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Gary

1861 Halfpenny

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Hello,

are there any halfpenny experts amongst you?

I am looking for any reference to an 1861 Halfpenny, R over B in BRITT.

Freeman, Gouby, Dracott, Spink, Coincraft, Coin Year Book and Collectors Coins GB have no mention of this error. Has anyone ever heard of it or indeed seen it mentioned anywhere? Does any one have a copy of Peck and would be so kind as to see if this coin is mentioned by him?

Thank you,

Gary

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Hi Gary

Nothing in Peck....if there was,Freeman and Gouby would have listed it.

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Thanks Peter,

anyone want to see a picture of this coin? anyone interested?

Gary

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Thanks Peter,

anyone want to see a picture of this coin? anyone interested?

Gary

Yes please

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Absolutely Gary

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ok, here it is

post-32-1131616918_thumb.jpg

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:ph34r: and the whole Obv. This coin is also missing a chunk of the linear circle and part of the orament on the trident.

post-32-1131617114_thumb.jpg

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Guest Guest

That is clear.

Now try and get it recorded. :blink:

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That's very clear isn't it! Reminds me of the BBIT George IV Shilling!

I see no reason why I shouldn't list it in CCGB2007, even if there is no price data.

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Which reverse is it? Picture if possible please

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The Rev is G. Or have I missed something? As said, the Linear Circle is broken over a width of almost 3 Teeth, above P of PENNY and the Ornament which hangs from the lefthand side of the Trident head is flawed.

I have posted a large picture here

1861 R over B Rev 1063x1060 Pixels

This file is 220 KB so it could take a while to load if you are using a modem.

How do I go about getting this error documented? Chris, are you serious about listing it next year, would you want to see it first?

Regards

gary

post-32-1131664315_thumb.jpg

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Yes, absolutely. It would be great to have an 'exclusive' and to show the picture of the quarter showing the R/B.

Getting official recognition will probably take until some brave soul takes on an update of Freeman (or creates an all new book covering halfpennies).

  • Like 1

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I discussed the possibility of a new book/paper on 1/2d's with Colin Cooke about a year ago.

He was keen on using Dr Nicholsons collection as a base.

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Not much chance of that happening now, for obvious reasons.

I also spoke to Gouby (saw him Saturday actually) and he's always meaning to update his penny book. Trouble is, it's so much work you really need to have a spare few years to dedicate to that kind of thing.

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Hi Chris,

if you want to use the photo please feel free, after all it`s only a photo and if we can make collectors aware that this error is out there then maybe more will turn up. As for an exclusive, well the picture is now posted on this forum and I think you know enough about computers to know what that means!

If you want to use a photo of it in the 2007 CCGB then I will speak with a friend of mine who is a professional photographer and see if she can do better, without the flash glare.

The story behind this coin-

Bought among a Lot of coins at a german Auktion (a real auction). There were several 1861 halfpennies among the coins, they were all grubby and dirty and I did not pay much attention to them. I removed the coins that I wanted to keep for my own collection and offered the rest on a german auction site (not ebay) for sale, among them this halfpenny which I`d priced at Euro 4,00 !

On this site I also had an 1860 F17 penny in NEF for sale. I had an enquiry from the USA and sold the coin to a Gary.S. After he had recieved the coin he wrote to me reference another coin, an 1861 halfpenny which he pointed out could be an F 278 (Rarity 16). It was only then that I removed all the 1861 Halfpennies and looked at them closely for the first time. The rest history. I nearly sold this coin for 4 Euros!

Just goes to show, do not dismiss a coin even if its grubby and dirty!

Happy hunting,

Gary

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What a great find!!

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I have had an offer for this coin, although it is not for sale and is now housed in my own collection.

The offer was for US$ 350, not bad, maybe I should have sold, naw!

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Another one has turned up. This one is in much better condition, my grade nEF with lustre.

The overstrike is slightly different (see scan). The one on the right is the original one and on the left, the new find.

post-44-1142954685_thumb.jpg

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and the whole coin,

post-44-1142954871_thumb.jpg

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by the way, although the reverse of this coin also has the break in the linear circle this is not an indicator that the Obv is the R over B variety. I have found others that have the break where the Obv. is normal.

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Hi Gary,

Congratulations on finding another R/B half penny..... I think that they are apparently the same, as the top of the R, which looks like it's doubled or such, is actually slightly damaged..... If you look at the R where the apparent doubling occurs, it's NOT the same shape as a normal R, but rather narrower... If you laid the R's on top of each other, I think that they would match perfectly ....... Of course it's impossible to tell with any certainty without direct examination, but that's my first opinion.....

Regards

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Yes, I had thoughts along those lines to. If you look at the T`s they also show signs of being double struck.

I was quite chuffed to find another one, as you know, the first one is no longer in my possession ;)

Now, 2 known examples, are there any more, I think so.

Happy Hunting.

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If you compare the I's, they both look identical, with the same imperfections...

Also, the linear circle about 5-6 teeth before Britt is clearly recut on the original specimen and appears to be the same on the 2nd example...

It's not clear in the image, but I think that I can see the same flaw at that point... A clearer image or direct examination would settle the matter as to whether this is the same die or not.....

post-44-1143034304_thumb.jpg

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a third example has now turned up, see scan.

Not super, struggles to reach nF. I will probably be selling this one on on Ebay in the near future.

Eyes open!!

close up

post-439-1162050039_thumb.jpg

post-439-1162050128_thumb.jpg

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a third example has now turned up, see scan.

Not super, struggles to reach nF. I will probably be selling this one on on Ebay in the near future.

Eyes open!!

close up

Hmm. The frequency with which these are appearing suggests not as rare as might initially be thought. Surprising that nobody has noted it before.

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