Chris Perkins

I think it's a mint cock up. Struck with a blockage of grease, or not enough pressure, or both.

They are pretty common. I think (again from memory) there is a half lepta and a full lepta. Sounds like yours is the half as it's quite small. Usually they are just worth a couple of quid in average condition. But there may be scarcer dates. Anyone got a Krause (world coin book), mine is not to hand?

Yes, sounds about right. If it has Greek writing and Britannia then I think it hails from the Greek Ionian Islands (from memory).

It has a very weak 'I' too. But it's pretty worn so you may never know for sure what has gone on with the 'L'.

I think it's more likely someone has planed it down just for something to do! British error coins are usually pretty good value (even cheap) so it wouldn't really be worth the effort to try and create one.

Demand dictates price and not everything (not just coins) that is rare is in demand. It fascinating that the mule 20p hype caused so many people to suddenly think they wanted one that the prices went barmy! I see they are down around the £100 mark now. The old design 2008 50p is a nice thing to have, especially in BU if it's difficult to find, but I shouldn't think it will ever make waves. The next edition of Check Your Change will have massively overhauled decimal pricing in it. CCGB is not really about decimal and I must admit the decimal section has been neglected of late.

And don't the blanks already have the rims on them before they are struck with the images? I say that because I have a couple of blanks with rims.

700,000 is indeed very low for a circulating coin, but it's still plenty to go round as there are not 700,000 coin collectors in the UK! The only way it would be worth significantly more is if that so called London Mint outfit go on telly and offer people money for them! It's just like the 1988 £1 coins. A lower mintage, attractive coins....but 21 years later they are worth £1 in circulated condition.

Really. It works for me, I'm going to try after writing this. (And I wrote this using the Edit) What does it do exactly? Does it let you ammend text and then not submit it?

It only gives you 5 mins to prevent people changing what they have written at a later time. So it's all set in stone.

Post a picture. If it's only visible in certain lights then it may not be such a big deal.

Depends on the date/rarity of the sixpence and how the dent affects eye appeal. I would probably price it down (and mention it). By how much really depends how bad it is.

That could just be the light. But seriously, it is so easy to strip the copper off a steel coin. I used to do it as a kid in the early 90s when they first issued copper plated steel coins.

Historically we Brits don't seem to care much for mis-strikes do we! US errors are usually (but not always) expensive, but they also depend on the type of error, type of coin and severity of the error. A blocked die leads to some interesting 'features' but of all the error types I think it's probably one with the least value..... dependant on the coin type/age and severity. And of course, demand; it's basically all down to demand.

To be honest I don't think it's worth spending any money on it! Even as an off metal (genuine error) it may not be worth much more than £10 anyway. Does it look like steel, rather than a 10p which is cupro-nickel and more 'chromey'? It should be slightly magnetic. Do the letters and other details look slightly sharper than a normal one of the same date? If they are slightly sharper then it's an indication that they are missing their thin copper layer.

And is it 1994? If so then it's copper plated steel.....and that's what they look like when the copper has been chemically removed (not hard to do).

I've got a 66 florin which has the entire left hand side legend missing. The Queen is properly struck and the reverse is fine. It's bizaar.

Seen co-author Pam West's website? I don't think there's a forum but she does post news about new issues. http://www.britishnotes.co.uk/

Just bumping this on the off chance that someone here with hammered knowledge might see it!

No, I think the massive hype (although, being in Germany I've missed most of it) is enough to get the public to rally round. Anyone with some spare money probably sees the 20p's as a good investment. I doubt the story has been exposed in the USA, and if so then probably not on a large scale. Another thing that people always tell me is that the 'Royal Mint' are trying to buy the coins back for £50. This is not true, it's the so called 'London Mint Office', an outfit that love to be confused with the Royal mint, but are instead peddlers of crappy commemorative coins and re-packaged old rubbish that are barely worth the metal they are made of.

You are wicked. I'd like to find one of those late 60's fake 50p coins made from cutting a half crown down to size.

That kind of listing really represents everything that is bad with ebay. Ah.....Listing has been removed I see.

Try Collectors' Coins GB 2009 too, it doesn't repeat the same editorial each year, and is cheaper.

You may find some nut to give you more money for them (you never know these days, there are lots out there), but personally I'd spend them, save ebay fees, save the hassle and put £10 petrol in the car!

Interesting, you wouldn't think it would be worth makes fake 20p's. The 'all silver' coloured coins are perhaps easier than nickel-brass or bi-metal.