Descartes

Always very interesting to hear when a new moneyer comes to light. Thanks for posting!

2p or not 2p that is the question ...

The lettering looks good to me, although, like you said, Stu, the hair does look a bit dodgy. Maybe it's just the ghosting from the reverse cross and the weak strike that's doing it?

Great coin, Paulus! I like how the bell mint mark is so clear on both sides and how well centred it is!

My brother and I both learned a lesson that day. He can't spend my hammered coins, Thankfully, they're not even accepted in the shops in our beautiful but old fashioned Wiltshire anymore

Just wanted to share with you chaps my dream hammered coin... currently for sale at sovereign rarities. A rather fantastic King Stephen flag type penny. Alas, it will never be mine to enjoy - selling at a whopping 7,500 GBP it's a little over my budget

You'll get plenty of support here on this site nothing wrong with starting on cheap coins. I would recommend having a good read up on whatever area you are interested in and most of all, enjoying the experience. I used to buy the monthly Coin News magazine. It lists loads of reliable and helpful dealers, and also lists the 'up and coming' auctions, coin fairs and major UK numismatic clubs 'coin clubs'. I made some nice friends at my local club and I was able to hear pros talk about their coins and interests. I started off collecting sixpences and George III coins, but now I'm fully dedicated to collecting hammered pennies. I'm still a newbie in this field, but I'm having fun learning along the way and collecting some interesting coins in the process.

It actually happened to me I collected nearly all the Olympic 50ps when they first come out when I was at university. Thanks to my friend who worked at the student union bar. My brother spent them (along with my Kew gardens, my public libraries and Sam Johnson 50ps 'my 3 favourites') and then put the equivalent back the following week in banknotes. The loss really peed me off as I still haven't replaced the Kew gardens (and I'm certainly not going to pay 100 quid for a replacement). It never even occurred to him that all the coins had different designs ... he just needed some ready cash for petrol and some fags.

I know the feeling, Rob. My Christmas coin will only be a standard Victoria jubilee sovereign. It will be quite special to me as it'll be my first gold coin and will go some way to completing my year type set. Will still need the pricey double sovereign, half sovereign and the five pound gold coin of course, but if everything was instantly obtainable, I guess I wouldn't find it as fun to collect!

Nice coin. I really like the geometric designs on the Offa coinage!

I would like a sovereign in my collection too. Might just have to treat myself to one at Christmas

Hi Matteo, that certainly is a wonderful coin!

I am attempting something similar with sixpences. Thought this might be useful for you: Date Mintage 1838 - 1,607,760 1839 - 3,310,560 1840 - 2,098,800 1841 - 1,386,000 1842 - 601,920 1843 - 3,160,080 1844 - 3,975,840 1845 - 3,714,480 1846 - 4,268,880 1848 - 586,080 1850 - 498,960 1851 - 2,288,107 1852 - 904,586 1853 - 3,837,930 1854 - 840,116 1855 - 1,129,084 1856 - 2,779,920 1857 - 2,233,440 1858 - 1,932,480 1859 - 4,688,640 1860 - 1,100,880 1862 - 990,000 1863 - 491,040 1864 - 4,253,040 1865 - 1,631,520 1866 - 5,140,080 1867 - 1,362,240 1868 - 1,069,200 1869 - 388,080 1870 - 479,613 1871 - 3,662,684 1872 - 3,382,048 1873 - 4,594,733 1874 - 4,225,726 1875 - 3,256,545 1876 - 841,435 1877 - 4,066,486 1878 - 2,624,525 1879 - 3,326,313 1880 - 3,892,501 1881 - 6,239,447 1882 - 759,809 1883 - 4,986,558 1884 - 3,422,565 1885 - 4,652,771 1886 - 2,728,249 1887 - 3,675,607 1888 - 4,197,698 1889 - 8,738,928 1890 - 9,386,955 1891 - 7,022,734 1892 - 6,245,746 1893 - 7,350,619 1894 - 3,467,704 1895 - 7,024,631 1896 - 6,651,699 1897 - 5,031,498 1898 - 5,914,100 1899 - 7,996,804 1900 - 8,984,354 1901 - 5,108,757 SIXPENCE The die number is to be found just above the date on the reverse. 1864: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 41, 58 1865: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 32 1866: none, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59 1867: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23 1868: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 1869: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 1870: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 19 1871: none, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 47, 50, 52, 53 1872: 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 51, 52, 57, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74 1873: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 29, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 73, 74, 75, 76, 79, 81, 82, 85, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93, 97, 106, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 124 1874: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60 1875: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 27, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 46, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 84, 88 1876: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 29 1877: none, 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 1878: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6(DRITANNIAR), 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 37, 40, 43, 45, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 59, 63, 65, 70 1879: none, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21

Funny enough... I was thinking of Coincraft too!

Hi Dave, welcome to the forum. Really enjoyed looking through your facebook page this evening great photos! I'd love to watch you hammering away in your workshop some day!

Super little Tealby penny! ... nice find!

Are there plans to regularly change the reverse design on the new pound coins, like they did on the 'round' pound? It doesn't mention anything on the Royal Mint website...

Welcome to the forum, Jester. You'll get lots of friendly advice from this forum. The guys here are great!

I wouldn't normally write a plea on here but I've been looking for a decent Richard II penny (good portrait and legends) for over a year now, and I need one to finish my Plantagenet kings. I regularly peruse all the dealers' websites I know (those listed in my monthly Coin News ...I also monitor Numisbids (almost daily!) and of course, I've looked in all the major auctions this year... but alas, nothing. If anybody has one for sale or has seen one kicking around - please could you let me know! Much obliged

blimey they look quite convincing I'm going to be scared to buy anything soon!

At the end of Hugh De S. Shortt's 'Mints of Wiltshire from Edgar to Henry III' he puts together a table of the moneyers and the coin types they minted. I have a particular interest in Wilton and recently purchased an Aethelred II long cross penny (S.1151) minted by the moneyer Saewine. Lets assume it was minted c. 997AD. According to De S. Shortt's table (attached), Saewine went on to mint many other types under several different rulers, ending with the type 3, William II penny. Lets assume that was minted c. 1087AD. Can anybody explain how Saewine continued minting for 90+ years. That seems a long time, even for our healthy Wiltshire air!

Thanks Rob, that's very interesting. I appreciate you taking the time to decipher the ticket. I will definitely add the image to the ticket thread tomorrow. You have given me my first insight into the joys of coin provenance and some leads for further research May I ask one further question? Does a good provenance add anything to a coins general worth, or is it purely the pleasure of owning a small piece from a known/interesting former collection?

Hi Rob, this was my first proper hammered coin investment with a provenance so I didn't realise it was important. I'm definitely more aware now though, and will tuck away any future paperwork in my drawer! ... I hope this new scan (attached) produces a better picture.

Wow! Thanks Rob. It's amazing what you can deduce from an old ticket. It appears the coin has been in a few collections... according to the guy I bought it from the coin is ex Revd C Campbell, bt Seaby 1944. It great to be able to go back even further now and think it was part of a collection sold in 1901! I'm going to have to spend some time this weekend researching J E Moon & Carlyon-Britton. I nearly chucked that old ticket in the bin (as the annotations didn't mean anything to me). In the end I just entered the coin details on my spreadsheet and put the ticket in my draw. Thanks for the info on a possible mint location. It appears Wilton had a royal palace (now a car park) and all sorts. I'm going to dig out my map in the Summer and go and physically investigate. At the very least, it will be fun spending the day exploring, and viewing Wilton House (where Wilton Abbey once stood).

Here's the coin in question ... the reverse it a little pecked, but I like the bust of Aethelred - looking every inch like a confident imperial Roman warrior copycat!