Decimal varieties

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

I recently wrote this for the Tyneside Numismatic Society newsletter, I would be interested in knowing what I have missed / got wrong.

Thanks again to the members here who allowed me to use their research and pinch their images.

I hope the link works,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2qSaEwccf4fS3dZSWJVWkRDRDA/view?usp=sharing 

Ian..

[Nordle11 564]

A thoroughly enjoyable read Ian! Well laid out and nicely presented. Nice work on getting a couple of links to the forum as well  

 

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

Thanks Nordle, This was more of an accumulation of other people's work, rather than my own research. 

I would love to get a full list of decimal varieties listed, as I'm certain this is far from complete.

Ian..  

[IanB 175]

Just read it and very interesting, I am going to tip out my loose change jar and have a sift through. This coin collecting lark can get quite addictive!

[secret santa 2,013]

Great piece of work, Ian. I tried to print it off with no success - is that deliberate ?

[PWA 1967 1,841]

Nicely put together Ian and thanks for sharing 

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

Thanks you all for your kind comments, I really appreciate them, but don't be shy, what have I missed?

@secret santa - no it wasn't deliberate to make it non printable, to be honest it's the first time I have used Google drive and there doesn't seem to be an option to allow printing, unless someone can tell me how. I'm quite happy to send you a copy if you PM me your email address.

Ian..

 

[scott 129]

i thought the changes to portcullis were 1992 due to changes in metal.

copper ones are rougher to touch

[Nordle11 564]

If you want to print from google drive you have to download it first (try the little arrow, top center) then you should be good to go.

[secret santa 2,013]

On 2/21/2016 at 11:08 AM, Nordle11 said:

If you want to print from google drive you have to download it first (try the little arrow, top center) then you should be good to go.

Ah yes, thanks Matt I'll remember that for next time.

[mrbadexample 985]

Good article, thanks. Now I know what this dot to dot 10p is that people keep harping on about.

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

38 minutes ago, mrbadexample said:

Good article, thanks. Now I know what this dot to dot 10p is that people keep harping on about.

But can you find one Mr BE? 

Thanks again for everyone's kind words but no one (except Brian, who emailed me) has come up with any other examples. 

Ian..

[mrbadexample 985]

2 minutes ago, Nutsaboutcoins said:

But can you find one Mr BE? 

One can but try, my friend! I'll be looking through the shrapnel tin before I bag it up to take to the bank, that's for sure.

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

1 minute ago, mrbadexample said:

One can but try, my friend! I'll be looking through the shrapnel tin before I bag it up to take to the bank, that's for sure.

If you find two, remember who put you on the right track 

[mrbadexample 985]

Just now, Nutsaboutcoins said:

If you find two, remember who put you on the right track 

Deal! 

[PWA 1967 1,841]

You found me one yet Jon.......

[Chris Perkins 223]

Very good. I had a glance. To add to the 1992 20p: there are clear differences between the large head and small head types. This is what I have in my 'Collectors' Coins - Decimal Issues of the UK...

"The 1992 small head coin was thought to be scarcer than the large head, but new information would seem to imply that the large head coins are the coins that were circulated in large numbers and are now hardest to find (especially in top condition as most have seen normal usage). It is now thought that the proof version only exists with the small head. The easiest way to tell the difference is that the small head bust has a much sharper point where the neck ends at the bottom. The obverse 2 picture on the previous page is the smaller ‘sharp neck’ type."

And that obverse 2, smaller head pic looks like this..

 

 

[Chris Perkins 223]

Oh, and something else bonkers about the Battle of Britain 50p: there are 3 types. In my book they are 49a - Ian Rank-Broadley portrait, no denomination, coins in BU sets only. 49b - Odd transitional silver and gold proof version only with the Jody Clark Portrait but still missing a denomination, and 49c - the circulation coin with the Jody Clark portrait and finally a denomination too. Also noted about the circ coin is that even from mint bags most of them are absolutely knackered already in terms of bag marks, scrapes, scratches, dents etc, like the one shown below.

For £2 coins, I've also seen silver proof versions with the wrong edge wording. I had a 2005 St Pauls WWII anniversary silver proof with the edge 'REMEMBER REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER'. And a slave trade silver proof with 'THE 4TH OLYMPIAD LONDON' edge has also been seen. Oh and for the slave trade coin there is a variety too - the coins in sets and the proofs had a tiny 'DG' (for David Gentleman) on the reverse. The circulation version has no DG and a different textured surface (and it now pretty rare in high grades). The most interesting £2 (IMO) is the standard 1999 coin as it wasn't included in sets and is now hens teeth in high grade.

All in my decimal book

 

 

[Geordie582 18]

Another anomaly. In Spinks, S4632, the standard 'part shield' is only shown as having the Jody Clark  portrait but my example has the Ian Rank-Broadley head. Do you think they published unfinished?

[Chris Perkins 223]

41 minutes ago, Geordie582 said:

Another anomaly. In Spinks, S4632, the standard 'part shield' is only shown as having the Jody Clark  portrait but my example has the Ian Rank-Broadley head. Do you think they published unfinished?

Is 4632 a 2015 50p? I don't think that number exists in my Spink, so it's probably from the 2016 edition? There certainly are both IRB and JC portraits for the 2015 50p. The RM aren't making things easy these days with the number of different coins they seem to be churning out.

[Geordie582 18]

 Yes, Chris . It's referring to the new Spinks 'Decimal' Catalogue Ian Rank-Broadley gue. It only shows the Jody Clark portrait but, as I stated, there is one from Ian Rank-Broadley!

Edited February 24, 2016 by Geordie582
Loose fingers!!

[Geordie582 18]

Sorry! Didn't notice the garbage after 'Catalogue'.

[mrbadexample 985]

On 2/23/2016 at 8:32 PM, PWA 1967 said:

You found me one yet Jon.......

Sorry, Pete, didn't realise you wanted one too. I'll fish one out in a bit.

[Nutsaboutcoins 105]

@Chris Perkins Thank you so much for the info, I haven't seen any info on the £2 with the wrong edge lettering, as an aside does that class as a mule?

I'll be buying your 2016 book as soon as it is out Chris

There also seems to be anomalies in the numbering in spinks, numbering pre and post 2015 for some coins, it looks as if they got some references wrong/changed when they split the decimals into a new book. It cant be easy keeping track of the massive output of the mint these days, especially when cataloging with effectively numbers as they can so easily get transposed incorrectly. 

@Geordie582 As far as I'm aware, there are 2 full sets of 2015 coins one with IRB, the other with JC's portrait, at least in sets if not in circulation.

In my opinion the increased number  of varieties the mint is producing is totally down to them wanting to raise as much profit as possible, why sell one proof set per year when you can sell 2 or 3.

 

Ian..

[Chris Perkins 223]

53 minutes ago, Nutsaboutcoins said:

@Chris Perkins Thank you so much for the info, I haven't seen any info on the £2 with the wrong edge lettering, as an aside does that class as a mule?

I'll be buying your 2016 book as soon as it is out Chris

There also seems to be anomalies in the numbering in spinks, numbering pre and post 2015 for some coins, it looks as if they got some references wrong/changed when they split the decimals into a new book. It cant be easy keeping track of the massive output of the mint these days, especially when cataloging with effectively numbers as they can so easily get transposed incorrectly. 

In my opinion the increased number  of varieties the mint is producing is totally down to them wanting to raise as much profit as possible, why sell one proof set per year when you can sell 2 or 3.

 

Ian..

In the last edition of the Decimal book I managed to completely omit a silver proof only crown. I think everything's covered in the version which will be ready in a couple of weeks. I don't think the RM (that I view simply as a quite ruthless money making machine that are actually turning people away from coins in the long run) know what they're doing either, they seem to willy nilly launch random coins, many of which are not actual circulating coins. So I can understand the Spink confusion. I have the 2015 decimal Spink book and the numbers seems to be all over the place, but a lot of that is probably due to the old throw back of listing by coin type, i.e. the different portraits, rather than simply chronologically for each denomination, both real denominations and the recently made up ones!

I wouldn't class the silver proof £2 coins as mules with just the wrong edge lettering, but it's certainly something similar as it was clearly a human error to set them up with the wrong edge.

Talking of mules, another one exists and so far only 2 are known - 2009 10p with the (wrong) crowned lion reverse instead of the Dent shield section. That's one that would easily be overlooked in change.