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It sits happily alongside its soulmates, Mostly Smooth, Almost Undulating and Guaranteed Effectively Flat (That's the TPGs' designation)

No it was some other tgread Peck but i really can't remember which but i think it was something to do with cleaning coins and was around a year ago

Hi Azda, Would like to see that coin. Any idea of the thread name? Regards Mark I have an uneasy feeling - perhaps Dave will confirm? - that it was 'Coin Aquisition [sic] of the Week'. Good luck trying to find it in there...

Basically, it was the obverse design - there was far too much metal on the high profile first series George V portrait (compare it to the Edward VII larger head but much shallower relief); this caused not only weakness to parts of the reverse designs* but also the notorious 'ghosting' problem seen especially on pennies, halfpennies, florins, shillings and even sixpences. (*metal was 'sucked away' from the reverse) It drove the Mint demented trying to eliminate the problem which is why you see so many experiments going on: the 1911 hollow necks, the 1913 pennies, the 1915/16 recessed ear pennies, and the entire modification in 1920 that saw a shallower portrait. Of course, it wasn't finally sorted out until the Modified Effigy of 1925/26. But this is why so often Britannia has a weak face and chest, lion heads are weak, etc.

Wow, someone got a bargain with that 1931. I'd figure scott, but the grade's too high...

No, mine only had periphial toning Peck, i would never dip anything as heavy as the OPs, it won't do it any favours. I posted my "before and after" results on the forum somewhere.

Buy a jar of Goddards Silver Dip. Lower the halfcrown into it and keep there for NO MORE THAN 10 SECONDS. Lift out and IMMEDIATELY rinse. Examine - if it looks good, dry by dabbing carefully with a clean towel. But if halfway to improvement, try another 10 seconds, then rinse and dab dry. Don't dip for any longer or you risk an artificial and 'dipped' look to the coin. Ultimately, it's your decision, but that halfcrown looks rather too heavily toned with all its lustre hidden; dipping briefly might be just what it needs.

Forget the 'mushy Britannia' - that is absolutely normal and standard for most GV pennies between 1911 and 1921 (the recessed ear varieties excepted). Yes, the obverse hair detail is faint, and that occurs often on the Heaton and Kings Norton pennies 1918-19 because they used dies way beyond their sell-by date. You would expect to pay a premium for a well struck-up obverse, but on your example, the fact of near full lustre kind of offsets that. I've seen a lot stronger UNC strike (London Coins?, a few years ago), but the lustre on yours is the first I've seen with that amount. Swings and roundabouts.