1949threepence

My ongoing exploration of old Coin Monthly editions, recently purchased, has revealed a number of interesting penny surveys carried during the period 1967 to 1970. However, one of the most interesting in this regard, is from the June 1970 edition. Headed "a pile of pennies" by P J Lynch, it details the fact that on Friday 27th February 1970, some celebrities, including Richard Attenborough and Roger Moore, pulled down a record breaking column of pennies at the ABC Bowl Club, North Harrow. Weighing almost a ton, the column of pennies towered 11 feet and 10 inches. There was a total of about 117,000 - hence my interest, as this is a very significant population size to extrapolate meaningful stats from. The pennies had been collected over the previous 8 months, from contributions by patrons of the club. There was a slight bias inasmuch as all the silver and brass contributed during special collections had been exchanged for pennies at the bank, and these showed a bias towards mint state 1967 pennies (39%). There apparently wasn't time to carry out a full survey, so they concentrated on the Edwardian period and other significant dates surrounding that. The results were as follows:- DATE NUMBER OF COINS FOUND in first 30 bags in all 98 bags 1860 - 1894 buns 15 38 1895 - 1901 48 * 1902LT 2 4 1902 38 * 1903 22 * 1904 10 * 1905 32 * 1906 87 * 1907 97 * 1908 58 * 1909 41 * 1910 42 * 1912H 17 * 1918H Nil 5 1918KN 1 6 1919H 7 * 1919KN 1 4 1926 16 * 1926ME 1 1 1950 Nil 1 1951 Nil Nil 1953 Nil 1 * Numerous specimens not counted Gives some indication of just what was out there at the time.

Take a look at this post from 2017. Upthread.

Comedy gold.

They must have moved to Sovereign house in 1968. Their address in April 1968 was given as "The Numismatic Publishing Company, 10 Goodmayes Road, Goodmayes, Ilford, Essex" By January 1969 it's changed to the Sovereign House, High Street, Brentwood address. I don't have any of the magazines between April 68 and January 69, so can't pinpoint it more precisely.

Or may be they got the idea from the name itself - interesting that. Looks like a building housing a number of different concerns/organisations.

Just beehave all of you, or you'll stir up a hornet's nest.

An F38 for Richard's rarest penny website - link here ETA: Although on closer inspection, I'm pretty sure it's the same coin as example 5 on his list of F38's.

I had a wasp's nest in a gap in my old fascia boards a few years ago. To be completely safe, I waited until the first frost in November, then sealed the entrance. When you say they are in your porch, in what way? Hole in the brick, or woodwork? Do you have a pic? Might be able to suggest solutions.

Sounds like a very big job, Dave. I seem to remember you mentioning the copyright issue once before, and it all kind of fell on stony ground. Worth pursuing though - IMO any rate. Coin Monthly itself worked out of Sovereign House, High Street, Brentwood. I ought to have looked the place up when I lived down there, as I'm from Chelmsford, which is very nearby, and visited Brentwood a number of times. Not sure where the magazine was actually printed - maybe they would, in turn, know when the last edition was if they still exist. Sovereign House can be seen on this Google Street view - it's the place on the corner with the bins outside. If you close in, you can see "Sovereign House" on the blue plaque, upper side of the building. Looks like it's some type of clinic now.

Can never understand why some people are so pathologically terrified of them. They've got infinitely more to fear from any person, than we have from them. A 3 year old child could kill one with ease.

That'd be a great project.

Yet spiders perform a great job. If they get into the house, I always let them be. I also leave a towel over the bath in case they get in through the plughole. Although if the cat spots one that she can get at, she'll be on it and have it eaten within a few seconds.

Pity. That would have been a very useful resource. As you say, he was unusually emphatic in his response. Moreover, if they were approached with a view to buying the CM title, that would suggest he might now have forgotten a very relevant date he once knew............possibly.....maybe.......buried deep in the archives.

Was that in response to an enquiry made by you, Chris? Although there is no connection, there are certain similarities between the two entities. Anyway, out of interest, I'll keep on trying to find out. At some point, later editions of either the magazine or yearbook will present themselves. If the very last magazine is flagged up as such, as last editions often are, we'll know for sure. But if not, we'll probably never know, unless somebody reads this and definitely does know that final date.

Of course, the actual question of when the last edition of the old Coin Monthly was issued, has still not been finally settled. We know for certain that it was no earlier than some point in 1992, but how much later is in some doubt. Unfortunately the latest Coin Monthly I have seen for sale, was May 1987. Nothing after that. Although I have seen a Coin Yearbook (from the makers of Coin Monthly for 1991, whilst the earliest Coin News yearbook I've seen is for 1994. Intrigued, I e mailed Token Publishing to see if they could cast any light on the issue, and I received this reply from a director (I think he may be editor as well):- So they don't know either. It all remains a bit of a mystery. But I will keep on the case.

For me it's now the probably quite common problem of whether to completely defer any new coin purchases/purchases generally, for the time being, and save up a goodly sum in order to be able to afford something like Richard's superb purchase (my own ambition is a decent 1863 die No under date, or 1877 narrow date, either of which you're looking at several thousand pounds for, similar to the 112). Always assuming they then come up for sale, of course, and how long you wait. So many variables to consider in this scenario.

Sheer class Richard. Beats a new bathroom any day.

I wish I'd seen the 176. It's a nice specimen.

From memory I think I paid £30 for the F20 & £50 for the F25. I wouldn't have expected more than £40 or £50 at the very most, when re-selling though. Upgraded with better specimens later. Hence the reason they were spare.

The + is for multi quoting, where you want to quote more than one post in your reply. If you click on the + a little box comes up which says "quote one post", which increases to two on the next post you press the + on. When you've got the number of quotes you need, then just click on the box which might then say, for example "quote three posts". It's a pity you didn't join a few months ago, as I had a spare F20 and F25, which you could have had. They were admittedly both sub fine, but problem free. However, I sold them to a dealer with a job lot of others, in part exchange for something else.

Yes, considering it was used in an exclusively British magazine back then (1969) it is a bit surprising that it's transformed into an apparently American term over the years.

Thanks Dave - PM sent.

Thanks Dave - if by some remote chance you have a spare first and second issue, from November and December 1966, plus the following:- From 1967 January, February, March, April, May, June, September From 1968 March, May, September. Once again thanks for any of the above you might hold as spares. ETA: if you do, let me know what you want for them.

I'm buying back copies of Coin Monthly from e bay and Amazon, and building up a collection. Some incredibly interesting and useful articles to browse through. From 1969 onwards it's easy to get full years. But December 1968 backwards, it's more patchy. The earliest one I've seen on offer is July 1967. So what precise date did it start - Dave or anyone? Thanks in advance.

The shape of the gunk that's there, just makes it appear as though it might be an extension to the three. There's all manner of other crap in the exergue which is consistent with it not being part of an unusual figure 3.