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Ah ! So prompted by Paddy I delved back into a box of duplicates, high grades & oddities that are to good to part with, I wasn't sure if I had any variations of the 1887 Shilling, I don't have the young head, only the second portrait.....none in the duplicate box...aha I did find another 1872 this one has the Die No 29....Memo: this was kept as at some point you could be assed to move the coins to create a space so Die No 29 will slot in with the other 1872.....!?!? it also has a deformed N in Britanniar .... ....Yes a Rabbit Hole...but its a ocd world I seem to be living in.... 😟

Thank you very much ! That F148 is really nice, amazing find. I dont expect to find another F90, wont stop me looking though.... 1861 2+F maybe a tricky one to find although the 1863 F44 slender 3 Freemans own example was thought to unique for many years then three more examples turned up. It's a monumental challenge especially unattributed to try and find all the types. If there is one 2+F I have hope there is more. Same for the other types.

That's an amazing stroke of luck to find an Freeman 90 unattributed. I've been collecting for twenty years and have made some fantastic finds , but have never seen an F90 for sale any where other than in a specialist auction . I have though had the luck back in January to find an 1897 F148 in AU condition after searching all that time. Examples turn up but normally in poor condition . My example is pictured below. But good luck with your quest to find an example of all Victoria pennies as some are thought to be unique , such as the F19 1861 2+F

What the heck, Im just going to share it ! So pleased it's the reverse which is in better condition. I know on these rarities grade is kind of irrelevant but what is your opinion please? Thanks

I find a indentifier like this then simply search high and low and open as many examples on the computer in seperate windows once I have 20-30 coins open in the browser go through each one focussing on the identifier only and then close the windows as I check them.

You mention dealers listing the coin in error, in my spreadsheet I have this image which I made which may help you id the type in poor condition and or poor photos in the sellers listing

Thank you ! For 1897V+xBP1897C1+CF148 I can see a brown AU example sold for $1200 through LCA and in Fine grade around $120 and going back to 2004 I can see around 14 examples have been sold through London coins (LCA) If you can settle for an example around (F) Im sure if you persist you can find one or purchase one?. Its probably much less likely to find a high grade coin unattributed. But never say never, I would imagine higher grade coins attract more attention even for standard types meaning more people have checked over the coin.

This makes sense, as it can be used as a whitening agent, like sodium percarbonate. I look forward to more test results.

Congrats. That's a great win. I have similarly been spending hours over several years looking for some varieties, such as high tide 1897 penny. With those, even some attributed (in TPG slabs) are incorrect, let alone dozens of dealers who list it as such, erroneously. With so many bad listings of it, I feel even less likely to find an actual one unattributed. But I keep looking, in madness, haha. I may break down and buy a correctly identified one, even with the markup. I feel aside from maybe 1902, most of the rarer tide variants will just be too tough to acquire, otherwise, esp where I am located.

Hi Does anyone around know how long the delay is on the backorder for the new edition? I finally put in an order, though wish I had done so when it was on-hand. Thanks

I also was thinking of starting simple, with mild warm, soapy water, too, then advancing from there. I am waiting for it to come in the mail, but will try to remember to update here. I am excited to revive this beauty. For anyone curious, link to see pictures of both sides, due picture limitation here https://www.pcgs.com/cert/50443898

I paid $115 incl BP, tax and shipping, so I feel I got it pretty cheap, at least for over here. It has some wear and marks, but overall fairly good condition. It definitely felt worth the gamble to restore it. I think it scared off most bidders, which I was fine with. I am also surprised the grading company did not demand restoration fees, as sometimes I have heard they do.

I would like to try find one example of every known variety. In 3 months I have found two of the rarer coins in the list, I have accepted I may have to purchase a few attributed types but the more I find the more I'm obliged to continue with this challenge. Its unlikely but lets say I did compile a collection of all the known varieties for the bun head penny series. Do people auction complete collections? I plan to invest in books. Does anyone have any books for sale please which may be of use to me.

The overall grade of the coin is really not bad, looking at the other examples my coin is certainly not the lowest grade/condition of the known examples.

I am delighted to share with you my most recent discovery ! I still cant believe it. I search to the point I literally become so sick and tired and just as I'm about to have a break as I cant take no more....... I find something like this, then the motivation is completely replenished. £16 with postage.... I feel a bit bad if im honest, I wouldnt call the seller a dealer but looking at the inventory not sure how they missed this one. I have only included part image of the coin as I would like to let the dust settle, I dont want the UK seller to get wind of it. In time I will share the complete coin.

Using a bain-marie and a thermometer. The temperature fluctuated between 85 and 95°C.

Incidentally, when you did your initial experiment - 100 minutes at 90C - how did you achieve this temperature control?

There is also this one. The reverse is actually quite good.

This experiment was with 5% sesquicarbonate at room temperature for 6 hours. The green spots have gone but the coin looks stripped and cleaned. I'm going to try 2% at room temperature with a shorter contact time.

My EF 1887 Jubilee was £17 By comparison my EF 1887 Young Head (they made both that year) was £33. Melt is currently £8.55.

The 1887 shilling is the commonest of the Jubilee head shillings as it was the first year of issue and many were put aside as souvenirs. The lower one is in much better condition than the other. There are variations to watch out for, which I am not up on, so I would leave it to others to identify if you have any there. Value is better than silver value (0.925), but I have not watched these dates at auction for some years, so hopefully someone else can chip in.

These are fairly standard low grade GV florins. I don't see anything scarce in there. Value is basically the silver value - they are 50% silver so around £65 total for the 7 on todays silver price.

Crickey! pleasantly surprising to realize that on checking I have Half Crowns..... 4x George III, 3x William IIII, 16x Victoria, 2x Edward VII, & 9x George V....its prompted me to look more into these, some a quite good grades....others aren't.... I haven't been overly concerned about the values as getting things in denomination and date order was more of a priority....however.. this will also need looking into. 👍