oldcopper

It's in his BNJ 1967 Addendum: https://www.britnumsoc.org/images/PDFs/1967_BNJ_36_26j.pdf

Peck thought the RM produced them in December of that year, as the Mint had been closed for 10 months from Feb for reconstruction, as a small issue to "tide over till the following year".

yes, that would be a reassurance!

Isn't it a unique die combination as well for an 1882 penny? Excuse my ignorance as I haven't got any coin book to hand.

Yes, amazing to think people would have still been alive who lived through the issue of some of these coins.

https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/pdfs/2011_BNJ_81_7.pdf

Only to avoid confusing words! - it's strange how the term "bronzing" came to be used, as it looks nothing like bronze, and the coating presumably has nothing in common with bronze either (ie no tin or zinc, which would yellow it). Perhaps it could have been a more general term back then for adulterated copper?

I downloaded your article sometime back - excellent and very comprehensive. No copyright fees I hope! And I see you're in the DNW Hall of Fame with several mentions in the Ian Sawden collection. Talking of which, that's a steep estimate for the Weyl copper milled edge penny. £3-4K. And the premium etc for this auction is effectively a third as there's import duty as well. So £4-5+K in reality. Fantastic looker though as are all of his Weyls.

Yes, Dolley quoted someone in a paper who referred to a "purple solution" that had been used at Soho to immerse the blanks in to produce this bronzed finish. It's surprising that no official bronzed proof coins have been made since the mid 19th century, given that that was the finish of choice for the first half of the 19th century. I wonder why they went off it? I've got a P1335 1806 penny which looks identical in appearance to Taylor's golden bronze finish - this series (KP33 or 34?) is also plain edge and in a range of metals on rusted usually underweight blanks from over-polished dies. So some pointers to non-Soho restrikes perhaps, though the gilding on the gilt specimen in Gregory II was good quality, and the bronzed one in Gregory I (which I also have ex Alderney) is far more bronzed-looking (ie dark chocolate) in the traditional fashion though.

I think the secret died in the 19th century, and no official bronzed proofs have been made after 1867 (though some say some 1877 farthings are bronzed - that would need to be seen in the flesh.

Have you checked it for bugs?

Look back in the thread. This one's a MS64BN, but Jackson's (Spink USA 2014) looked more lustrous and was MS64RB from memory. So comparable at least. I wonder if either of them is Noble's mint state coin referred to by Peck, sold 1973.

Yes, I was going to mention that as well! Looks like the Autumn sales are suddenly looking a lot better on the copper front, but I don't know how reasonable the prices will be - have to wait and see on that one.

Thanks Pete, sounds like they've got some nice coins there. I'll check it out.

No, I think it's different having just checked. The Jackson coin (17th June 2014, lot 1053) went for $21,000, didn't have the small spot in front of the neck, and looked more lustrous as well, though often difficult to tell from photography (it was graded MS64RB).

I wonder if that's the Gerald Jackson example sold Spink USA in 2014.

and the drapery is correct.

This coin was in the first Sovereign Rarities auction of 2018 (1,300 hammer + 5% import duty). Very bright on the whole.. https://www.sixbid.com/en/sovereign-rarities-ltd/5153/british/4309059/victoria-1837-1901-copper-penny-1856?term&orderCol=lot_number&orderDirection=asc&priceFrom&displayMode=large&auctionSessions=&sidebarIsSticky=false

I think "we have" means "there is"!

Did you see the F7 in person, because DNW weren't so complementary about it - "sometime cleaned with surfaces somewhat dull". It would have been interesting to see the ""cleaned but now retoned" 1853 penny proof, because it was difficult to tell much from the photo. Might have been a pleasant colour, might not!

Not that I'm an expert on halfcrowns, but is the proof from the sets the same variety as the currency? According to ESC, the standard proof is A1 (one ornate fillet, one plain), but the currency here is A3 - two plain fillets, which also has its own proof version.

Do you think these milled edge pieces were struck from spent proof dies? That makes more sense to me than specially making a die to strike only a handful of coins. Although you can't see any hairlines on your coin, there might be some very faint die polish lines if it was struck with a proof die. Perhaps that's what Glens picked up at a certain angle of light.

A dealer told me that all the bright 1841 halfpennies and the smaller number of the 1834 farthings were found in a box in India. Quite a few of these BU farthings have come onto the market in the last 10 yeas or so, so I'm surprised that Colin Cooke's collection seemed to have one (and they're of the 1834 variety that was always thought the scarcer one I think), as he must have got hold of his well before 2005.

Thanks Pete, nice coin. Now if only the person who put away all those bright 1834 farthings had done it instead with 1831 WW pennies. There's a thought!

Fair enough, a deceptive photo - and I think the best on the market I know of. Let me guess - MS62 - 63?