Gray Public Deposited

Definition
  • A slang term for a halfpenny with both sides alike, and used by sharpers.

    Mayhew, in his book London Labour and London Poor, 1851 (i. 199), has the following passage: "I don't like tossing the coster lads; they're the wide-awakes that way. The thieves use 'grays.' They're ha'pennies, either both sides heads or tails."

Source
  • Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)

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