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F176

I thought I'd share a couple of rather nice rare finds . Both the rare 1913 mules. F175 below

I saw the conversation under "Wanted" about 1865 and 1867 pennies, and decided to check mine. I don't think I need to upgrade any time soon. The likely costs were a surprise to me. I have had these a long time and have no idea what I paid for them - I would appreciate some idea of current market value? The 1865:

I seem to spend half my life on it 😂 it’s incredible

It is worth keeping an eye on local auctions. Boxes of Vicky pennies often come up in house clearance sales, and sometimes include some rarities unidentified. The lower tiers of coin auctions can also be good as again they may not have identified the good ones. Also, you won't be fighting with the big bucks buyers. My local coin auction in Exeter, which runs every 3 weeks, has had some great pennies at low prices recently.

Obverse 2 - 143 teeth

Hi All. An elderly member of our club who is not in the best of health has given me his collection of threepences to sell in order to raise funds for his not very well daughter and a potential move to sheltered accommodation for himself. It goes from Charles II onwards, but don't have images as yet. If anyone is looking for specific dates, please drop me a line and I can sort out something. Not all dates are there, particularly the earlier pieces, but a fair number are are in collectable grades up to EF & UNC rather than the usual Christmas pudding grade. Ta.

My website also has pictures.

Today was quite busy at Huddersfield with a rush early doors, though the quid pro-quo was an early finish. It was dead by 1:30. On the plus side, at least people were spending money this month, unlike last month when I took the princely sum of £31. That was officially the worst fair I have ever done.

Very simple: generally in the Victorian series the last two datal digits were punched into the dies by hand ( the master die just being 18--). That leads to all manner of date spacings and alignments. A quick search of eBay or Richard's penny website, or looking at books like Gouby will show a huge number of different positions. Even silver denominations display these varieties, though on bronze and copper there seems to be even more.

There is no "possible" about it - see this listing which I found in 30 seconds. (NB the word 'copy' is only on the picture, not the actual fake coin): https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808503600495.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt Beware !

It’s very definitely Reverse ja, else it would be Reverse nein.

Attached picture is of a 1911 proof set as advertised by Coins and Medals, Brisbane. As you can see the coins are toned after being left somewhere possibly over a hundred years. This is the condition I would expect to find coins of this age to be in. However the amount of coins for sale of a similar age that are bright makes me wonder how they remain in that condition over a similar age as with the 1918 half crown? Anyone who has silver objects will note the only way of keeping them shiny is frequent cleaning Perhaps it may be useful what toning of silver is. It is the equivalent of rust on iron and steel. In other words corrosion where silver metal is attacked by the oxygen and sulfur in the atmosphere to form oxides and sulfides of silver. Some will argue that toning is attractive and I am sympathetic to that view but not all toning is of that nature. Again the colors produced by toning are as a result of constructive and destructive interference where the incident and reflected light interact with each other. Again I still wonder how silver coins retain their shiny status? Some coins certified by TPGs as cleaned while some it is obvious due to signs of abrasion while others I have been stumped by this verdict. Having said that I can only make that judgement from the photographs of the coin and not in hand.

That looks fantastic! A lot of people on here with incredible knowledge who can advise better than me but from what I’ve seen the 67 can be tricky but the 65 seems a bit easier. Thanks for sharing 👍

I picked up a ‘67 a couple of years ago, one of my 4 Victorian pennies and, sorry to say, not for sale. Not a great picture unfortunately, but I’m curious, are they harder to come by? Why ‘65 & ‘67?

You would be well advised to attend a coin fair, such as those advertised in the back of Coin News. I go monthly to the Midland Coin Fair and have had many bargains as well as fairly priced offerings- but it does pay to know your subject, and don’t be afraid to take a reference book or target list. I have also done well on EBay over the years but again know your subject. Bronze and copper pennies are faked , but the usual Chinese offerings are fairly easy to spot to the trained eye. Look at the vendor’s feedbacks and if there are any complaints or they are new sellers steer clear. And I wouldn’t buy purported Celtic or Saxon coins on EBay without taking advice eg on this forum, as at any one time most are fakes. Jerry

This is yet another of the many, many modern Chinese pressure cast white metal copies available on Alibaba and similar sites that we have been banging on about for a few years now. As well as alignment, the date digits are the wrong font (especially the zero in this case). Virtually all dates of shillings have been copied and they are increasingly seen on ebay and the like and dupe many collectors, novice and more experienced alike. Caveat emptor !!

I would have to say probably a fake. As well as the orientation problem, there seems to be lots of irregularity in the denticles.

Clever, Chris, though it took me a few minutes………….😀 Jerry

there's Greek on the ?reverse? - upper case Epsilon Omicron Sigma spelling EOS, the name of an Ancient Greek goddess.

Yes, a Barbarous radiate is not a fake in the usual sense of the word. It would have been made 4th or 5th century after the Roman Empire in Europe had collapsed to provide coinage for the remaining residents. I looked at your other coin but I was not able to offer any real insight.

by chance can we see the other side? Its bad when any fakes are sold and bought in good faith, fortunately it wasn't an expensive coin.

Yup !

I can't tell you who the people depicted are, but I suspect this is a "Barbarous Radiate" - that is to say a coin minted post Roman empire in loose imitation of a Roman coin.