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Hi, I'm a new here, but I love old coins, and my favourite of them all is the St George and the Dragon Crown Coin designed by Benedetto Pistrucci . I picked one up the other day that looks a bit weird to me, it is in good shape but has clearly been cleaned/polished in the past , but it's so much nicer than all the others I have. However it appears to have a mirror like finish and the helmet tassels all appear doubled, and the cloak edge and parts around his neck also have very fine double edges. I'll post some pictures that try to show it. Is it just a particularly good strike?

Thank you for clearing that up. It's much appreciated

Its a cast museum reproduction ..That mark is on all this type of repro coins. I believe it is Dorchester reproductions that make them /made them.

This coin has recently been handed down as part of my late grandads estate. I dont think its real, but just wanted to make sure before passing it off as a fake. Can anyone verify just from looking at the picture. From what i've read, it shouldn't have the inner circle on the shield side of the coin?

I wonder if it may be Father Andrew Alexander's collection? I made contact with my old school. Father Andrew's collection was passed to his brother on his death. I asked if they could pass on my contact details to the brother, but I have heard nothing since.

There is a collection of pennies in the next London Coins auction with several rare examples that I don't have on my rare penny site. Does anyone know more details of the seller (assuming they don't want to remain anonymous) ?

Ok, but you did say "the US stole the silver from the people as did the UK earlier"

You'll have to be more specific - this topic is 13 years old!

That's exactly what I'm referring to.

To keep things more coin centric and on the subject in hand Im not going to get involved with anything else and it will avoid as said above me taking offence.

Im just going about my quest looking for input on a theory I have put forward and like other posts I feel I have to prove or justify myself. When all I have done and doing is just learning and asking a simple question; what do you think about this ! And instead here we are again with me having to justify/prove that I started collecting penny varieties in Jan. Why does it even matter? I would rather do without the indirect compliments and just stick to coins. Maybe il say this; lets keep it coin related and the question in hand and if you do not wish to get involved and or bothered by me or my question or whatever please just scroll past.

I dont remember asking for financial advice or about purchasing this coin.. As I said it was purchased prior to posting. The coin was cheap enough its a fair buy just for a standard coin in the condition it is. I said I wont post here with questions about my coins so you dont feel party to or obliged to respond but thinking about it you could just scroll on by if you dont want to get involved or do not wish to participate.

Rim edge looks Identical to the image you attached and perfectly normal to me.

Thanks, please see the attached image to see the normal rim edge. No rolling or machined IMO.

That looks a really good shout @jelida

For what it's worth, I do not think this is a very rare thick flan 10+J but rather a normal flan one where the rim has been "rolled" in machinery and slightly compressed thus, and so makes the edge look wider. My evidence for this is a) this was commonly done with many, many bronze predecimal coins, I guess as people were just playing around with lathes etc in workshops, and I personally have many such examples of all bronze denominations and several monarchs, and b) from your photo, the rim itself next to the beads appears to be thin or non-existent, when in reality there should be a distinct rim edge surrounding the beads (see photo of obverse 10 below, taken from Richard's halfpenny website) which is basically where the rolled metal has gone from to form the "thicker" edge. c) The genuine thick flan is R20 for rarity, so VERY few known indeed. Of course, that is not to say another one wouldn't ever turn up, but mathematically one is more likely to find further specimens in the R17-R18 bracket, as you proved with your 1877 narrow date. But of course, one can only be sure when in hand and can be weighed, measured etc. But if you ask opinions from vague photos, be prepared to get vague answers, or indeed an absence of answers in light of the absence of evidence! I wish you luck with this purchase, just as you have had much luck already, but equally you must expect disappointments too... Also, give things a bit more time for feedback: you only posted on Saturday morning - I am replying Monday afternoon!

I suspect it may be related to the Irish obsidional currency , this article may give you a lead. https://oldcurrencyexchange.com/2015/09/03/obrien-rare-coin-review-confederate-catholic-rebel-money-coinage-of-1642-44/ Jerry

The coin was purchased prior to posting here.. To save you being party to any of it il refrain from posting questions about my coins here.

Yeah, I didn’t think it was Celtic myself. It’s definitely similar to some of those examples, but I’m still not sure if it’s lead or silver — I’m leaning more towards lead based on what I’ve seen so far. It’s a very interesting find. Thanks very much for your reply Chris. Yeah Fingers crossed someone recognises it and can ID it. Take care.

No, I don't think it's Celtic. If it is lead then some kind of token similar to this is likely: https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/marc_breitsprecher_classical_numismatist/8/product/england_lead_token__cross/1104924/Default.aspx If it's silver then it could be Anglo-Saxon, as some of those are also similar. Perhaps someone will come along who recognises it! Fingers cross potented 🤔

Hi chris, thanks for the reply. I was thinking it could be lead, and I’ve looked through a lot of images of similar tokens. Keeping in mind that it’s obviously been clipped down, I still haven’t been able to find a close match. A friend of mine also ran it through an AI camera system they have at his workplace, and this was the readout it gave.

It certainly looks old. I tried to find images of small coins with a 'cross potent' (cross with T-shaped ends) but didn't come up with anything very similar. Maybe because parts of your original coin are missing/clipped. Could it be lead? There are some similar looking lead Henry VI-VII cross and pellet tokens.

I have found one of these. Did you ever figure out what it was? Phil Brisbane Australia 2026

It really isn’t reasonable to expect us to influence decisions as to how you spend your money where the facts are not clear cut, and the perspective of other parties photographs is notoriously unreliable when making size or thickness estimations. Some you will get right and some wrong simply because the image does not reflect reality, but it has to be up to you whether to take the plunge. It’s great to hear of a successful rare find or new discovery when it is definite and in the hand and when correct weights and measurements and clear photos can be taken, but we don’t need to be party to your thought processes before the actual facts can be ascertained. And please don’t be so quick to take offence when it is largely not intended, which is in itself offensive and unhelpful. The sources you quote are excellent, and with the addition of Gouby are exactly my primary sources. You are clearly a quick learner, but experience can only be gained over time , often by trial and error which is where you are at now. Jerry

That's fine, but do you think the coin/question of this post is unusual in terms of the apparent thickness. Nobody addressed it. Everyone wants to talk about knowledge or language. Does the appearance of the this halfpenny coin look thicker than normal using the limited info I have put forward. I purchased the coin so will find out sooner rather later anyway. I didnt want to ask the seller for a weight for obvious reason's.