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Nobody should worry about the authenticity of most coins. The contemporary copies are much rarer than the genuine articles and would sell for a premium usually. Given the number of genuinely uncirculated coins out there, copies are likely a very tiny fraction of the total output for currency issues, so the numbers don't cause me or many others sleepless nights. Multiple examples are soon flagged up in any case. You could even say that all coins are bought because it appeals to the buyer, so if a copy looks better than the real deal, there is nothing fundamentally wrong in paying the same price as for a genuine coin. Authenticity concerns about general circulating currency seem to be mainly an American issue, presumably driven by the TPGs who use it as a selling point for their services. A complete triumph of marketing over relevance. If it doesn't cost much to acquire, you won't lose much if it's iffy. If you are betting the house on something's authenticity, then doing due diligence is a prerequisite for being a buyer in the first place, unless you are a gullible idiot with more money than sense. The pertinent information can be sourced by any buyer - if they can be arsed. Many issues have by now suffered a near total loss of the original mintage for a given year, so the occurrence of new die numbers for a particular year shouldn't come as a surprise. Think along the lines of 1838 sovereigns, where 100K out of a mintage of just over 2 million were melted from the Smithsonian bequest to name just one event. The number of shipwrecks in the 19th century one would assume offered a similar attritional rate to many years' populations given the gold was used for international business settlements. I only have one person actively seeking new die numbers and he is in the Crewe Society, but that doesn't include for each date and is really only a fun side project (AS COLLECTING SHOULD BE). Another used to go to Wakefield before we moved to Huddersfield, but I think he has stopped and sold up.

Ok thanks ! I'm going to leave it as is. Not worth messing with.

Aethelstan (924-939) Æthelred II (978-1016) now these are going to be rarities......... I think the earliest Hammered Penny I have is a John 1204 ish

There certainly appear to be significant remnants of the "H" on this one, look again. I have a GVF 1882 but of the wrong overall type that I bought off Colin Cooke many years ago. It has no sign of an "H". To me, this coin is a bit like the USA 1922 "no D" cent, where all coins were known to be struck at the Denver mint but some with the "D" polished away. The mintmark was variously said to not show as the die was filled or worn or both & so many middle spectrum coins. I am still not sure how in the case of this cent or the OP 1882 coin how it can be ruled out that mintmarks were committed from die prep on any reverse dies even if the coin is not of accepted reverse type for "genuine" no-H coins.

Welcome to the forum @Sam5. I would say the H on that one is as clear as you would expect with that level of wear.

Very difficult to tell what the black stuff is. In some ways it looks like excessive patina, but the stuff by Britannia's bicep looks thicker. I would go through the same sequence, starting with warm soapy water, and if that doesn't shift it, on to Acetone. This may reveal underlying Verdigris, in which case you are onto the Sodium Sesquicarbonate or Verdicare options. I suspect nothing will shift it without taking off all the rest of the patina, turning the coin pink. If you do get to that stage, there is a way of restoring some of the patina: if you apply a thin coat of vegetable oil and then leave the coin on a sunny windowledge the dark patina will slowly return. Don't hold me responsible if none of this works!

The black stuff goes right across the coin from VIC GRA

@ggx51 I hope you dont me mind me asking a similar question in this post. @Paddy do you have a suggestion please for the black crud to the left of Britannia's bicep, its quite soft. Originially I was going to sell this coin but it has grown on me alot I love the size and thickness of the coin and decided to keep it.

Hi, would this coin be one of the coins without the H stamp please, hard to see and to tell I guess Thank you

Was immediately drawn to the image in a museum recently and noted the mismatch with the text 😄 Mind you, they had a few coin hoards on display though! Lewes Castle, for anyone interested.

I find it interesting that we'll argue for days whether a letter is pointing at a tooth or gap or if a tide is high or low on a penny, but no one is interested in Victorian die numbers, which are as clear as day and surely worth studying and would throw up new and possibly unique dies. Some of the money paid for what seems like tiny and obscure penny varieties really astounds me. We're a strange bunch, and I include myself in that statement; I'll spend ages identifying the die pairing on a Rhuddlan cut half, or even a quarter, and could easily get interested in said penny varietes, but I have no plans to do so. Yet. I think I'll steer clear of the die numbers too TBH. Hmm, there's a lot of die number shillings on ebay... 🐰

Hopefully these give an idea 😂

Looks good! There are ways of shrinking images to the 500Kb limit - depends on you operating system. I think there are tips in the technical section. (I know what to do in Windows but I am hopeless with anything else!)

I’ve tried but keeps saying file size to big, even after allowing format change, so may have to upload in different parts!

I am glad it worked so easily. It looks like a nice coin - any chance of pics of the whole?

The alleged 1858/3 penny was discussed on the forum about 5 years ago, and I put a few reference pictures on that might be useful to share again:- 1858/3 Penny - Page 3 - British Coin Related Discussions & Enquiries - The British Coin Forum - Predecimal.com If you scroll down the page there are several posts with additional pictures. Hope this is helpful reference

As Paddy mentions... circulated coins can benefit with a long soak in warm soapy water...a ultra fine/soft tooth brush will remove a multitude of crud and hand grime.... rinse off with fresh cold water.... I tend to let them air dry rather than rub them,,,, it works well for me 👍

Thanks very much paddy! As you can see it’s gone! Just soaked in warm water & washing up liquid, you’re a star!!

I have no doubt it is genuine, but I am not sure anyone is chasing down new die numbers that seriously anymore. As @Rob intimated, newly identified ones turn up quite regularly - another reason not to go down that rabbit hole! 😄

I live in the U.S. and inherited several coins (including this one) from my German grandfather. I'm by no means an expert but I've had the coin looked at by an expert who says it is authentic. I'm happy to provide any info I can to help with historical data.

Hi paddy thanks the reply, the photo is in colour, that’s what it looks like. The coin is actually a Victoria young head crown, not a sixpence, thanks for the advise, I’ll give it a go!