The Cragg Vale Coin Forgers of 18th Century Yorkshire

[Foster88]

The true story of The Cragg Vale Coiners who were an infamous group of gold coin forgers in 18th Century Yorkshire. They were so prolific and successful they nearly unstablised the banking system at the time.

The story is set to be turned in a new BBC drama. I’ve never heard this story before hearing about the new drama being made. I thought it might be of interest to some of you.

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/history/true-story-cragg-vale-coiners-20638589.amp

Below information from Wikipedia:

Led by "King" David Hartley, the Coiners obtained real coins from publicans, sometimes on the promise that they could "grow" the investment by smelting the original metals with base ores. They removed the coins' genuine edges and milled them again, collecting the shavings. The coins were only slightly smaller. They then melted down the shavings to produce counterfeits. Designs were punched into the blank "coins" with a hammer and a "coining kit". The Coiners then had their accomplices place the fakes into circulation. Most of the counterfeit coins had French, Spanish or Portuguese designs.

The Cragg Coiners were so successful because the region of Yorkshire they operated within was isolated from centralised England.

Downfall

In 1769, William Dighton (Deighton), a public official, investigated the possibilities of a counterfeiting gang in Cragg Vale. A Coiner by the name of James Broadbent betrayed the gang by turning King's evidence and revealed the gang's existence and operations to authorities. Dighton had Hartley arrested.

The arrest made the Coiners vengeful. Isaac Hartley, "King" David's brother, engineered a plan to have Dighton killed, with a number of Coiners subscribing a total of one hundred Guineas in support of the plan. On 10 November 1769, two farm hands employed by the Coiners, Matthew Normanton and Robert Thomas, ambushed Dighton in Halifax and shot him in Bull Close Lane.

Charles Watson-Wentworth (the Marquess of Rockingham and former Prime Minister) was tasked with hunting down the killers. He had thirty Coiners arrested by Christmas Day. David Hartley was hanged at 'York Tyburn' near York on 28 April 1770, and buried in the village of Heptonstall, West Riding of Yorkshire. His brother, Isaac, escaped the authorities and lived until 1815. As for Dighton's murderers, Normanton was hanged on 15 April 1775 and Thomas was hanged on 6 August 1774.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Foster88

[LawrenceChard]

1 hour ago, Foster88 said:

The true story of The Cragg Vale Coiners who were an infamous group of gold coin forgers in 18th Century Yorkshire. They were so prolific and successful they nearly unstablised the banking system at the time.

The story is set to be turned in a new BBC drama. I’ve never heard this story before hearing about the new drama being made. I thought it might be of interest to some of you.

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/history/true-story-cragg-vale-coiners-20638589.amp

Below information from Wikipedia:

Led by "King" David Hartley, the Coiners obtained real coins from publicans, sometimes on the promise that they could "grow" the investment by smelting the original metals with base ores. They removed the coins' genuine edges and milled them again, collecting the shavings. The coins were only slightly smaller. They then melted down the shavings to produce counterfeits. Designs were punched into the blank "coins" with a hammer and a "coining kit". The Coiners then had their accomplices place the fakes into circulation. Most of the counterfeit coins had French, Spanish or Portuguese designs.

The Cragg Coiners were so successful because the region of Yorkshire they operated within was isolated from centralised England.

Downfall

In 1769, William Dighton (Deighton), a public official, investigated the possibilities of a counterfeiting gang in Cragg Vale. A Coiner by the name of James Broadbent betrayed the gang by turning King's evidence and revealed the gang's existence and operations to authorities. Dighton had Hartley arrested.

The arrest made the Coiners vengeful. Isaac Hartley, "King" David's brother, engineered a plan to have Dighton killed, with a number of Coiners subscribing a total of one hundred Guineas in support of the plan. On 10 November 1769, two farm hands employed by the Coiners, Matthew Normanton and Robert Thomas, ambushed Dighton in Halifax and shot him in Bull Close Lane.

Charles Watson-Wentworth (the Marquess of Rockingham and former Prime Minister) was tasked with hunting down the killers. He had thirty Coiners arrested by Christmas Day. David Hartley was hanged at 'York Tyburn' near York on 28 April 1770, and buried in the village of Heptonstall, West Riding of Yorkshire. His brother, Isaac, escaped the authorities and lived until 1815. As for Dighton's murderers, Normanton was hanged on 15 April 1775 and Thomas was hanged on 6 August 1774.

Thanks.

That might be worth watching!

😎

[Foster88]

2 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

Thanks.

That might be worth watching!

😎

It was filmed last year so as a guess I think it might be on TV this autumn but that is just my speculation.

I hope this will be true to history and a good TV series.

Having researched this further, the punishment if found guilty was death if caught, men were hanged and women were burnt at the stake. 😳

They must have been desperate to do this but why did women get a worse fate than men. Ultimately regardless of sex they were punished by death but it’s all very grim.

Edited June 21, 2022 by Foster88

[LawrenceChard]

11 hours ago, Foster88 said:

It was filmed last year so as a guess I think it might be on TV this autumn but that is just my speculation.

I hope this will be true to history and a good TV series.

Having researched this further, the punishment if found guilty was death if caught, men were hanged and women were burnt at the stake. 😳

They must have been desperate to do this but why did women get a worse fate than men. Ultimately regardless of sex they were punished by death but it’s all very grim.

We attended a coin fair in the 1960's at the Keirby Hotel in Burnley. It had only recently opened, and seemed surprisingly up-market. There was a bar called the "Coiners Bar" which had some connection with a famous local forgery gang. I didn't have enough time to follow it up at the time, but Burnley is only about 13 miles from Mytholmroyd, and part of their locality. 

The Keirby Hotel was closed down about a year ago, but has since been re-opened as the Brun Lea Hotel.

The Keirby was a great choice for a coin fair!

The hotel, and the fair organisers should have made more of the story. It would have been good publicity for all concerned.

😎

 

[YorkshireStacker]

It's a fascinating story, one that my family have been researching for several years after finding out about it whilst looking into our ancestry.

Heptonstall, where David is buried is a lovely little village - and is also the resting place of Sylvia Plath - well worth a visit on a sunny day for a wander around and a pint.