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declanwmagee

1861 Halfpennies

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I thought this would be a nice job for a lazy Boxing Day but it's turned into a bit of a headache. I'm trying to match up the Die classification for 1861 Halfpennies used by Freeman and Peck. I do have both books, so I didn't think it would be too hard. Trouble is, both authors seem to use completely different identifiers. I don't have enough of the actual coins to do it that way, so I'm having to go by their descriptions.

This is as far as I have got:

Freeman:

Obv 3 -

Obv 4 - Peck Obv 3

Obv 5 - Peck Obv 4

Obv 6 -

Obv 7 - Peck Obv 5

Peck:

Obv 2* -

Freeman:

Rev D -

Rev E - Peck Rev C*

Rev F -

Rev G -

Peck:

Rev E -

Rev F -

I can't believe I'm the first person to ever try this. Has anyone got any further and can help me fill those blanks?

Sorry to be so autistic, but it's a big messy area in my database!

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Progress update:

Freeman Rev G (door on LH) = Peck Rev F (sea crosses linear circle)

You'd think then, that :

Freeman Rev F = Peck Rev E, but...

Freeman F (four vertical lines for lantern) can't be the same as Peck E (lantern has rounded top but shows no vertical lines)

Edited by declanwmagee

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Wouldn't that be great, Scott! Unfortunately neither Peck nor Freeman have good enough pictures to start counting lines on lighthouse lanterns. For that you'd need high grade coins, in hand. Which, of course, I don't have either!

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Appendix III in Freeman's book provides a correlation of Obverse and Reverse die types between Peck and his (Freeman's) notation for pennies, halfpennies and farthings on pages 201-205. Hope this helps...

Best Regards,

InforaPenny

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Well would you believe it! There it is. I've only had the book about 10 years!

Thank you for that!

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Well I feel pretty stupid in the cold light of morning; not only did I not find Appendix III of Freeman, I also realised that I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to match Freeman Halfpennies to Peck Pennies.

Dearie me.... :rolleyes:

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Well I feel pretty stupid in the cold light of morning; not only did I not find Appendix III of Freeman, I also realised that I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to match Freeman Halfpennies to Peck Pennies.

Dearie me.... :rolleyes:

You're not on your own! I had also starting looking through a couple of my old images to see if I could pair anything up! Doh!

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Well I feel pretty stupid in the cold light of morning; not only did I not find Appendix III of Freeman, I also realised that I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to match Freeman Halfpennies to Peck Pennies.

Dearie me.... :rolleyes:

Was alcohol to blame? :D

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I had mentally corrected the list you put up and was looking for images of each obv & rev. Now the errors are put into perspective it is clear that you can refine the pairs to six categories as follows-

obverse/reverse

obverse/obverse

reverse/reverse

obverse uniface

reverse uniface

blank metal disc

The last is the commonest variety. :D

Edited by Rob
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Well I feel pretty stupid in the cold light of morning; not only did I not find Appendix III of Freeman, I also realised that I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to match Freeman Halfpennies to Peck Pennies.

Dearie me.... :rolleyes:

Now there's a few hours of your life you'll never get back :D

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Well I feel pretty stupid in the cold light of morning; not only did I not find Appendix III of Freeman, I also realised that I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to match Freeman Halfpennies to Peck Pennies.

Dearie me.... :rolleyes:

You're not on your own! I had also starting looking through a couple of my old images to see if I could pair anything up! Doh!

Me too - I've had Freeman for a mere 34 years and only just realised it had that Appendix III :D

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Well I feel pretty stupid in the cold light of morning; not only did I not find Appendix III of Freeman, I also realised that I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to match Freeman Halfpennies to Peck Pennies.

Dearie me.... :rolleyes:

You're not on your own! I had also starting looking through a couple of my old images to see if I could pair anything up! Doh!

Me too - I've had Freeman for a mere 34 years and only just realised it had that Appendix III :D

He said you used to make him a bit sore B) Peck the Kidneywiper :rolleyes:

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Well, armed with Appendix III, I just did 1874 pennies - another area I'd been avoiding. Did them in five minutes flat.

Hurrah! :)

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Well, armed with Appendix III, I just did 1874 pennies - another area I'd been avoiding. Did them in five minutes flat.

Hurrah! :)

Lashings of ginger beer all round...those first dripping buds were always too strong for me.I spent a night speaking to a horse. ;)

My steering wheel home after a Tree fair was bigger than the London Eye.That was a long time ago. :)

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Well, armed with Appendix III, I just did 1874 pennies - another area I'd been avoiding. Did them in five minutes flat.

Hurrah! :)

Lashings of ginger beer all round...those first dripping buds were always too strong for me.I spent a night speaking to a horse. ;)

My steering wheel home after a Tree fair was bigger than the London Eye.That was a long time ago. :)

:lol:;)

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Can offer you some hi-res pictures of all the reverses (bar Freeman proof reverse R)and obverses (bar Freeman proof obverse 18) via my CD of 'Victoria's Halfpennies' should you wish to get in touch for further details. Mal Lewendon post-712-022830100 1358785396_thumb.jpg

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Can offer you some hi-res pictures of all the reverses (bar Freeman proof reverse R)and obverses (bar Freeman proof obverse 18) via my CD of 'Victoria's Halfpennies' should you wish to get in touch for further details. Mal Lewendon post-712-022830100 1358785396_thumb.jpg

Hello Mal. How much is it to buy that CD? Looks like a very useful resource for what seems to be an understudied series...

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Can offer you some hi-res pictures of all the reverses (bar Freeman proof reverse R)and obverses (bar Freeman proof obverse 18) via my CD of 'Victoria's Halfpennies' should you wish to get in touch for further details. Mal Lewendon post-712-022830100 1358785396_thumb.jpg

I have Mal's CD, it is a very useful reference! Great pictures (examples)!

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I recommend the CD to anyone who collects half-pennies...

I'd certainly like one.

Mal? Could you flog me one? :)

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I have to admit I would also be interested

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