859.
1848. J. R. LOWELL, The Biglow Papers, 147. Antislavery perfessions ’fore ’lection aint wuth a BUNGTOWN COPPER.
1855. Q. K. PHILANDER DOESTICKS, Doesticks—What He Says, 62. The last thing I distinctly recollect [having been tipsy] is trying to pay the fare … with a … BUNGTOWN COPPER.
1859. BARTLETT, Dictionary of Americanisms, s.v. BUNGTOWN COPPER. A spurious coin, of base metal, a very clumsy counterfeit of the English halfpenny or copper. It derived its name from the place where it was first manufactured, then called BUNGTOWN, now Barneysville, in the town of Rehoboth, Mass. The BUNGTOWN COPPER never was a legal coin. The British halfpenny or copper was. The term is used only in New England.
1870. JUDD, Margaret, 19. [These flowers] wouldn’t fetch a BUNGTOWN COPPER.
