Peckris

It's not uncommon with missing or tiny stops due to metal fillings (die block). But are you saying that you have a shilling with stop between ET like this Sixpence? I have 30 different reverse dies of the shilling, none of these have a stop between ET I'll have to have a look. Never studied my 1787s that close.

That's the fellow, Mr Accumulator... I've never found one before, and I've looked at a darn sight more than 5, so I'm with you on that one. Then 6 turn up in the same Jiffy bag. I must do some number crunching of Mr Court's paper - I do have it, but I haven't given it the attention it deserves! I recall being at a W&W auction in the 1990s where one of the lots was a collection from someone who had clearly pulled a number of near Unc coins from circulation in the 1950s. Included was a haul of 1957 halfpennies, most with full or nearly full lustre - the majority were 'calm sea'! That may be the origin of your 1944s, retrieved from circulation at the same time and ending up in the States still together. Possibly, although I think Declan does have a point. Where very small numbers of identifiable coins have been produced, it has been possible to trace where they were issud e.g. 1950 penny - Northern Ireland; 1951 penny - Bermuda/West Indies. The same should therefore be theoretically possible of coins with certain identifiable die traits. I say should, but really I meant 'would' as it is far too late now to do anything other than speculate. That's certainly true Derek, but it wouldn't apply to 1944 pepnnies in the USA surely? Unless they were issued in the W Indies maybe.

That's the fellow, Mr Accumulator... I've never found one before, and I've looked at a darn sight more than 5, so I'm with you on that one. Then 6 turn up in the same Jiffy bag. I must do some number crunching of Mr Court's paper - I do have it, but I haven't given it the attention it deserves! I recall being at a W&W auction in the 1990s where one of the lots was a collection from someone who had clearly pulled a number of near Unc coins from circulation in the 1950s. Included was a haul of 1957 halfpennies, most with full or nearly full lustre - the majority were 'calm sea'! That may be the origin of your 1944s, retrieved from circulation at the same time and ending up in the States still together.

Agreed. If anything it may even be a slight OVER-estimation. If your coin has no lustre VS, I would put it somewhere between £100 and £150 depending on crispness and eye appeal. The halfpenny is much scarcer of course.

It's very close but looks slighly different than my 'first' obverse I think this is normal for the series. I have a 1787 shilling where that particular stop is MUCH smaller than the ones on either side.

The good ship Venus. (All together now : "The figurehead / Was a nude in bed ... ")

A real waste - an EF coin that's been ruined Good call scott - in that case it would have to be Reverse H due to the close numerals

http://www.museum-security.org/?p=4392 http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=90 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1302005/1933-penny-coin-valued-80k-offered-eBay-suddenly-withdrawn.html http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/PrintMessages.aspx?ThreadID=1849 Take your pick.

What's the ship? The Golden Hind, or just a generic 19th C warship?

Very, very interesting. An absolute bargain for £85.00, I'd say. Can't see it being on sale for long. It does look like a narrow date, yes. It also looks genuine. Don't think it is an 1871, possibly an 1874 with the one repunched in the wrong position (mint worker forgot he was working on a mirror image) Now bear in mind pennies are not my thing , but it looks like an altered 4 to me, the serifs on the last one are angled which are completely different to the other 1 in the date. I can also see some difference in shade where the 4 would have been, but I don't know how this would compare to genuine date spacing for this date? Overlays anyone? I think we've established that it can't possibly be a 1871 - so please let's not talk about "probably" or "don't think". It's not! Let's start from what it might be - 1874 at the earliest - and work from there. 1874. Copy it into a program where you can alter contrast and brightness. The LHS of the 4 shows up as a line parallel to the 7 and if you look carefully just on the RHS of the 1 it looks as if there are the serifs of the 4. I see that Rob, quite plainly. The thing is, how did they get the flat top to the digit, and the extra thickness to the downstroke?

Very, very interesting. An absolute bargain for £85.00, I'd say. Can't see it being on sale for long. It does look like a narrow date, yes. It also looks genuine. Don't think it is an 1871, possibly an 1874 with the one repunched in the wrong position (mint worker forgot he was working on a mirror image) Now bear in mind pennies are not my thing , but it looks like an altered 4 to me, the serifs on the last one are angled which are completely different to the other 1 in the date. I can also see some difference in shade where the 4 would have been, but I don't know how this would compare to genuine date spacing for this date? Overlays anyone? I think we've established that it can't possibly be a 1871 - so please let's not talk about "probably" or "don't think". It's not! Let's start from what it might be - 1874 at the earliest - and work from there.

Plenty of A480's online (ie argos just over £80) However it gets slated on batteries and its viewfinder. The crucial thing is - has it got a genuine macro mode? It's no good for coin photos if it doesn't.

I just read a review of it that didn't even mention that it has a macro mode. I hope you're sure about that? Take it back if it doesn't, as that's the one thing you need for taking pictures of coins.

Because 99 out of every 100 people (you may find this hard to believe LOL) regard coins as mere money, or at best interesting metal discs to be defaced in a variety of interesting ways. People have split two extremely common pennies and stuck two of the different halves together for no better reason than "Hey, I've got a new lathe". When I looked through bags of pennies in the late 60s, you wouldn't believe the number of defaced items I found, from deeply machined initials and / or numbers, to serrating, heart- or other-shaped holes, or simply machining off every other letter in the legend. thank's for all the input,beleave it or not ive found another coin same date no H since I posted this Q.these coins were minted in in birmingham im sure,most had the H some diden't the coins are there and are not rare BUT are they on record, If someone produces an example that's at least a good Fine, then I'll believe the 'clogged die' theory. Until then I'm going with the 'wear or damage' scenario.

YAY. I can come out from slinking around ... until next year!

Myself, Declan and Hus all use a Canon powershot A480. It will knock you back around £60 Steve and ticks all of the above boxes. I don't use a tripod or any lighting other than natural daylight. Thanks John, I think I can stretch to £60! If no one has a better idea I'll get one next week. I'm fed up looking at me poor scans. On the other hand, you should be able to pick up a DSLR plus macro lens and still have change from a grand ....

Very, very interesting. An absolute bargain for £85.00, I'd say. Can't see it being on sale for long. It does look like a narrow date, yes. It also looks genuine. It's about as right as a WWII bomber on the moon! Without even trying to look at dies it is apparent that the second 1 is a totally different style. I had the very fortunate miss on an 1860 penny on ebay at £1200 a couple of years ago (I think it made over £2k). It appeared to be an unrecorded J + g. It now appears on page 100 of Michael Goubys book as an altered date forgery. At least this seller states he thinks it is a wrong un. Ebay is an absolute minefield and should be negotiated in a bomb suit (preferably 2) with a very good sniffer dog and detector in front of you! I was being sarcastic. If there had been any chance of it being genuine, 1) It would already have gone, 2) There would have been a lot more fanfare, higher price plus attempt at verification and 3) If it hadn't gone after that, I'd have bought it myself in a heartbeat That said, of course, somebody will buy it "as is", and probably re-sell it for more !!! Yes, the obverse is the giveaway, not appearing on pennies before 1874. The question is, what's it been altered from? That doesn't look obvious.

Genuine links to window cleaning sites and not a threepenny bit in sight - what goes on? Check the profile out, only a subtle hint of what lies beneath though! Got you! Didn't think to check the profile. Makes you wonder why those window cleaning links are genuine though - unless that's a picture taken through a window from up a ladder, and the actual purpose is to sell window cleaning ...

It may be like mine, the thumb print was on the scanner glass! Nice coin. Gorgeous. I'd live with a slight thumbprint.

Because 99 out of every 100 people (you may find this hard to believe LOL) regard coins as mere money, or at best interesting metal discs to be defaced in a variety of interesting ways. People have split two extremely common pennies and stuck two of the different halves together for no better reason than "Hey, I've got a new lathe". When I looked through bags of pennies in the late 60s, you wouldn't believe the number of defaced items I found, from deeply machined initials and / or numbers, to serrating, heart- or other-shaped holes, or simply machining off every other letter in the legend.

I hope, I pray, that it's Barca. But as a loyal Scouser I'm staying out of mental harm's way via Dr Who, Dad's Army, and Wallander.

I think both those have been known for so long they have acquired a permanent status. But certainly neither is as rare (especially the 1902) as many of the lesser-favoured bun varieties.

Genuine links to window cleaning sites and not a threepenny bit in sight - what goes on?

Given that it's not going to be worth very much, you might want to keep it as a memento - finding coppers over 200 years old while out walking is not an everyday event.

Still use my 5mx! Whats the 5mx a older prio model? Newer by a couple of years. It's black and white and can't remember anything if you take all of the batteries out. Yes, disregarding all the warnings I allowed both sets of batteries to go flat, and everything went west. I actually do have an early backup surviving but sadly that was taken before I'd done the Spink spreadsheet. I don't use it at all nowadays (it got pretty shabby, the stylus broke - but a good little machine in its day. The success of the Palm drove it out of the market. I believe they still technically live on in ARM chips and Eriksson firmware?)