Leaderboard

The closeness of the V to the linear circle supports this.

I could be wrong but the brown one appears to me as obverse 4 and the other obverse 6

Certainly it could be either, I don’t think the photos are definitive. A little but of gunge removal and closer images would help. Jerry

I have found one of these too! It's an 1861 6+G, and can confirm it's actually an E over the B. On my specimen below, there is a bit of a die crack to the left of the E/B and some damage to the beads above. Wonder if that's connected to the repair? Worth recording on your Viccy halfpennies obverses page, Richard? @secret santa Feel free to use the pictures!

I agree that both appear to be E/B though the lower limb of the E is harder to make out on the earlier picture. I can see someone mistaking a halfpenny-sized E for a B - especially with the serifs curving inward - but it's much harder to see someone mistaking an F for a B though it's not impossible of course!

Hi all. It appears that I'm late to the party and the cleaners are just stacking the chairs and sweeping up. Not much to add really. I would agree with Bernie that mine is an obverse 4 and Martin's a 6. The A pointing in Victoria is different due to rotation. As is the D of D:G: Martin's being extreme. Richard has mentioned the V of Victoria. I think the R of BRITT on mine has been repunched, slightly rotated too. Martin's strongly appears to be an E. Mine, I'm not sure. I can see Jon's reasoning for an E but I've always swayed to an F as Jerry says. Give me an hour or so, and I'll see if I can do some better photos as I think there may be something going on under the B too. Cracking find Martin.

I think you're both absolutely right. The original, brown one has minimal O of SOIT visible at the back of her truncation, but the redder one has the O near complete, so for me, yes, one is obverse 4 and one obverse 6. I suspect a rewrite of your half pennies page will be coming, Richard! So, two new discoveries rather than one! Whoever was on B repairing duty at the mint for these two dies was having a bad time!! Any more of either obverse out there in forum land? Check your 1861's everyone!

I have to say that given that there appear to be two obverse dies, the original does seem to be F over B and the latest an E over B. Richard, you have your work cut out.🧐 Jerry

National currencies are fiat currencies and so exclusively mandated by law for the settlement of tax and legal liabilities in the jurisdiction. This is a tether to reality - a real demand for the given supply. That real demand (like the real demand for gold, to fill teeth or make jewelry) prevents price action being arbitrary and purely speculative. Fiat currency can be inflated to zero - but for a given supply it has a demand separate from any purely speculative demand. Prices of fiat currencies can go up and down (denominated in gold or other fiat currencies) but not to the moon or (absent aforementioned inflation) zero. This gives them relative stability, so they can be used for savings. As such, they can be generally accepted as a means of payment - “money”.

great idea at the time has backfired, I certainly hope not!

National currencies are as notional as crypto, except in two critical respects: 1. they reflect the 'real' economy, i.e. the GDP of a nation 2. they are underwritten by the national bank(s) you cannot say either in relation to Bitcoin