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I think any coin person would have recognised it instantly and been able to find the exact type based on the details that can just about be made out. I'm pleased that I was better at it than millions of dollars of silicon valley AI power. I must admit though, I did use google lens to identify something the other day. 😉 I haven't been that active on the forum for quite a while, and do you know what, it's good to be back!

Well done on your sorting! I hope you didn't give away the Crown Jewels to the charity shop! The Gothic Florins are a lovely design. Yours is pretty well worn, but you can still just make out the date as 1871. A nice souvenir.

Some small coins that I've been checking this afternoon 🙂 we have an 1817 sixpence, an 1843 fourpence, a 1912 threepence and an 1876 third farthing. I think they're all pretty decent grade wise; the photos are okay but not amazing 😅.

It's a 'wound star' - I guess the equivalent of the Purple Heart. He got shrapnel in his eye at Monte Cassino and had to be operated on in the field. (Later went to an optician in London who turned out to have been his surgeon).

In case you come across anymore of these, the date is in Roman Numerals just behind Victoria's shoulder. You can just make out the lxxi at the end and can assume the rest. Worth knowing how to date them as some dates are much scarcer and more valuable than others.

Another possible missing waves, this time 1963

Well done, Chris. Thanks for all your efforts to get the site back on track.

I have constant problems with gas bubbles. 🤔

Those books are interesting but only really scratch the surface. They are more for general interest than reference. For GB pre-decimal coins you really need "Coins of England and the United Kingdom", which comes out each year. (No need to get every year as most of the detail remains fairly static.) Here it is on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coins-England-United-Kingdom-2025/dp/1917269005/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BP3BH96G6F8E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.n4edWGlfb0yBRNDiHCBke5TXqasrBgeyFMD1Mxlg1X5FyKMNS5_w0cPGFQTteufUMLUWKZQ7NLwDhuQMSDq7W3yvSt0Vdhzl0QEvg4PFWCnEE7LZYMHuEVoJFPhxn7PS9HyQwSy6F_D1wm6gvN3uLAtRISHccMe9iyK-1czDV-RR0j-8iokTk-Q6lfvgwfyEQbJh_tgEGJ57pCTeIEBxnpMKzvtXBQPNSFJcrPZj5ek.RLeA8d0awh9bFG9pAjuAGOTGTPi2U6cRY13R1oddGLw&dib_tag=se&keywords=spink+coins+of+england+2025&qid=1761917519&s=books&sprefix=coins+%2Cstripbooks%2C218&sr=1-1 For World coins, the main reference books are the Krause World Coins series, but these are telephone directory tomes, one for each century, and I am not sure if they are even still printed. Best is to use the online website https://en.numista.com/ unless you need to get very specialised.

Paddy is correct - it's also an annulet issue. This is denoted by the small rings by the neck and between two of the trefoils in the centre of the reverse.

To add more - the 1900 Crown is quite common and not rare. On the edge you will see the words ANNO REGNI followed by Roman numerals - for 1900 these will be either LXIII or LXIV for the 63rd or 64th year of her reign. They are of equal scarcity but interesting. In that condition probably £40 to £50 in the current market. The Florin 1887 is the most common year for Jubilee head florins as it was the first year of this design and a great many were put aside. Condition is better but probably £20 to £25. The shilling 1897 is probably the nicest coin and the most collectable grade - the same value as the florin. All in my humble opinion - others may say different.

I bought an F33 with I over I in BRITT at Noonan's last week. It's my second example, but with a different overstrike: And the previous one:

I tried to post this just after we'd retained the Ryder Cup but it wouldn't let me. It seems less amusing now...........

In the interest of trying to keep some coins showing on the forum , I'll try to post this 1962 penny with missing waves and horizon left of lighthouse . listed by David Groom , [ but not pictured ]

If it had liv as the last three characters, it would have been worth a couple hundred pounds, or whatever someone was willing to pay, even in that condition

I have started a new page of Hammered coins, I have the penny's (halved) with all the information stored with them, lower down are the ones that are to rubbed to gain any further information on them.. however Ive kept them and one the hoard is finished sorting I can sit back and figure out what's their future... following on the better of the group are possibly Edward 1 Penny, the second one is City of London, as for the first...ISTO ? Class? All and any input greatly welcome, regards "H"

Not my area, as you know by now, but the ISTO must be Bristol mint? Not listed as substantially scarcer than any others. From the Spink book, I think that means it must be one of the Class 2 or 3 variations.

circa 1300, Medieval Spanish Hammered Silver Coin👍

Not to this I'm not....

Well I had a lovely weekend sorting and donating lots of coins to various places 😊 the sorting was made so much easier thanks to this forum! I've learnt loads from reading through the many posts. Charity shops were happy to accept the old foreign coins which was great. I also sold a few bits and bobs to some small antique shops. I hope someone else can find those coins now and start or continue their own shiny collection 🙂 I've saved a select handful of coins for myself to enjoy. I've kept this extremely well worn but very beautiful (if I've got my identification right here) gothic florin. What an awesome font that would have been once upon a time!

I think the 1843 groat is the highlight there. The other 3 are all nice coins, too. The 6d has a little wear, the 3d is very nice but has uneven toning. The third farthing looks like it might have some darker areas/surface issues.

It could be that they appeared to be scarce, but simply because the stockpiles hadn't made it out yet. I've received two 2023 5p in change today.

I found the setting and pasting should now default to plain text.

Yes - definitely a lamination fault caused by gas bubble trapped in the original molten metal mix.

If I can find the setting among the hundreds of others, I'll try switching it to force plain text (instead of defaulting, I think, to rich text). It may have been plain text before. That could be the issue.

Hello! Without taking the coin out of the capsule because I haven't got any proper gloves or anything yet; I've tried to take a close up photo and I wondered if anyone might be able to tell me what coin this is please? It's from a set of recently inherited coins. I have an old magazine / book from 2013 with has been quite helpful as a reference for some coins but not for this particular one (assuming it's a genuine coin). Thank you 🙂

Amazing 😊 that book looks extremely helpful, thank you SO much. I'll try to get a copy which I think will greatly help with my little cataloguing project here! This is such an awesome forum 🤩

You should be able to get acetone from any builders merchants. Jewson, Selco etc....

Hello Jaybob, if you type the description from the slab into a ‘search engine’ - one called ‘Google’ is good- and press ‘search’, you may be able to answer your question yourself and you will find that the sense of achievement is far greater than asking someone else to do it for you. Otherwise, the answer is ‘yes’. Jerry

Very decent photographs.

I am not good on all the detail, but seems to be Henry VI Groat minted in Calais. I leave the precise variety to others! The middle circle on the reverse reads "VILLA CALISIE" which is Calais.

Not bad. Coincidentally, those are IMO textbook examples of a normal circulated coin (around Fine) - the crown, a mid grade coin (around VF) - the florin, and a higher grade coin (around EF) - the shilling.

Here we are, looks like this type, or a similar Paley's issue. D&H on that page is a reference to the major catalogue of such coins by Dalton and Hamer. In it, there are 10 slightly different varieties of basically the same design: Richard Paley's Bishop Blaize and Lamb Leeds Conder Halfpenny 1791

It's some kind of 'Conder' regional token, almost certainly a halfpenny. Date appears to be 1791. That's probably a sheep fleece in the coat of arms and it's probably a bishop on the other side - someone will know what town that makes it! Unless you can read anything off it.

Anyone with a correctly spelt legend on William III obverses, please make yourselves known now. It seems easier to find an error than a correct legend in this time period. Yet another to add to the list.

As a tip on getting surgical Acetone - chemists sell it but at very high price for very small quantities. You can order it online for a small fraction of the money.

That's also a very good tip - thank you. This is such a lovely forum 😊

Both of you are now Enthusiasts, which I know is also below your standing. The default ranks are a bit odd, they go: Newbie, Rookie, Apprentice, Explorer, Contributor, Enthusiast, Collaborator, Community Regular, Rising Star, Proficient, Experienced, Mentor, Veteran, Grand Master. I can change the names and points required, add more etc.

Yes - a circumferential die crack. The tops of letters were particularly vulnerable points for this. The other type of die crack is called radial which emanate outwards like "spokes"

Sticking my neck out even further, looking again at the third short cross I think that the first letter of the moneyer isn't an R (it doesn't look at all like the R of NOR), but it looks (more) like a W. Then the letter before the cut, which would probably be the third letter in the moneyer's name) looks like the foot of an L. So that leaves Walter and Willelm, with Willelm class 1a or 1b being the most likely because the L of Walter usually occurs in the second quarter of the coin rather than the first. Oh and it's Henry II. I don't think I can get much further with this one...

Firstly, all short cross pennies have the name HENRICVS on the obverse even though they cover the reigns of Henry II, Richard, John and Henry III. The coins are divided into eight classes using a number of distinguishing factors and thereby into date and king order. Short cross pennies are my main field of interest so I'll have a go: The first reverse reads AN.ON.NO That and the style of the portrait means it can only be Iohan (moneyer), Norwich (Mint), so Class 5, circa 1206-7, King John. I'm not sure of the sub-class, but the obverse letters (EX together and type of X) would indicate 5b1 or 5b3) as possiblilies.The full reverse legend would be +IOHAN.ON.NOR The second is a bit more difficult, but I think it reads ERD:ON:C (at first I thought it was ERN, but that doesn't make sense). That would make the moneyer and mint Roberd, Canterbury. The colons either side of ON mean that it is almost certainly class 4a* under King Richard. The full reverse legend would be +ROBERD:ON:CAN The third is much more difficult. The reverse legend is OR+ and that's about all I can read, so you have the last two letters of the mint. That would indicate Norwich or Northampton mints. The obverse portrait indicates an early type, so class 1,2 or 3, which rules out Norwich. So I'd say it's Northampton, which also rules out class 2. I think that the mint signature of NOR limits the possible moneyers to Reinald, Walter, Willelm, Ravl or Roberd. I think the first letter of the moneyer could be a W or R, which won't help. The forth is long cross and not really my field of interest, although I do have a few in my collection.

Hmmm, I vote for a bit less aggressive. My fave is clear ammonia, diluted 1:1 that haw worked well on CuNi or silver coins. Try it on some cheaper bits and think you will likely see....

Hello 'H', Thanks for your response. I'm gradually getting better at doing ID's although its always nice to get an expert confirmation or otherwise! Agree with worn examples. It always seems to be the really diagnostic bits that are missing ☺️. I'm using Withers halfpence and farthings books at present, which I find very good. James

Something else of interest, and pertinent . And No, my dad was not involved in the invasion. He was assigned elsewhere.

Here's my Dad's WW2 Medals. It looks like it might work

Can I discern HADRIANUS for Hadrian on the one of the right? Looks like him if my memory is correct. The one on the left, Maybe Trajan?

Well the mintmark (above the ‘C’ of CIVITAS ) looks as though it might be a cross pattee, or at least the leg of an expanding cross. This would rule out Richard III, but it could still be Edward IV, Henry V etc- though I haven’t looked into further detail. Jerry

I picked up the first 2022 5p I've seen in change today, so maybe some of the post 2020 change is making it out at last.

No, not seen any 2023 ten pence yet. In fact all I have is one 50p and £1. The privy mark appears on the BU and proof coins behind the kings head to distinguish these from circulation coins. Perversely this is making the coins without privy marks much scarcer. I see @Sylvester has beaten me to the response, but I'll post this anyway!

The privy mark is the small Tudor crown behind the king's head. The 2023 mint sets all have the privy mark. The ones that are due to go into circulation, about 600,000 mintage, will not have that privy mark. I want to get a few out of circulation as soon as they appear, before they become all scuffed and scratched. I've yet to see any. I have noted that the 50p, £1 and £2 coins have turned up on eBay without the marks. I even pulled a £1 coin out of change myself. Still no sightings of the 1p, 5p and 10p coins yet though.