Your oldest change find?

[Sylvester 15]

For me it was that 1920s/30s George V florin.

Next oldest was 1947 and i saw a few hundred of these... 1948 probably many, many hundreds.

1953s were always fun to find too, having the 'BRITT OMN'

[jimmy_goodfella 0]

as a kid i remember getting a few silver sixpences thats about it, had lot of the george shillings ect they were very numerous till about 1980 or so

Edited April 24, 2005 by jimmy_goodfella

[Peter 615]

I must of had 100,s of Pre 47 silver...but I always spent it .

I can honestly say I never saw any pre 1920 silver until I bought it.

The local Silver /gold shop sold me pre 1920 2/6's for £2 each...he had bought a massive collection from Ireland...I did 1912 to 1920 in UNC for £20

[Sylvester 15]

The local Silver /gold shop sold me pre 1920 2/6's for £2 each...he had bought a massive collection from Ireland...I did 1912 to 1920 in UNC for £20

1912 alone would cost double that now.

Mind you it depends when you actually bought them of course.

(If it was 1920 you were fiddled!)

[wybrit 2]

As I mentioned in that other forum, I used to get bun head pennies and halfpennies in change. The best and most readable date was an 1878 halfpenny.

Veiled head Victorians were quite commonly found in change just prior to decimalisation.

Edited April 25, 2005 by wybrit

[Peter 615]

About 4 years ago...i think...I also got a JH 1893 3d for 45p

[krasnaya_vityaz 0]

My brother once found a 1901 Victoria Penny in a tree in a park, evidently a pocket piece, by that time and place it was long out of regular circulation.

[CartwheelTwopence 2]

Non - I have not been around that long! ( I did once find a 1950's halfpenny in a park... )

[Michael-Roo 777]

1969/1970:

1860 and 1861 bun pennies. Worn almost flat, but I still have them.

[ozjohn 552]

The oldest coin I found in change in the UK was an 1849 godless florin while in Australia a 1913 florin which is early for Australian coins other than Sydney and Melbourne mint sovereigns, In the 1960s there were plenty of George V & VI .500 fine silver coins which even then were worth above their face value in silver which was 15/- and ounce while 6 florins (12/-) contained an oz. of silver. .925 George V coins were becoming less common as the price of silver was well above their face value. I still have many of these coins that I saved at the time to this day.

[CartwheelTwopence 2]

To find a godless florin was very impressive. Well done!

[DaveG38 385]

Oldest for me was a George IV 1826 shilling in GVF. I used to work on the till at J Lyons Western Road shop in Brighton and one day a man passed me the coin in payment for a cup of tea. I queried what it was, but gave him 6d change anyway and then swapped the coin for a shilling of my own. The 1826 shilling still resides in my collection - I don't think I would swap it for a better grade given its origins.

[Peckris 579]

I'd go along with Michael - bun penny washers from the early 1860s. I did find one with the last remaining traces a beaded border but I defy even scott to tell if it was a common or rare variety.

I did once find a very worn 1865 and spent several schoolboy hours with a magnifying glass, absolutely convinced I could see the faint traces of a 3. Had I known then that the trace of the 3 in all grades is indeed quite faint, I'd have whooped for joy.

[Chris Perkins 223]

As a kid I found a 1930s florin in change, in the 80s. George VI late 1940s florins and shillings were common. I still sometimes get messages from the people that had saved the Geo VI coins in the 80s/early 90s hoping they may be special one day. They're not.

[Flash 23]

A denarius of, I think, Trajan. Passed off as a 5p and received in bargain booze :-) Sadly it was a fake.

[Beebman 2]

I also found about half a dozen bun penny washers in the late 1960s (which I still have), all but one with a readable date, the oldest being from 1860 which was completely worn flat apart from the exergue. I did however find an 1892 penny which I'd rate as Fair as all lettering was visible.

My Dad owned a shop at the time and he let me look through the tills to find anything of interest which I could swap with my pocket money, and I possibly found some of those pennies there. However I don't remember finding much of interest. I was partcularly looking for pre-1920 silver but all I found was a 1919 shilling which again I still have. I do remember though that was lots of 1920s silver at the time including half-crowns, and many Old Head pennies but only the very occasional (and very worn) OH halfpenny.

[Peckris 579]

I also found about half a dozen bun penny washers in the late 1960s (which I still have), all but one with a readable date, the oldest being from 1860 which was completely worn flat apart from the exergue. I did however find an 1892 penny which I'd rate as Fair as all lettering was visible.

Oh God, I remember my bun pennies well. They were mostly flat washers, or else they were in VG condition and dated either 1890, 1891, or 1892.