Halfcent

I'll look at thread momentarily. To clarify, the picture I posted is of a 1963. I was going to use it to identify my 1958's. When you mention "broad rim coins", are you talking only about 1958 varieties, or all the ship reverse varieties? Have just read the other thread. Interesting. It would appear there is some discrepancy between Freeman and the actual available varieties. It will make the collection of this year more fun. This picture was the most interesting to me: The teeth actually "cut" into the rim. Haven't seen that before.

Hi all. I'm Geoff Halfpenny (yes, that is my real name), a new guy here. As you might guess, I collect... Half pennies! I have recently been doing some identification of my set using Michael Freemans book. I have run into a problem that I could use some help with. I am presently identifying my 1958 Half Penny coins. Freeman has 3 (not including the proof), numbers 479 (die 3E), 480 (3F), and 481 (3G). The three reverse dies are the obvious differences. From Freeman's book, he describes Reverse F and G as follows: Reverse F (1958,1963) Similar to reverse E, with long border teeth, but the rim is slightly narrower, and the width of the ship at the widest point is 21.2 mm. The lines depicting rigging are slightly thicker. Reverse G (1958-59) Similar to F, but with slightly thicker rim and shorter border teeth - the length of each border tooth is slightly less than the width of the rim, whereas on reverse F, it is slightly greater. The width of the ship is the same - 21.2 mm. From this description, the only way to tell these two dies apart is the tooth and border features. Freeman pictures a 1963 Half Penny as his example of die F. I also have that coin, and here is where I ran into my problem. The problem is in this part of the description: the length of each border tooth is slightly less than the width of the rim, whereas on reverse F, it is slightly greater. What I did was take a close-up picture of my 1963 border in order to have a study picture from which to identify my 1958 coins. Here's that picture: Anyone with a ruler can check and see that the teeth are shorter than the width of the rim. It's not much, but it is shorter. That seems to contradict Freeman's statement that the teeth should be longer. The question then, obviously, is Freeman incorrect? Thanks for the help!