1887jubilee

I think you will find there are insufficient people with the necessary resources to do such a study. We all have gut feelings for relative rarity, but very little concrete evidence resulting from systematic study. Most of us will do some sort of number crunching in our respective field of interest, but unless the statistics are collected under standardised procedures it will be comparing chalk & cheese. You shouldn't underestimate the amount of work required to do such a study. I've just completed a study of the Weyl patterns for publication in the BNJ which has taken me about 2 years off and on. Looking through about 4000 catalogues and lists I've located somewhere in excess of 420 records for the approximately 100 varieties. Tedious - yes, and that is for a series of unique or nearly so coins. If you do a survey of the coins listed above you will have many, many more data points to consider. If you don't get an adequate number the statistics will be meaningless. It isn't just a question of recording the number of times examples of a particular coin come to market, you also have to establish which coin is which to avoid double counting. This is easier with hammered because of the variation in shape and strike, but milled is a nightmare as you only have toning, spots, flaws and other imperfections to rely on when identifying specific coins prior to the introduction of colour catalogues. 50 years or more ago the illustrations were taken from wax impressions, so the first two items above don't apply from before say WW2. You also have to contend with those coins that have been dipped. Welcome to the world of provenances. Who has access to sufficient reference material other than myself and who is going to do the donkey work? I could do some given the time but it would take an eternity and in any case my library is nowhere near complete. I'm not aware of anyone else on this forum with a large enough library and if there is an individual out there, they are keeping very quiet. Very glad to hear you have finished the weyl paper Rob. Are my pieces R5 R6 or R7?

Dear Peckris I was hoping you might email a phone number so that we might discus your thoughts on the variety. I have had a couple of days to work on your coin and the pictures provided. The reverse pictures nos.1-8 fall into the two groups you describe and are attributable to the YH and JH sixpences. The first 8 aligns with a bead on the JH and slightly between for the YH similarly the beads are longer for the YH and rounder for the JH. You say the reverse die was already available from the YH coinage to use for the 2nd. jubilee issue. This is not strictly true as the two crowns are totally different. Now to your variety. I have traced and overlaid the images you helpfully provided and compared with my collection. The images are not quite the same size but even so there is the positioning of the 7 which is almost 1/3 of a bead further over this together with the strong ribbon towards the knot (centre) seems to add weight to your case. I have examined 27 sixpences in my own collection both YH & JH including proofs and all the listed varieties of obverse and reverse. The one thing to note is that there is a progressive deterioration in the right hand ribbon which on the early strikes is well defined but as, presumably wear and tear, takes its toll, the ribbon breaks up from the knot outward. This is clear on your pictures 8 & 7 in that order. You did of course notice that picture 1 is of an 1837 sixpence not 1887. It would be helpful to see full pictures of your variation and I would like to, with your approval, include a mention in the book I am compiling on the 1887 coinage. You will not be surprised to know there are upwards of 28 different 6d and all the small differences do not make a lot of difference except to those that are sufficiently interested. I should be pleased to talk to you about it. 07967505509

could you give me phone number and I will give you a ring please. Quite a lot to discus athorburn@hotmail.co.uk

I picked up on this thread because of my 1887 interest. The coin could be from one of the specimen sets that are curency issue in presentation cases. Always of very high quality and early strikes but from the currency issue dies. so far as the photography goes I am getting exceptional quality by just using a rubber band to hold a £2.50 jeweller's eyeglass on the front of my digital camera!

No but I bought a couple of coins over the phone. Next question.

First class responses from Chingford and Colin G at http://www.aboutfarthings.co.uk/Lauer%20Model%20Farthings.html . I look forward to him getting the other images to finish the web page. There is also good information on the Fitzwilliam Museum web site.

I can only agree with comments posted so far. The striking, if it is not cast, is weak, the lettering BP just looks wrong, the lettering is a slightly different font as the uprights are thinner than I would expect and the M is not at all like any of the other Ms on the sovereign or like the font for the S on the Sydney £2 ( 8 known). That said the size and weight are correct but how did you have the gold content assayed at 22ct. ? I would be interested in such a piece as a forgery but without provenance this must be recognised for what it is.

Dear Mike There is nothing more exciting than a collection to examine. If you are a total novice there are any number of people who will offer to have a look at it for you the problem is knowing the ones who may have a vested interest and knowing the ones who will give you an honest and fair appraisal. In the first instance I would get hold of the Chairman of your local Numismatic Society and ask them to come and have a look. He or she will be able to tell you what kind of "collector" , "Numismatist" or plain horder your relative was. They will also be able to pull in experts from their society or specialists from museums or auction houses to help with pieces that are unfamiliar. They should also be able to give some recommendation as to disposal. Most local societies like my own in Plymouth do this free. Alternatively you could ask a local auctioneer to have a look at least his interest is in making the most of the collection though he will inevitably not be an expert in all areas. I hope this helps. Happy new Year. Andrew

I have one or two Adolph Weyl patterns and several Lauer play coins all 1887. Weyl is not so hard to get a brief history for try http://www.rpcoins.co.uk/c14.html and if you can talk with Rob Pearce, I hope you are not the same Rob, he is also working on an article concerning the provenances of all Weyl coin patterns. What Weyl patterns do you have please? Anything of 1887 would be of particular interest. Andrew