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A bit late into the conversation...that's the trouble with this place you walk away for a few days and you miss such a lot!! It is surprising how many people grade these artificially darkened farthings incorrectly. That coin had the darkened surface in place across virtually all of the coin. Don't mistake weak aspects of the design for wear. Many of you would not do this with a bright lustred penny/farthing but people continuously do it with artificially darkened farthings. If the surface coating is in tact the coin has had very little (if any) wear. Even once the coating starts to be lost, it can in actual fact be just a case of lost lustre, and not specifically wear to the coin. I would gladly stand by my assessment of the coin having seen it in hand which I think was at AUNC.

I would also add having now read through the thread in detail, that I do NOT grade my coins with an intention to achieve a specific grade from a TPG, as this is an impossibility. I give my coins a grade that I feel is fair and honest. My regular customers know that if they have any concerns they can return a coin for a full refund without issue, although I don't think this has ever happened to date on a farthing I have sold, although it is easy for a mistake to made and therefore I will accept that this is likely to happen at some point. Grading is so subjective and very difficult to do as a constant, and therefore hopefully my customers go away happy with their purchase and the service they have received. London Coins do not sell there coins at auction with a guarantee that the grades they assign will carry over when assessed by a TPG even if it is their own grading house, and likewise neither do I. It is my opinion and even if the TPG had come back at a VF type figure I would still have stood by my own assessment (even though in this scenario it would appear they are in agreement). Hopefully those people who have dealt with me will know I try to be fair and honest, and have to admit it does feel weird to be on the receiving end of forum scrutiny, but I suppose that is part and parcel of selling coins. Being scrutinised by my peers is something I have never really thought about

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/queen-offers-to-restore-british-rule-over-united-states God Bless Queen Elizabeth, she has deftly offered to liberate us here in the United States from our ruinous politicians. I do believe she may well get my vote.

@Peter my photos may be underselling the coin, but if that is shite then ....... I may as well give up now!! Perhaps you need to have more time studying artificially darkened farthings. The slabbing argument is completely separate...but you are seriously mistaking weakness of strike for wear.

A new addition bought to fill a gap but primarily for the toning....

An interesting thread - I certainly had never noticed the change in the 20p obverse design. For years I have put away one of every coin each year from circulation, upgrading where possible to the best I could find. Here are my examples from 1991, 1992 and 1993. Now I can see clearly the change from 1991 to 1992 - the most obvious indicators to me seem to be the distance from the tip of the crown to the edge and the angles in the points of the bust. Now I just need to spot a 1992 with the smaller bust!

I think somebody's pulling your leg - or one of them, anyway