1949threepence

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

It was a nifty bit of work you did to get the relevant images isolated and the right way up, Richard.

Indeed. Somebody's fallen for it, He even got the grade wrong as it's NVF at best. Sadly, there really are some naive buyers out there. Mind, this guy's got form as you probably already know. With regard to your other link, I wish the damn things were the right way up, but the one in the corner has the tell tale tall helmet plume. If the obverse in the same place matches, which I think it does, somebody's nabbed themselves a F76. Nice one. Again, it was recognised, as nobody would surely pay that much for the remainder of the tat.

Yep, the number of times I've sent a follow up one word text to correct an auto "correct" that slipped in while I was busy typing the main text.

Very interesting Chris, and thanks for the info. Obviously, as you sort of indicate above, for the very rarest coins, it's almost impossible to obtain an example above fine anyway. In some cases, such as the F90 or F169, and with the exception of one, the F164A also, they simply don't exist in the known population. Truly BU pennies before 1883, are very few and far between, even for the "common" years. Mostly we have to settle for GEF with some residual lustre.

I don't think the F74 is a proof, nor was ever intended to be. Rather it is an intentional specimen, as opposed to an early strike from new polished dies. The following description accompanied the Copthorne example:- Anyway, here it is. It is an exceptionally good strike, especially to the obverse. But lacks any indication whatever of it being a proof.

Not to worry. Got a pretty good idea from the above anyway.

I can see that the fields are smooth and the strike very sharp. Are you able to take a picture now?

Looking through the list of dealers in last year's Coin Yearbook, I can only find two in Hertfordshire itself:- M.G.Coins & Antiquities, 12 Mansfield, High Wych CM12-OJJ - Tel 01279 721719 David Miller Coins and Antiquities, PO Box 711 Hemel Hempstead, HP2 4UH - Tel 01442 251492 Although plenty in adjacent and nearby counties, Essex, Berkshire, Bucks, Cambs, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Northants. Hope this helps. If you order a 2020 coin yearbook from Token Publishing, you'll be able to see them all. Available as an e version or hard copy.

Re: bit in bold - actually, depending on how in depth you go, that is pretty much spot on. Welcome to the forum, enjoy the experience, and please don't be shy of asking any questions.

Good points Jerry. Logically, you're spot on. Maybe the wide rim is a bit of an erroneous red herring.

Pics, Chris?

Here's my F67, out of interest. Ordinary rim and definitely not a specimen, but as you say there are other non specimens with a thick rim. High grade, but definitely a currency strike, and a clear difference to yours, which does have all the hallmarks of a specimen strike.

Apologies if this has already been posted, but e bay seller "The Coin King" has written an article about the increasing number of fakes being offered on e bay, including how they typically manifest, what to look for and where they might originate. Worth a read. link

No, in fact the only specimens/possible proofs known of in the 1874 series, are the Heaton Mint ones (F74). I actually successfully bid for the Copthorne example, in 2016. Your F67 definitely does have the typical red/blue toning characteristics of a specimen, as well as that thick rim, especially to the obverse, which my F74 has as well.

Beauty - that's a hard date, especially in high grade.

Some interesting perspectives on the bronze coinage of Queen Victoria from 1860 to 1894, written in 1907 by Fleet Surgeon A E Weightman, RN. Although why he refers to Leonard Charles Wyon as Leonard Courtney Wyon, I've no idea - mistake, or did he know something we don't? link to pages

Thanks, that's a much better view and under magnification it's clearly obverse 9. Not bidding as I already have a decent F97 (and 96 for that matter). But I was just intrigued.

Copied and pasted that into the e bay search bar, but it didn't find it unfortunately. Thanks anyway. Never mind, I'll go with the majority view of Obverse 9.

Thanks chaps. I was poring over it off and on for several hours and switching between the two. Unfortunately there's no blow up facility with this one, so you can't get to see it really close up. I thought the same as you, Jon, but not sure. To be fair, it's a nice coin eitherway. Great toning.

What do you reckon, obverse 8 or 9?

Meant to post this a few days ago. It's my F160 now freed from its MS64 slab, photographed and suitably cropped. It's much the scarcer of the two 1905 types and I've been trying to get a decent one for some time.

Might be worth reporting to e bay. Problem is, no-one there would know the difference.

That makes very plausible sense.

I'd bet the cases were routinely broken open to spend the lot, scarce penny included. Would have been to big a temptation to resist, especially for kids, or if you were a bit hard up.