what is it

[Guest dave_I'm_a_Guest]

i have a four pence piece, silver about the size of a modern 5p, dated 1837, it has brittania on the reverse and on the front a man with a roman swept forward sort of haircut and a paunchy look. the coin reads"gulielmus IIII d.g. brittianiar (not spelling mistake) rex f.d. Any body know anything about this also have 1894 gold soveriegn and 1906 half soveriegn id like to know rough value of.

many thanks

[Emperor Oli 0]

That Roman would be our King William IV. It is indeed a four pence, although more commonly called a groat. Value depends on condition, but average circulation would probably put it at around £10. I can't value the gold as I sold my other books and I only have Collector's Coins at the minute I'd reckon around bullion value, but again it depends on condition.

Edit: Translation - William IV By the Grace of God King of the Britons and Defender of the Faith.

Edited October 26, 2004 by Emperor Oli

[Master Jmd 50]

Sovereign (providing it is in mint condition) = £100

Half Sovereign (providing it is in mint condition):

BP = £60

M = £1300

(The BP is the engravers initials (of the london type), and the M is for the Malbourne mint...both of these letters are found in the exergue (where the date is )

Edited October 26, 2004 by Master Jmd

[Chris Perkins 223]

The mint letter M will NOT be in the exergue, it'll be just above it on the ground below the horses right rear hoof. It's important also to stress that 90% of half or full sovereigns are worth around £26 and £52 respectively unless they are alsolutely one of the best examples available.

Always be careful with quoting raw catalogue values at people JMD, as coins have to be judged on their merits and doing so often raises artificial hopes.

[Emperor Oli 0]

Was I about right with B.V?

[Chris Perkins 223]

Yes sovereigns are always worth BV, it's just the high graders that are usually worth a bit more. For example bullion value is about £52 per sovereign and I've been selling 1925 S UNC sovs for between £58 - £79. They catalogue at £75, but usually go for less on ebay.