Victorian pennies-lighthouse-help please.

[Guest hots]

Hello all, We have just cleared out mother-in-law's house and have come into possession of quite a few old coins. Someone has told me that Victorian pennies are worth more if they have a lighthouse next to Britannia, can anyone help us out here please?

We have a bun penny from 1885 with a lighthouse and a victorian penny from1899 without a lighthouse.

Any advice on pennies, shillings and sixpences gratefully recieved.

[Peckris 579]

Hello all, We have just cleared out mother-in-law's house and have come into possession of quite a few old coins. Someone has told me that Victorian pennies are worth more if they have a lighthouse next to Britannia, can anyone help us out here please?

We have a bun penny from 1885 with a lighthouse and a victorian penny from1899 without a lighthouse.

Any advice on pennies, shillings and sixpences gratefully recieved.

Grade for grade, bun pennies (i.e. with lighthouse) are worth more than Old Head pennies without, but condition is absolutely everything. Then rarity, which depends first on the date, and then on any varieties. Neither the 1885 nor 1899 pennies are worth anything unless they are in at least "VF" (Very Fine) condition.

As for shillings and sixpences, again it depends on condition and date. If there are a lot of coins, you could do worse than buy a copy of Collectors Coins GB - click the third picture from the left above.

But please don't get your hopes up - auction rooms are full of dealers grumpily sifting through lots of accumulated coins that Great Aunt Maude threw in a biscuit tin before decimalisation (I was one of them ). By and large, most of it turns out to be basically scrap value.

[Guest hots]

Hello all, We have just cleared out mother-in-law's house and have come into possession of quite a few old coins. Someone has told me that Victorian pennies are worth more if they have a lighthouse next to Britannia, can anyone help us out here please?

We have a bun penny from 1885 with a lighthouse and a victorian penny from1899 without a lighthouse.

Any advice on pennies, shillings and sixpences gratefully recieved.

Grade for grade, bun pennies (i.e. with lighthouse) are worth more than Old Head pennies without, but condition is absolutely everything. Then rarity, which depends first on the date, and then on any varieties. Neither the 1885 nor 1899 pennies are worth anything unless they are in at least "VF" (Very Fine) condition.

As for shillings and sixpences, again it depends on condition and date. If there are a lot of coins, you could do worse than buy a copy of Collectors Coins GB - click the third picture from the left above.

But please don't get your hopes up - auction rooms are full of dealers grumpily sifting through lots of accumulated coins that Great Aunt Maude threw in a biscuit tin before decimalisation (I was one of them ). By and large, most of it turns out to be basically scrap value.

Oh pants. Thankyou very much anyway. I guess we will have to check out the silver and the paintings now, but that's another website...............

[Peckris 579]

Oh pants. Thankyou very much anyway. I guess we will have to check out the silver and the paintings now, but that's another website...............

Before you give up completely, you could always jot down a quick list of the coins - denomination and date - then upload it in a reply here as a Word file attachment, and we could have a quick look down it and see if there is anything that stands out.

Do be aware that any silver coins before 1947 are 50% real silver and can be sold very easily; likewise before 1920 they are near solid silver (ditto).

Otherwise, as a (very) quick guide : shillings dated 1959 with a single upright lion on the reverse are scarce and worth about £1 in average condition. 1930 and 1925 are scarce(ish), and anything before 1911 is ok, especially Edward VII. For sixpences, it's a similar story except the one to look out for is 1952 (£1 - £2 in average condition), then 1923, 1917, and anything before 1911. There's quite a few scarce or rare pennies : 1953, 1951, 1950, 1926, 1919/1918 with a tiny KN or H to the left of the date. Most of what I've mentioned isn't worth very much unless in pretty exceptional condition.

And anything in mint condition, or near mint, or at least very fine before 1937, is worth something.