loose54

Hello all, I bought an 1862 Halfpenny from the States and it arrived today. It was not photographed but the dealer was a member of the ANA etc and before I bought it I confirmed he had a refund policy. Anyway, it was sold to me as the very rare die letter C variety but I am struggling to see the die letter myself. I don't know if the seller was thinking it was the bulge next to the lighthouse or possibly below the lighthouse which I have circled. To me, the bulge to the left of the lighthouse seems to high to be the letter C and the circled 'C' looks too low and too far from the edge to me. What do you guys think?

Hi Cathrine, thank you for your guidance. I have spent a fair amount of time studying the Nicholson specimens and I have come to the conclusion that the 2nd coin (the lustrous one) is dies 15+S or F348 and that the 1st coin (the darker one) is dies 16+S or F348A. The F348A is listed as R18 so if that were the case then great but I would still be happy to be proved right or wrong!

I have just purchased two 1883 Halfpennies, both are slabbed by NGC and both are 'Rose on dress' variety. Freeman says that all 1883 Halpennies are reverse S so that is easy enough and they cannot be Obv 17 as that has a brooch. They also cannot be Obv 18 as according to Freeman that obverse is only found on Bronze Proof specimens. That leaves obverses 15, 16 & 19 and I am really struggling to differentiate between the 3 with regards to the subtle differences listed in Freeman. Would anybody be able to offer some insight? https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/4476535-008/63/ https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/4476535-007/63/

Thanks Rob, the coin does not appear to be any of those listed in the circular, it may be that the original attribution was wrong. Thank you for taking the time to send the scans.

Hi all, I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Just a quick one to say that I just received an email with a code for 20% off all ebay purchases until 6pm tonight (maximum saving of £75). I just used it to buy myself a sovereign and saved the full £75 which was nice. I don't know how many of you use ebay for purchases but I thought I would mention it. The code is 'pny2018' and you enter it in the code box on the checkout page before payment. Have a great new year all. Cheers, Jack

Does anybody happen to have a copy of the auction catalogue for the Shuttlewood collection (Spink 2001)? I have recently acquired a 1691 Tin Halfpenny that I have been advised is ex Shuttlewood. The coin is dated 1691 on edge but does not have a date in exergue and I was wondering if anyone could tell me the auction description for such a coin in the catalogue (if indeed it was sold in this sale). Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi all, just a quick one... Does anyone know if the standard currency 1838 and 1839 sixpences were struck with a milled edge or a plain edge, or both? Thanks, Jack

Hi Jaggy, that was my belief. It was just that I noticed there is a 1838 sixpence in the St James sale tomorrow which is stated as being plain edge. It is slabbed and said to have been cleaned but I am wondering if the plain edge attribution would suggest an impaired proof? I haven't personally come across an 1838 proof as they seem much more difficult to acquire than the 1839's. Maybe it is an incorrect attribution?

Hi Dandy, I think what you have there is a sovereign rather than a half sovereign. It has a higher bullion value but is not a very rare date. However, it looks as though their may be something going on with the R in VICTORIA, possibly an R struck over an inverted R. If this were the case it would be considered rare and its value would be significantly higher.

Hi all, just wondering if I could pick your brains for any thoughts on this 1878 penny I recently acquired. It has an unusual raised 'dot' over the first 8 in the date. I have seen similar coins, most obvious the 1897 dot penny, but also a couple of bun head pennies. If I remember correctly there was an 1875 on this forum with a raised dot and didn't Gouby list a 'cannonball' variety'? The bottom leg of E in 'ONE' also appears to be double struck aswell. What causes the raised dot phenomena do you think? Is it dirt in the die or something similar? Any thoughts always appreciated.

I had considered buying that coin myself when I saw it @azda but I want convinced that it really was an error coin. I think it was described as a halfpenny struck on farthing flan (or penny on halfpenny flan, I can't remember) burnin reality I think it may just be a penny that has been trimmed round the edges.

It was indeed, a very nice man! Were you the eventual purchaser by any chance Bernie? It is fair to say that it is one of the few coins where having let it go I have looked back with slight regret. Oh well, onwards and upwards!

I know that London Coins have sold a few, in fact that was where I purchased one (about 10 years ago). It was only fair and I ended up selling it on. About 18 months ago I was close to buying one of a nice chap in America which was the best example I had seen. It was a bold Good Fine, but I just couldn't go as high as he was looking for in the end (I offered around £2,700 if I recall). Apparently, a woman in America found it, took it to a local friend who noticed what it was and recommended the dealer to her. If I recall correctly it ended up back this side of the pond. I will try and find the pictures if I still have them!

Oh I didn't mean from the fact of identifying the coin, I mean from a damage point of view. I remember someone mentioning on here how they were impatiently trying to remove a slabbed coin and ended up leaving it with a large scrape, it would be fairly expensive in this instance.

http://coins.ha.com/itm/great-britain/world-coins/george-v-penny-1933-ms63-ngc-/p/3048-13001.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515 How squeaky would you feel cracking that out of the slab!!

Hi Jerry, thank you! I hate to say it but no, the vendor did not know what it was. The coin was purchased from an auction house within a bulk lot and was simply mentioned as a standard 1911 Penny. The coin may be moving on as I think I will have to sell it to enhance my chances of getting hold of an expensive coin I have been considering for a while, but I must say that I have enjoyed having such a specimen! Jack

Thank you all for your kind words! PM sent regarding pictures Santa.

Thanks! It is the best one I have ever seen personally by quite some way. Previously the best I had seen was the LCA one that sold recently (they graded it as VF)!

Hi all, I thought this acquisition may be of interest to a few of your here, I am fairly pleased to have acquired it!

Yes, that's it Strand Coins! I agree that the price tag is ridiculous but it is very interesting nonetheless! I have seen very nice examples of brockage pennies fetch in the high hundreds of pounds and I would assume that this would be more desirable then a standard brockage so as Vicky estimated, I could see it get upto or around the 2k mark.

Hi Nordle, I think that I read on here that you purchased the LCA 1904 Penny but just thought I would let you know that a very presentable one is on ebay at the moment for what seems like a reasonable price if you were still needing one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZD53-Great-Britain-Edward-VII-Penny-1904-NGC-MS64RB-/301852649249?hash=item4647d1e721:g:e6gAAOSw-zxWn3zE

I wondered where this coin went! It was being offered for sale by an Australian dealer for quite some time at something like AUS$16000 (off the top of my head). I went on their website the other day and thought I would see if this coin had moved and when it wasn't there I assumed it had sold. I agree Mr T, a very interesting coin, imagine what it would be worth if it were an American mule!!

Hi All. I have recently acquired a 1601 Pledge Pattern Penny. It is the extremely rare copper version, BMC 4. It has what appears to be slight traces of red wax on it, therefore I am thinking that it may possibly have been in a auction catalogue previously? As far as I have found, there were 6 specimens recorded (3 of which are apparently in museums) and off the top of my head I think I saw one for sale by baldwins or similar which was described as a 7th example. It would be nice if the coin were one the original 6 and would be great if I could trace some sort of provenance. Does anyone have any auction references to the sale of a copper example? I know that it has not traded hands in many years so would presumably be from a fair few years ago. Any help would, as always, be greatly appreciated.

Hi Rob, I see what you mean when you say that the waters are somewhat muddied! I think it may prove difficult to trace it if it is one of the originals mentioned in Peck. I fully expect that there may be examples that Peck did not view so it could be an extra example. Does anyone know where I could find a picture of the Slaney coin?

Nordle, that 1909 is absolutely beautiful! My dream coin is the 1705 crown that apparently went straight from the mint to sit in some newspaper until the 1980's. It's amazing to think that you have a coin that is probably as close as possible to being 'brand new' even after 106 years!! Bravo!