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Figured this is worth sharing here. This is up on St James' June auction block: https://bsjauctions.auctionmobility.com/lots/view/1-7LEF1R/british-coins

Fascinating - though they must have known that it was to be the new 20p, introduced the following year.

I think that might be a 2 + B as the cross points directly between 2 beads?

It annoys me that he's going to rip someone off so I decided to message him anyway. Won't do any good, but at least I feel better...

Interesting. From my notes I now have the following variants for the 1953 farthings: 1 + A 1 + A VIP proof 1 + A matte proof 1 + B 2 + A 2 + A proof 2 + B 2 + B proof 2 + B matte proof 2 + ? VIP proof (the variant from this thread) The £6,500 listing you mention supposedly included a 2 + B VIP proof, but I'm not sure if there are any features of the coin which would make it differ in any way from the usual 2 + B proof, so I'm not including that on the list above. I don't know if matte proof variants exist for 1 + B and 2 + A. The 1 + A and 2 + B both sold through Heritage (https://www.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=790+231&Nty=1&Ntt=farthing+1953+matte+proof&ic10=ArchiveTab-071515). Looks like I'm going to have my work cut out if I want to acquire all of these variants. 😧

https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/lot-archive/results/235221/?keywords=1953+VIP+proof+set&discipline=&category=&date_on=&date_start=&date_end=&lot_no= The farthing is described as "Freeman 1+A (not listed as a proof)". I think the George VI-type bordered penny was one of the main interests of this set. It went for £4200 hammer. But to pay £6500 for a set in 2021 from DNW described as having a superior finish but without any rare varieties and having the normal case shape would seem to be a big leap of faith.