Chris Perkins

You can post a picture here by adding it as an attachment. The most likely cause for what you describe is a filled 8 digit on the die. Or, actually probably equally as possible for that sort of period is a fake coin that hasn't been made as well as a real one.

It's a reproduction sold as a novelty in Roman Villas and the like...it's less than 20 years old, no where near 2000! The little 'WRL' stands for Westair Reproductions Ltd. That's exactly why any picture of the actual item in question is always prefered.

Rich, A borrowed picture of a similar coin is never usually good when trying to ID another Roman coin because there can be subtle differences in type and of course no 2 ancient coins are exactly the same. There are also lots and lots of Roman forgeries about, some of which are pretty good. Can you post a picture of the actual coin?

I'm quite sure that maundy money is decimal and legal tender and that a half sovereign is, strictly speaking 50p and that the Britannias are also legal tender for their face values. Of course the metal values are all higher so no one is likely to really test that.

When you got to the very accurate bottom of it all I'd love to feature the infomation in the next Check your Change book.

That 1750 halfpenny is better than £3. I think I could sell that for £10 and therefore I'd offer £6. The 1799 coin is yukky though and has really no value. The Roman coin is worth less than £5.

There are a couple of halfpennies there (George II and George III). The Roman coins, from the bust style and remains of writing would appear to be one from Emperor conSTANS with a quite typical 2-soldier reverse type.

Yes it is isn't it. You'd have to ask Allgold of Sevenoaks (Clive) as they do the prices for the gold coins, I just paste 'em in.

I get quite a few enquiries about double headed coins and I've never ever actually confirmed the existence of one that hasn't been cleverly machined from 2 normal coins. Normally they're not joined together at the rim, one coin is hollowed out with the rim (and usually the beading) un-touched and the other is reduced drastically in size and inserted into the shallow hole. The beads and border hide the join and the edge looks as it should. Your grandfather should have taken the £10 thirty years ago! I'll eat my hat if it's a real error coin.

I'm just south of Chemnitz, not very far from you. I don't have many pennies at the moment though.

Whereabouts in Germany are you Holger?

I always check the exchange rate because of the GBP/EUR relationship and I have noticed that the CAD was about the same as the US$. Do you live near Canada Scottishmoney or are both currencies simply accepted everywhere in both countries? Even in small shops?

Oh right, an Isle of Man issue. In that case it is gold and it's the same size as a normal British sovereign as far as I can tell. Which means that the gold value is about £110. It's something I'd buy for £110 and sell for £130, but that kind of thing isn't as easy to sell as conventional sovereigns.

That coin was never issued as a gold proof, so it's either something foreign (i.e. Commonwealth not GB) or a normal 1980 Crown that has been gold plated. I would be inclined to think the latter as I'm not aware of any gold ones from other countries either. It is possible that the Royal Mint struck experiemental gold 1980 crowns. I doubt it, and a solid gold one could be verified in seconds by the wieght. You'll have to post a picture, but I would get any hopes up just yet.

Jennifer has emailed me very tiny pictures of the coin in question. It looks like it's just an average circulated one.

Ok. I'll gladly take quality US coins and create a new US section on predecimal.com. I get a fair few US visitors. Let me know when you know what you're doing.

I've cleared it a bit now....had quite a few offers of things for sale, which is great. Re your US coins SM. I assume you want me to use your pictures and advertiase them at commission so that you send to the buyer?

I have a few in my forgery collection. GIII shillings are probably the most common silver coin forgery. In that sort of condition it's just worth a couple of pounds.

Yes, if the actual colour is silver then it's probably a real one...it does look very brassy.

The surface and execuction of design are all a bit wrong on that aren't they. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a modern copy, lost a lot more recently.

It's not a token it's a forgery of a shlling. Pièces de monnais faux! It would have been silvered originally so it looked like a real one. "honi soit qui mal y pense" was on all shillings at that time.

Right you are Kev.

It looks very much like the Britannia on the reverse of the 1806/07 halfpennies. What's the size in mm? It's about the worst one I've ever seen!

What sorts? I think perhaps a section of US coins on predecimal.com would be a good thing. My Canadian/Australian etc was certainly very popular.

A groat is a fourpence. In Victorian times (and a bit earlier) they were also a small silver coin, the exact same size as a threepence but with a milled edge (ridges) and Britannia on the back instead of the '3'. From the heads side they look about the same as a threepence.