Leaderboard

I've only got 12/66 and 01/67 I'm afraid. Most of my spares seem to cover the 1980s and 1990s. If you PM me your name and address, I'll send these two on. No charge. I'm happy to see a couple leave my crowded cupboard!

The Freeman 8 mule I won at the LCA arrived today. Very pleased. OK, nowhere near the best available, but problem free and another really rare coin that doesn't come up for sale very often.

Yes, considering it was used in an exclusively British magazine back then (1969) it is a bit surprising that it's transformed into an apparently American term over the years.

I'd go with VG too. BTW that was a grade commonly used in Britain the late 60s as you've seen from Coin Monthly. No-one then referred to it as a "US grade", though nowadays they do.

Wait till you get it in hand Gary. My 1860 has a very clear crossbar that doesn't show in photographs but in hand looks as though an inverted V has been struck over the A.

Looks like a normal A with a weak crossbar.... I've seen many like that...

The shape of the gunk that's there, just makes it appear as though it might be an extension to the three. There's all manner of other crap in the exergue which is consistent with it not being part of an unusual figure 3.

As already stated, a normal 63 with grot on the last digit. Here for comparison: normal/the 3 with grot/the 3 with grot erased.

Near fine for me too, although LCA described it as VG (very good). A definition of VG is given in many of the old Coin Monthly mags as:- "The main features of the design are still distinguishable, with the date and legend readable. Mainly rare and valuable coins are collected in this condition when no finer coins are available". In The Standard guide to Grading British Coins, by Derek Allen (2009), "Very Good" is described as traditional US. Its UK equivalent is "Almost Fine", so we're on the mark with near fine, I reckon.

It's a normal 3 with some grot by the tail.