VickySilver

Perhaps a matter of definition. IMHO if a coin is of uncirculated quality when struck and then pushed out of the mint in bag quantities and spent in significant numbers whilst most not receiving any special treatment or being cased individually or placed In sets (which was what happened) as was the case of these crowns, then they would fit the definition of "currency".

Hiya Paddy. Love the better 1920 transition year shillings, florins and half crowns. Although only pictures, you will see with some frequency the TPGs to give a "technical" grade - that is the level of wear and lustre, etc. giving the grade. The strike IMHO is not valued enough and so I believe this to be the rationale for the higher grade on the first coin. Yours appears to have a wonderful strike with excellent hair & mustache, etc. detail. To be fair the first coin appears a bit overexposed photographically but the details do appear a bit flatter. I was thrilled to some years ago get the specimen proof "duck tailed" 1920 florin and will post a picture later today in case you might be interested.

This. They were struck in large numbers in non-proof uncirculated (ie currency) pieces regardless of them being commemorative issues & as we know many commems find their way into business "currency" channels.

I have been somewhat saddened by what appears to be the demise of that company. I used to communicate with Alan about coins and got some quite decent pieces from him years ago & do hope he is well. I still look at their "offerings" but have not bid for quite a few years now. Well, here's to hoping the ship can be righted.... PS - really superb currency George VI crowns are hard to come by as I believe the planchets were not well cared for and there are nearly always bag marks, including in key areas. Same is generally true of the George V 1935 Jubilee crown issues.

Yes I saw those - he has previously been possibly a bit conservative but believe that to be a family business. Is there now another hand involved with the grading and cataloguing?

Matte proof 65. There are hints of verdigris/green oxidation in places and the usual wipe as has been stated. IMHO a 63 on a good day only....HOWEVER these at auction go logarithmically higher with each grade. Not sure what it sold for @ St. James...

OK this is from an auction not yet closed and is only the obverse (St. Jas or somebody - lol) . As they like to ask, GTG or guess the grade! Can’t say I’m in agreement: I see the usual wipe and even some hints of green near corrosion.

Thanks for the pictures as I was about to share, but covered nicely. Back to the OP: some have said that both the 1899 and 1919 dates have a final "9 over 8". I am not at all sure that they are not artifact even though I have purported examples of both. LOL. Might be worth a check but they would not be valuable in any case....

Bit of a puzzler. The center details of George may have had a bit of dip applied (as opposed to immersion of the whole coin) perhaps with cotton bud or some other device. IMHO these coins need to be seen in hand; doesn't look to be a terrible price though.

By recall the British Museum has quite a series of coins demonstrating the alloy experiments and versions and that most were of the 1920-22 vintage. XRF scanning will yield metal breakdown of the surface metals at least and would be interesting if anyone had access to such an instrument....Results might readily be published in Coin News or other publications....I would be very interested to know results and have some really nice transitional pieces like the "duck-tailed" silver and others....

With the possible exception of when it comes time to sell! LOL

Hmmm, hadn't thought about the mattes at all, but don't seem to have any others.

OK, first of all I do like 20th C. silver as you probably have seen so like BOTH. I looked at the PCGS cert pictures and think I may be able to answer [to some degree]: The second coin has a cheek and base of the neck (along the SCM muscle to be precise) that show some degree or rub or contact, at least to my eyes. They will tend to be hard on that bit. Also, it is likely just the pictures but the top coin appears to have better lustre even if struck more softly than the second coin. On what I have heard a "technical" basis, aside from strike the first coin would then get the higher grade. I think this is something that both NGC and PCGS tend to go with more strongly.

Sorry Rob as I was concentrating on the silver series 6d-5Sh (no 3d other than Maundy struck).... have seen the bronze as you've said. I have had a press on trying to get the smaller silver as I have the crown in definitive proof. They did not have any bronze proofs illustrated however and you are quite correct.

Looked back over this site some more and a couple of observations: - did not see ANY 1929 proofs, even of the crown - there is no 1945 currency threepence, or proof of that type (non-Maundy) - the 1945 year coins did not show any proofs to my eyes - there is no 1952 currency or proof halfcrown - there is a proof 1963 halfcrown, none for 1964-67 - there are some proofs of pennies and larger denominations up into the 1960s (Hello Richard!) - some of the coins from the 1960s whilst not proof are either early strikes or somewhat "specimenish" but not well care for - this site may not be complete but seems to support my hypothesis that there were no proofs (or at least no evidence) for the years 1929, save the crown, or for 1945 and helps to explain why I have not seen any in all these years.

Oh, thanks Richard I messed it up. I wish they would have put a little bit more into the labelling....

I was looking for some references and knew they had a site, but this may be of interest to some. It is mainly pictures with bare descriptions so that is a bit limiting. Also, when I looked up the 1920 date (because the site would not take more info on the search section), I was looking for information on transitional patterns like the "duck-tailed milling" silver coins. I think I found them but they are not identified as patterns and had to mainly pick this out from the pictured details. Much of Bull could probably be updated from this and other pages, but wish a bit more ID had been done as they have some very rare coins that I have NEVER seen in commercial channels. There were some errors too (ie the incorrect ID of the 1926 Wood Pattern Reverse MODEL Half crown). Anyway, do have a look....

Braggadocio: Sir, I do not think you understand how, or if you care, what you say is received by others which contrary to what you've said do come off as "boastful" (your word choice). There are likely people with collections that are on a similar level that do not enunciate such and yet are quite open in providing data, insight or opinions contributory to other members. Many also are of humble or lesser economic means but some not, yet no proclamations of such. Also, you will note that many including myself did give you praise & only suggested moderation in commentary is the choice many of us make - with the occasional disagreement displayed. And again, many including myself have praised the positive in what you have shared with the rest of us. You may recall that the current USA president has often criticized those of varied opinions to his own as somehow lesser or not intelligent, etc. In any case, Viva la Difference!

True, but interestingly skill, luck and stamina do reward the financially less buoyant. Seeming to get harder with the passing of the years though. I remember once thinking Norweb was perhaps the best collector of more recent Brit issues and esp. of 19th and 20th Century coins. One could occasionally find better specimens of some coins that she had but not overall. Still it was enjoyable to occasionally pip those with pecuniary advantage. I suppose what annoys some is the braggadocio bit, though that does not diminish the achievement.

Don't think he has a shallow pocket regardless. Many will remember Colin Adams and his domination of pennies, and to some extent, half crowns 20-25 years ago. He did not make many proclamations as I recall. As was stated elsewhere in this post, he may well have the best penny collection but that not necessarily something to broadcast IMHO. Also, interestingly there were others that checked the just mentioned collector's ability to corner either denomination. However, I do congratulate Mr. Booth and as I have the chance will view his collection a bit more. The bigger issue is the domination of the modern market for rare coins by those blessed with generous resources and the squeezing out of those with more modest means.

Scary one at that. We don't often hear claims like that on these Boards but it might be interesting to see a photo montage of at least the highlights...There are definitely some stoppers in the Penny series.

All in with commissions, etc. was 2880 USD. I wonder what would be high or low for such a coin, and would it vary if sold at another venue such as in the UK.. Or is it an unloved series as I suspect. I would imagine that would be the case though I suspect that there could not be more than. a couple out there in total = RARE. This coin was not demonstrated to exist prior to this coin and no idea of the provenance.

Somehow I suspect the surfaces to be a bit nicer when seen in hand.

Several days ago, Heritage USA had a sale and in it was a specimen of the 1962 halfcrown in proof. I was rather astonished and had assumed it might not exist in commercial channels as I had never seen one on the market before, nor seen one period. Perhaps such coins escape much interest as they certainly are not gold or even silver; also currency versions are easily had. Anyway, just wondering if anyone has seen or heard of such before?? How about any other proof half crowns from 1963 to 1967? Heritage Auction 3122: Lot 34640 Coin graded proof cameo 63. I will see if I can post pictures in thread to follow.