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Hello all. I am having some difficulties with this halved short cross penny. Specifically I am finding it hard to distinguish between early Class 1 of Henry II and early Class 5 of John. Both have the stop after the S of hENRICVS and a similar portrait structure. The poor condition of the piece doesn't help as it makes the hair not possible to see. I was wondering if anyone here could help to push me in the right direction. Thank you.

It's possible they were hoarded for silver value, but if that was the only reason you'd expect the majority to be George V 1911-1919. I don't know when your grandad was getting these, but certainly in the 1920s (when silver hoarders were rife) actual coin collectors didn't rate George V (or even Edward VII) as collectable, as they were 'too modern'. There seems to be a strong element of that here. ( <--- irony : "Coin Hoarder" )

Yes that's the guy .

My first thought, regardless of whether I can ‘do’ a plugged coin or not, was whether it was genuine? A lot of fake coins are scuffed up to look old, and the scratches in this piece look so intentional and even, on a coin I would’ve expected to be buckled (or wavy at best) from such a harsh life, yet it has such a perfect and even wear to the raised surfaces? Here’s an example of some of the copies out there for these groats? I’m not claiming yours is counterfeit, just saying this one pricks my suspicion enough that I wouldn’t personally want to buy such an example blind! There’s a really good Elizabeth I fake shilling out there, that was even cast with a plug in place. Either they hadn’t noticed the original coin was plugged, or they thought it might avoid the scrutiny of serious collectors, on account of the market they are typically absorbed by? Who knows?