Need coin expert

[lisfisher]

I am trying to understand the history behind the King George half cents. From what i know so far, there were the "regal" one's from Britan. Then I read somewhere that there were counterfeits { perhaps made by the colonies?} that supposedly were just slightly smaller and perhaps a bit more on the crude side. Now I have discovered another coin in the mix, the "connecticut copper", which had the same back as the regal british coins, but the front had a different head. I'm getting confused. Were the CT coppers the "counterfeits" that I am reading about, or do the counterfeits have the same front and back as the regal coppers, only slightly smaller in diameter? Can one tell with the naked eye between a regal and a counterfeit?