The majority of contemporary counterfeit silver coins of Queen Victoria are cast in white metal. The alloy means that they do not survive well, wearing badly, often losing any plating they might have had and suffering from tin pest. This note presents four counterfeit shillings of 1865 that can be distinguished by their different die numbers. Three might be classed as pewter and the fourth as a tin-lead solder. A brief survey of other known counterfeit shillings bearing die numbers (1864-1879) is likely a significant underestimation of the number of counterfeiters who were copying coins of this period, probably active over the following few decades.
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