1896 Old Head Penny

[Accumulator 52]

Continuing to go through my coins...

I have an 1896 penny which clearly has much bolder T.B. initials. In particular the full stops are almost as big as the stops between IND & IMP. It's a very noticeable difference and can easily be seen with the naked eye. Has anyone come across this?

Below is a scan showing a typical Obverse 1 with the usual tiny lettering and stops. Underneath is the coin with bolder lettering.

[azda 973]

Continuing to go through my coins...

I have an 1896 penny which clearly has much bolder T.B. initials. In particular the full stops are almost as big as the stops between IND & IMP. It's a very noticeable difference and can easily be seen with the naked eye. Has anyone come across this?

Below is a scan showing a typical Obverse 1 with the usual tiny lettering and stops. Underneath is the coin with bolder lettering.

Well now thats strange, i just took a wee looksy at mine and it doesn't have any designer name there at all

Edited February 25, 2011 by azda

[scott 129]

it is there but faint, this happens all the way through the series though

[azda 973]

2 blobs

Edited February 25, 2011 by azda

[£400 for a Penny ? 0]

Weaker strike I guess.

[Rob 3,002]

Weaker strike I guess.

I'd go for lower relief which would be easier to block up such that clarity is reduced. Fill a 1mm deep hole to a depth of 0.1mm and you probably won't notice; fill a 0.15mm or 0.1mm deep hole to the same depth and any design will almost or completely disappear.

[Gary 7]

Weaker strike I guess.

I'd go for lower relief which would be easier to block up such that clarity is reduced. Fill a 1mm deep hole to a depth of 0.1mm and you probably won't notice; fill a 0.15mm or 0.1mm deep hole to the same depth and any design will almost or completely disappear.

What Rob said. If you look at the darker coin you will see that the legend is also bolder and stands out more, probably an early strike. I have checked mine and they are both different. One has a worn T and a missing first full stop and the other one is as your bright 96.

[SionGilbey 1]

Another bold one:

[Peckris 579]

Looking at your "bolder" example, all the legend shows signs of a double bounce (everything's a bit doubled), which would be enough to blur such tiny letters (and the initials TB are well blurred along with the larger dots). That's what I think may have happened.

[1949threepence 3,366]

I've checked my old head Viccies, all of which are UNC, and I can see the initials on all of them, although they are faint, and (if I didn't know) I wouldn't be able to make out what they said without the aid of a magnifying glass.