1949threepence

Well according to his profile he last signed in yesterday at 6.30pm, so he's still around. As you say, Dave, there are quite a few spam posts to get rid of.

Very true. I'm trying to assemble an old design 2008 set as well. Additionally, if the old style larger 50p's were still circulating, the 1985 at 682,103 & the 1992 single market at 109,000, were very much to be prized. I remember once getting a 1985, but I can't remember what happened to it. Must have spent it.

Possibly true! If only our coins could talk I actually like the holed one, it's got character I have the same dichotomy between my two narrow date 1879s, one cleaned, one holed. Suppose in 50 yrs time whoever owns them; the cleaned ones will have retoned, but the others will be forever holy Now wouldn't that tell a tale

Andy, the challenge for me is in obtaining coins which minted under 1 million, from my change. Effectively, this is only possible in the modern era, with £2 coins ~ and only 6 of them, although there are other lowish mintages. Earlier generations could do this with lsd. For post decimalisation generations, this is the first time such collections from change have been worthwhile & possible. Although I do wish I'd collected a few 1988 pound coins in UNC while I had the chance.

Pity about the brassoed one, David. That would have been quite a decent specimen, otherwise. This was a $20 coin from US Ebay, just listed as 1875 penny and it does have the scarce obverse variety of reentered legend The other two came from circulation many years ago, still have bad feelings towards the guy who decided to drive a nail through a good penny! me too! Of course it may be the hole that accounts for its relatively good condition. Looks like it's got about, what, 40 to 45 years wear on it. So maybe it was put on a hook sometime about the first world war, and remained there until being re-discovered in the 50's/60's, temporarily re-entering circulation until you picked it up. Otherwise it might have been like your first one. Pure speculation, of course

Pity about the brassoed one, David. That would have been quite a decent specimen, otherwise. Superb one. I'm envious.

There's a half decent 1875H to be seen here Freeman 85 8 + J R11 Given the extreme rarity of these pennies, it's actually well worth bidding on. I'm sorry to say that I can't make out any meaningful detail on Scott's picture.

I've been looking at the edge of all £2 coins that have passed through my hands for the last 2 or 3 weeks, and there are indeed examples in both camps, but with a preponderance of lettering the correct way round, with the obverse up. Maybe 3:1 That would not suggest total randomness. I'll keep looking. I take that back. After a few more weeks of looking, I've come to the conclusion that it is random. Also, I got a Scottish flag Commonwealth Games £2 coin today, from a friend. Just need the Northern Ireland one now.

Useful link, that first one! Unfortunately the second one is only of interest to hammered enthusiasts. Although it says "hammered coins", it does in fact list most or all UK coin fairs. Take a look.

No, but then I've not been to Guernsey. Sometimes Channel Island or Isle of Man coins find their way onto the mainland, and turn up in your change. So nothing particularly unusual. Unless you think there is something different about it from other Guernsey pound coins.

You'll soon find out then. I think it's a blodge of something above another blodge of something, giving the appearance of a "1". There's some more muck between the "3" & "6". But until you get coin in hand, who knows for certain.

I can see a situation in which you could potentially be bidding against yourself, unless you did as they advised, and cancelled your postal/e mail bid on the day if you were attending in person.

Thought I'd include two which I've posted elsewhere on the forum:- list of UK coin dealers diary of UK coinfairs

The dates thing enrages me. I really cannot see the logic of starting in the middle (month) then going to the smallest (days) then ending with the biggest (year). Totally and utterly illogical. I once heard an American claim "it's because we say 'May 12th". Come again? It's just as common to say "12th of May"!! I agree, but ever noticed that the dates on newspapers is always in that style: ie: July 23, 2010, as opposed to 23rd July 2010.

Gold is gold, however it is dressed up

Totally agree. Ridiculous idea, and a waste of gold.

Absolutely fascinating story, Kris. Thank you very much indeed for that. Considering that all those coins will have effectively been frozen as far as wear is concerned, since 9 April 1945, there is an amazing amount of wear on the 1922, and especially the 1920 sixpences, after just 23 and 25 years respectively. Same as between now and 1985 for us today. I've noticed people on this forum say what a dearth of pre 1930 circulating silver there was back in the 1960's. The condition of those two,in the mid 40's, explains why.

Hiya mate ~ welcome to the forum. You'll find a list of dealers here I've found one in Bedford:- Eagle Coins 50 De Parys Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 2TP That was very helpful 1949. I'm looking for a pizza shop in Munich please That might be a bit beyond me, Dave. I don't even know where most of them are in this town ~ although I could have told you where all of them were in my home town of Chelmsford. If you're buying, mine's a Hawaaian. Cheers

Hiya mate ~ welcome to the forum. You'll find a list of dealers here I've found one in Bedford:- Eagle Coins 50 De Parys Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 2TP

Interesting, but tragic story. Can you post some scans or are they all in grotty "as dug" condition? Indeed. How did they come into your possession, Fubar, if you don't mind saying ?

I remember it like it were yesterday... It was a great time for schoolboys like me to ferret through their loose change, but raities didn't crop up every 5 minutes - in fact most people that checked their change found sweet Fanny Adams, but there was always the chance. Perhaps the most interesting thing I found was an 1872 florin, but purely for its interest value, the only recognisable thing about it was the date! By 15 February 1971 there were very, very few Victorian pennies left in circulation, most having been withdrawn during the sixties as underweight. Nonetheless with the possibility of having no less than 5 monarch's faces on the coins in your pocket, currency was infinitely more interesting than today. I suppose by that time the vast majority were reduced to little more than flat discs.

I may be wrong, but I'm sure I once saw a "check your change" small paperback booklet from about 1968, at one of the the Midland Coin fairs, and it referred to "Modified Head". Although I suppose that was designed for the wider public.

Yes, I wish I'd been born 25 or 30 years before 1978. I would have been regularly visiting banks and exchanging pound notes for 240 pennies to sort through. What a dream People who were around as youngsters in that era, are so lucky to have been part of it. Incidentally, I have read other coin articles from the time, and have noticed the way they say 1926 modified head, not modified effigy, which is the way they are referred to now. Modified head actually sounds less pretentious. Presumably that was how they were generally referred to when articles such as that were written.

You do get 4 pieces in there, so it isn't as bad as might first appear. Does anyone know how many were made and who the designer was? Well I've tried to find out, but drawn a total blank. There is one report from the Royal Mint itself, which refers to the initial test design in 1994, but gives no designer name. The only names we are given are those of Rushin & Maklouf for the reverse and obverse of the eventual circulation issues in 1997, and Rank-Broadley for the 1998 obverse. The link is here Unfortunately all the other links on the issue, appear to have cloned the Royal Mint report to some degree or other, so the name of the trial coins designer is unknown. Maybe a Royal Mint employee. Hopefully somebody will have access to this obscure information. Can't find my set at the moment but I have an image of the four stages Well I tell you what, put "TWO POUNDS" in place of "ROYAL MINT TRIAL", and that wouldn't have been a bad design for the coin. Looks concise, neat and attractive.

Hi Palves, You can find a list of national UK dealers here Unfortunately, I can't find anything for Sheffield or Bristol. It's often the case that coin shops are in the smaller towns, or seaside resorts, rather than the big cities ~ the exceptions being London, Birmingham,Manchester & Glasgow.