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Thanks to Chris for pointing this on out to me. Well i seem to be devoid of 1992 20ps.

Chris asked if there were two varieties known of the 1992 20ps thinking he'd read it somewhere.

So i took a look at the ones i have, unfortunately the only ones i could find were dated 1989, 1993 and 1995.

Comparing the 1989 to the 1993/5 examples the obverse portrait on the latter specimens is clearly different (how had i not noticed this?) the obverse is bigger on the later ones. The Queen's crown is much nearer the inside edge of the pentagon.

The question is when did the portrait change? I have a feeling it might be 1992 and this would back up Chris' initial question.

I'm going to have to go looking for some 1992 20ps.

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I didn't read it somewhere, I was told it by Mr DLF Sealy, President of the London Numismatic Society and friend of Mr Peck himself (Mr Sealy's name is mentioned in Peck here and there).

Apparently there are two different head sizes on 1992, and the smaller is less sharply struck. One of them is rarer, but I can't remember which (probably the smaller)! I've sent Mr Sealy a letter recently, he may have other knowledge well worth extracting!

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Ah well Chris you didn't actually tell me where you'd got the info from, so i just stuck in the usual, 'must have read it somewhere'.

I must admit i've never actually heard of the guy, but then again i've never even seen a copy of Peck's book as it lacks a certain silvery quality to the contents. ;)

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The question is when did the portrait change? I have a feeling it might be 1992 and this would back up Chris' initial question.

I'm going to have to go looking for some 1992 20ps.

I, too, am missing the 1992. I checked what I have, and the 1991 is indeed a smaller bust than the 1993, which further supports the 1992 theory. I guess I am going to have to start hunting down some '92's on this side of the pond. Probably need to check out a few Proof and BU sets, to see which version(s) they carry.

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I've just completed a trawl through a jar of about £80's worth of 20p's and have come up with only 4 1992's, only one of the smaller head. So I guess you would say they are scarce, even the large heads, even though there were over 31 million minted! :unsure:

Edited by Geordie582

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Yes, Mr Sealy said they are all rare (1992 20p's). I wonder if that 31 million number includes coins dated 1993......Very probably, so the 1992 number is perhaps much lower.

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Yes! I was quoting Coincraft who dont seem to discriminate between types of issue each year.

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I'm gonna say i have seen 1992 20 pences many times, certainly much more than say 1988 £1 coins. So they can't be that rare.

Although i never noticed the obverse change. Took 13 years and then only when someone pointed it out. Whichever issue is in the BU/Proof sets there's not much point hoarding that variety. Unless of course it's more complicated and both exist in BU/Proof sets (just that one is rarer), or perhaps one type is proof and the other is BU.

Even if there is only one variety in the sets, there's no way of being able to tell which it is until you see a set. Generally you might be inclined to think the new version would be the one in the sets, however looking at usual mint practice it's usually the older variety, thinking of the bronze 1992 coins here.

I have a feeling the small head variety is the one in the set (which presumably could also be the rarer of the two). Meaning the common varient is entirely in circulation and thus will be more common in circulated grades but very rare in UNC. (How confusing could that be?) This is exactly what's happening with the 1992 10p pieces. The type 1 with the wire edge predominates but none of them are in proof or mint sets. Whereas the uncommon type 3 variant is what's in all the sets. Type 4 and 5 are rare and in no sets.

1992 was one year of major change. Anything to report on the 5 pence piece, any varieties of that?

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Coin yearbook lists this as "enhanced effigy" (at half the price of the previous version).

I don't have a 1992 20p at all!

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Guest James

I have been quite lucky from what I have read. I went through £15 roughly of 20p's from all years, just a general savings of coins and found 2 1992 20 pence pieces. One, with the larger portrait and one with smaller portrait. Any suggestions on how much the pair would sell together for (I've not seen a pair on the internet yet!) and if it would make much of a difference, any suggestions on how much they would sell individually for?

Thank you in advance.

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22 minutes ago, Guest James said:

I have been quite lucky from what I have read. I went through £15 roughly of 20p's from all years, just a general savings of coins and found 2 1992 20 pence pieces. One, with the larger portrait and one with smaller portrait. Any suggestions on how much the pair would sell together for (I've not seen a pair on the internet yet!) and if it would make much of a difference, any suggestions on how much they would sell individually for?

Thank you in advance.

At the current level of the £ i'd suggest about 15p each

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32 minutes ago, Guest James said:

I have been quite lucky from what I have read. I went through £15 roughly of 20p's from all years, just a general savings of coins and found 2 1992 20 pence pieces. One, with the larger portrait and one with smaller portrait. Any suggestions on how much the pair would sell together for (I've not seen a pair on the internet yet!) and if it would make much of a difference, any suggestions on how much they would sell individually for?

Thank you in advance.

Assuming they are general circulated coins, not a great deal. Yes one of the two types is scarcer than the other, but collectors of decimal coins are usually only interested in high grade coins or varieties. In many cases, they won't even be aware that there are two varieties for this date/denomination. Plus, of course collectors of decimal are not usually expecting to pay big money for their coins, since most can be obtained from change as they are issued. My guess is maybe £5 the pair, if somebody out there wants the scarcer  type.

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55 minutes ago, james_ashby said:

Ok, thankyou. What about an Isle of Man Subaru Impreza Ford Escort Cosworth 20p from 1996

One recently sold for £3.20, in average circulated condition 

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3 hours ago, DaveG38 said:

Assuming they are general circulated coins, not a great deal. Yes one of the two types is scarcer than the other, but collectors of decimal coins are usually only interested in high grade coins or varieties. In many cases, they won't even be aware that there are two varieties for this date/denomination. Plus, of course collectors of decimal are not usually expecting to pay big money for their coins, since most can be obtained from change as they are issued. My guess is maybe £5 the pair, if somebody out there wants the scarcer  type.

Should also have suggested that you try your luck on eBay and let the coins find their price.

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An interesting thread - I certainly had never noticed the change in the 20p obverse design. For years I have put away one of every coin each year from circulation, upgrading where possible to the best I could find. Here are my examples from 1991, 1992 and 1993. Now I can see clearly the change from 1991 to 1992 - the most obvious indicators to me seem to be the distance from the tip of the crown to the edge and the angles in the points of the bust. Now I just need to spot a 1992 with the smaller bust!

 

20ps.jpg

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ahh these, I actually found one of the large head 1992s in change, haven't seen one pre 1995 (bar your 1982...) for a while.

I do have both types

970769.jpg

972096.jpg

the neck is also slightly different

Edited by scott

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Guest Brogan

Hi!

so I was in work the other day and opened a brand new uncirlated bag of 2016 20ps as I was putting in to the till this one here caught my eye, it was the only one in the bag like it. 

It's looks as if the sun was is behind the queen with all the lines going around her head? There is loads of perfect lines going from the queen to the outer edge of the coin?

dies anyone know if it's classed as a rare coin? I can't seem to find one like it anywhere on the internet? 

If be very grateful for a Responce! 

My picture quality isn't grate but you can kind of see the severity it.

 If you need a clearer picture I'll try my best to see what I can do.

 

thank you

IMG_0432.JPG

IMG_0433.JPG

IMG_0434.JPG

IMG_0435.JPG

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Hi and welcome to the forum!

A strange effect on that one... If you just want to know value, it's still going to be 20p unfortunately. Maybe on eBay someone will pick it up as a curio, but I doubt anyone would pay more than a quid or so.

As to how that happened, I've actually no idea. Could be a severe die clash or a bad die, I'm interested what others think.

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That's the second in the past week to come on the forum with a similar state of a 20p. Royal mint at its best, lack of quality control, i suspect there will be quite a few of these bouncing about very shortly

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