Gary D

Apart from a couple of coin shows my main resource for coins is ebay which I've been looking for the A+b for a good two years. The problem with ebay is the quality of the compressed pictures. It's offen not possible to see the beading clearly let alone count them and often only the reverse will be shown. It can be a pain but if everyone was into varieties you wouldn't be able to pick up peices for small money. I picked up an EF F176 for $2 and the A+b for about $3.50.

That's good to know. When we last spoke on the subject of the 1911 varieties I beleive both you and I were still looking for the A+b. Now that we have both got the full set what is your opinion on the scarcity of the A+b as it does appear to be the hardest to find. Gary

This probably wont excite most of you who arn't into varieties but this little slot filler has been one of my holy grails for the last couple of years. I was beginning to think it didn't exist. This is the 1911 Obverse A (hollow neck) Reverse b ( last 1 to gap 9 1/2 bead date). Ok it's not in great condition but it's the first time I've seen one. Michael Goulby mentions the four varieties on his website with three of them to be found in good condition, mine are all BU but this little sucker has been very illusive.... I'm happy to get one in any condition. All I need now is BCC to come on here and say he's got a draw full

If you look at both coins long enough they are both the same.

The positioning of the I of IMP is just a secondary way of identifying the same two varieties.

Yer I missed that one as well, must have been a F164A, a bargain

it's midday here in the UK now and we're just getting ready for lunch, ham, turkey, beef mmm.....Merry Christmas everyone

188,000 makes it just an R4 so not too common then. That's about 1 in 122 for that year so it's quite possible to search on ebay for a couple of years and not see one.

Thanks Scottishmoney, Red Riley and Peter your input is much appreciated. What with all the over grading on ebay etc I've started to be a bit over cautious on my own collection. I look forward to your book being published Red we badly need a definative guide to grading, hopefully it will put a bit of uniformity and perhaps honesty back into coin grading if enough collectors take up a copy. Anyway this coin will be a nice upgrade to my current slot filler. Regards and happy Christmas Gary

Chris, I'm a little confused as well. There would appear to be at least two varities of 1911 penny. 1. Normal full neck, I of BRITT to gap and I of IMP to right of bead. 2. Hollow neck, I of BRITT to bead and I of IMP to bead. Freeman quotes "that a common feature of 1911 and 1912 coins is what appears as a hollow in the neck" Now I wonder if he picked this up from somewhere without seeing an example in the hand as I'm sure he would have noticed the I to bead and listed two varieties for 1911. Unless of course he did see both a full neck and hollow neck of the common I of BRITT to gap variety. If this was the case he would more likely just leave the note that he did. Now all of this is at odds with Salzman "Salzman describes the varieties as 1) Hollow Neck, I of IMP to a space and 2) No hollow neck, I of IMP to border tooth" Unless DaveG38 has misquoted Salzman. As to rarety, as i said in my earlier post I've been looking for this variety for a good couple of years now which to me suggests they are less than common. I would be interesting in what RBC has to say if he reads these posts has to say as he seems to know his subjuct. Gary

I picked this F176 for 99p and would appreciate some opinions of its grade please. The obverse looks a bit ragged around the rim but generally it looks quite good. Britannias fingers, the first part to go are a bit flattened and there is a bit of wear to the helmet, wrist over shield and the down the front shin. The obverse is also pretty good just a flattened ear and a bit to the moustache and forehead. Myself I'm thinking VF to GVF.

In my defence I will say that the usual 1911 i.e. I to gap is reasonable common in the hollow neck type and is what I take it that Freeman mentions. I have been looking through 1911s for a couple of years now with out finding an I to tooth and ended up buying one. Also I of IMP is to bead so I think we have three varieties here. I do hate it when this happens, another one to look for

The 1911 penny with the I of BRITT to a tooth has no relationship to the modified image seen in 1926. The I to tooth is as far as I can tell a recent discovery and have only seen it mention on a website and as far as I'm aware it doesn't as yet appear in any literature. I was talking to Michael Goulby recently about this variety and he personal only knows of about 20 to exist sofar so it could be quite scarse. Anyway here is mine

A difficult call this one. The uncorroded parts look pretty good but I suppect that there is little left under the corrosion. I think I would be very worried keeping it in its present condition with any other coins so in this case cleaning is the only option. I resently cleaned a 1912 1/2d that was BUNC apart from a nasty spot of black and green to one edge. I used a dip which is pretty agressive on copper but the results were very good. It is a bit pitted were the corrosion was and obviously all the toning came off but it ended up look very good and a nice golden colour but not polished looking. If you try it on a Elizebeth II coin they come out pink due to the mix but older copper can look ok. I do have problems with coins that show some wear because they shouldn't be bright in that condition. I say dip it.

A colleague of my brother was recently left a large accumilation of coins by her father and I was asked to have a quick look through to see if there was anything of value. It was largely bags and bags of the usual well circulated stuff fit to scrap apart from the two half soveriegns.

I'm always a bit wary of coin dealers especially since seeing one operate when he was going through a collection that an old couple brought into his shop whilst I was there, not buying coins I must add. Althought the collection was quite average there were a few nice slot fillers amongst it but because there wasn't anything particularly exceptional he was only willing to do the right thing and give them about melt for the silver because he couldn't be arsed to sort it through. Anyway the first thing to do is go through your Aunt's collection and check to see if there is any gold in there. If there is come back here and start asking questions.

However, firstly, the scottish shillng been prepared for Edward VIII coinage. The pound coin when first introduced rotated yearly between the four member nations.

I have just added 2+B proof to my collection so I can confirm their existance. I wonder what their rariety is. CCGB quotes a total mintage of 26,400 for the 1937 proof penny. Freeman quotes R8 (12,00-20,000) for the 1+A and R10 (3.501-7,000) for the 1+B, so even worst case it must be at least R9 probably more likely an R11 or 12.

Just returned from my hols and had this waiting for me. I,ve not come across two varieties of the George VI obverse listed for the brass 3d, at least Peck doesn't mention it. I originally noticed this with the 1937 currency pieces and now I have aquired a proof of both types. The difference is a slight rotation of the text which is most noticeable if you look at the pointing of the B in BR. I believe the 1st type exhibits the B pointing to the corner and only occurs in 1937. The second type is rotated so that the B is to the right of the corner and occurs for 1937 and 1938-52.

Nice coin, but to me this looks like Obv 1 Rev A. Obv 1 has the I of BRITT pointing to a bead, whilst Rev A has the I of FID pointing to a space. These seem to be the conclusions from the pointings of this coin. However, it could be that the pointing isn't absolutely clear from the photos. Info by the way from the 'Micheal Coins' web site. Mmm your right it is 1+A, I've got my : and I confused. Michael Goulby uses I to space / bead and Davies : after FID to space / bead. Oh well never mind 1+A is still as rare as hens teeth and must be worth £100+ Gary, Sorry to have pointed out the error, but as you say, still a very nice coin and pretty rare, so a good deal. A bit of a cheek I know, but would you object to my making use of the photographs you posted in something I am currently thinking of putting together. That sounds a bit mysterious I know, but until I am sure I want to undertake this task, I would rather not commit myself on paper or screen! Until I am sure, I am just collecting material in the meantime, just in case. If you are not agreeable I quite understand. No problem, just let me know which ones in case they aren't mine like the 1911 which I lifted from the ebay aution to save time. I can photograph anything I have if it would help.

Nice coin, but to me this looks like Obv 1 Rev A. Obv 1 has the I of BRITT pointing to a bead, whilst Rev A has the I of FID pointing to a space. These seem to be the conclusions from the pointings of this coin. However, it could be that the pointing isn't absolutely clear from the photos. Info by the way from the 'Micheal Coins' web site. Mmm your right it is 1+A, I've got my : and I confused. Michael Goulby uses I to space / bead and Davies : after FID to space / bead. Oh well never mind 1+A is still as rare as hens teeth and must be worth £100+

I wasn't sure if to list this one here or as a 'NEWP of the week'. I managed to pick this one up during the week from ebay so was not complete sure of its type until it arrived yesterday. I was very pleased to find that my interpretation was correct, the photos on ebay are often not the best medium for identifying small variations in alignment. Anyway this one is an unconfirmed Davies 1861, Odv 1 Rev B (shallow neck). In the hand the coin is heavily toned and I would grade EF possibly slightly better, there is a slight flattening to George's ear and a bit of shine to the lions nose and the bar of the jewel in the centre of the crown. As to value, would anyone like to make a guess. Davies unfortunately doesn't give an indication of rareties but he does give the 1+A a x8 premium in value over the common 2+B so it would be nice to think that the 1+B would enjoy a greater premium. I suppose it must be worth the £11.99 I paid for it.

Your cat is cared about more by you than you are by your government insurance programme. Benevolence stops whence one attains power. People in the USA gripe about healthcare here, it is expensive, and not everybody is insured. But if you are you have pretty good care by comparison to say Canada where they have a similar system of medical care as in Britain. Need open heart surgery, get on the list and wait 6 months. While people in the USA go to Canada to have their medicine prescriptions filled, it is the opposite with Doctor or hospital visits, the Canadians go to the USA for care. The wife and I will be having a full MOT done while we are in the Philippines in about 3 weeks time. You can have the full works done, full spectrum blood test, ecg etc for a few pounds. You try and have it done here in the uk. Private very expensive, NHS no chance.

Thanks Tom I'll second that. Nice to see you are a modern man. It wasn't many years ago that the father was expected to and was kept well out of the way during the birth of their children, women's work and all that. Have you thought of a video phone, best of both worlds

Only 3 weeks to my holidays, get behind me satan