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Totally get where you are coming from as a writer wishing to surround himself with interesting objet d’art to keep it ‘real.’ There is clearly no better item to inspire and pinpoint a definite place in time than a coin! Rob (above) is a coin dealer and likely has, or could probably source, all the ‘genuine’ items you require! Good luck with the book!

Maybe if you want to find out just look at the dates from 7 to 9 rather than the full width.Gouby also mentions a different 9 i think.... as put the book away now its doing my head in 😉

I personally would rate the reverse GEF, but would stop at EF for the obverse, as there are numerous instances of slight wear - the ribbon, the nose/lips/chin, tips of leaves, bottom of drapery, etc.

Hello everyone! This is my first post on www.predecimal.com. I look forward to participating in your forum and getting to know all of you. Born in the U.S.A., I lived in England during the period 1966-1970. That's when I became fascinated by British coins. Back then I'd occasionally find well-worn Victoria pennies in circulation. The first time I found one of those, it was so worn that the lettering was almost completely gone. I had to ask my father who that was on the obverse side. It didn't take me long to figure out that I could learn the history of the monarchy just by going through my pocket change. I don't know much about grading British coins but I'm hoping to learn more through this forum.

The other one was this Henry II Northampton Penny as an upgrade:

Well both my major purchases at DNW were hammered. Edward the Elder Penny to fill that gap in my sequence of Wessex monarchs:

My 1879 narrow date penny from the recent DNW auction has arrived. I'd estimate at GEF with some residual lustre. Really pleased, as this particular variety is extremely difficult to get in high grade, but not too scarce in grades up to VF. Bit like the 1864.

Yes - welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy this madhouse! As Peck has alluded to, the starting point should be some good reference books. Those shown in the banner ad above are great to get started. For more detail the Spink "Coins of England" that is published each year is the bible. (The 2018 edition is on special offer on Amazon at the moment as they clear the decks for the 2019 edition and the changes from one year to the next are relatively small.) Once you have formed an idea of what you want to collect there are lots of people here to give you great advice, so feel free to ask.