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Never seen this before, pretty weird and interesting :) 1939 Halfcrown with GV REV

I have a set of fake wreath crowns that are very good, it puts me off collecting them as I am not enough of an expert to be sure of what is genuine. I collect copper pennies and have a set of the pre 1860 imitations and a few later ones. They are good but with these I can spot the fakes easily. I keep them all in a box labelled Chinese Fakes.

That is true, although obviously the piece of cutlery which first attracted their attention to what happened, was clearly not itself magnetic, as two magnets repel rather than attract. Yes, the shed was incinerated. There is nothing left of it. Burnt part of the fence down as well. But the house was unaffected as the shed is someway up the garden. It appears lightning isn't always attracted to the highest point. Thanks for the explanations gents - very interesting and enlightening (no pun intended) .

the other thing also is that whilst the coins are light enough to exhibit their strength if the cutlery was affected in some way it would be more difficult to "prove" to yourself that they showed magnetic qualities, the knife is too heavy to stick to the fridge the penny has a large surface area relative to the weight. Did it not cause a fire when it hit the shed?

Just as a magnet moving in a coil will produce electricity (called a power station) and current will flow, so an electrical discharge (current flow) will induce magnetism in a ferrous object. It works both ways.

same thing happens in igneous rocks containing iron, as they freeze out of the magma they align themselves with the position of the magnetic field its a fossil record of the magnetic field.

yes most are copper clad steel cores these days

the coins maybe were more exposed the other cutlery may have been in a drawer surrounded by wood which would have dampened the field as wood is a bad conductor of electrical charge (unless it is damp) The lightning if it did "blow up" the shed was mostly likely trying to touch ground with something metallic do they have an iron washing line stand close by?

I'd hazard a guess they was pennies and two pennies and it has something to do with them being copper clad steel as to why only those coins was affected but how I have no idea

mmmmm if you pass Iron (and a lot of coins have steel centres I think these days) through an electrical current back and forth you can disrupt the normal alignment of the Iron atoms in the lattice which does make the iron bar magnetised you can I believe re-enforce this phenomena by angling the bar at 23.3333 degrees which is the axial angle around which the earth magnetic poles align, although that is a variable angle as the poles wander. Is this temporary yes I think it might well be it might be that the lightening acting as an electrical charge might create a temporary field ...this is essentially the same process that makes and electromagnet. Most steel (and some other metal) objects have a low level of magnetic field around them this would attract the lightning if it was close by. I would say then it is possible if the lightning was that close. Perhaps you could ask your neighbour if you can collect some of the nails from the shed and see if they are magnetised.

I bought 2 Charles 1st shillings at a coin fair from a £2 box. They are clipped and well worn, but still. I did check that the guy knew they were 500 year old shillings and he said he just wanted rid of them as they were beat up. I am sure I got a bargain. £4.00 for 2 Charles 1st shillings. I was very happy. Got a William and Mary half penny for £1 too, worn but nice portrait and readable date - I don't currently have one so that was nice too.