davidrj

I've made that mistake a few times also Bernie, so I know where you are coming from. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt many times, I've just wasted £10 on a standard 1863 penny, that looked a little odd in the photo. I spend a lot of time looking at coins on Ebay trying to find varieties, many of which are never listed even by experienced sellers - how many listings do you see for 1913 die pairings? I'm still trying to find a decent 1+B F175. 1909 F169 and 1908 F164a are still on the radar. I take the view, if I've done the leg work, and I'm prepared to get it wrong more often than not, then interesting items I do manage to buy at a low price are fair game.

Good luck. I was watching this coin but it did not look like a open 3 to me. I might be wrong for you know what ebay pics are like. Sadly a perfectly formed standard 3,

Yes, that's the normal screen if you are not signed in, Upt to a week ago the site used to show threads I hadn't read after signing in, now I get "no new content found" irrespective of what is unread

I agree, P in Penny is the best guide, but only for 1897 Tide level is difficult to equate with folds, the level relative to the rock is easier to see - here's my montage of tide heights ">tides

Just taken a £10 punt on this 1863 - wishful thinking, I know. But the 3 looks odd, not normal but not the same as the open 3 I have. - probably a bog standard one when it arrives David

The "view new content" button tells me there is nothing even when i have 6 unread posts. I think it's a site glitch as it happens on both Firefox/Win10 & Safari/Ipad David

and from me!

1d NOT 1p please! Obv looks very concave - depressed ear??

Nice one Peck! We know you are lurking

Traditional enamel is coloured glass, most modern ones are not enamel but acrylic resin

New dies? Possibly

This got me thinking, I don't ever recall hearing of a fake or fasimile 1954. A quick search on Ebay, finds sites who will sell me a:- gothic 1847, jubillee 1887, 1937 Ed VIII, or 1952 1933 or a museum quality facsimile of an 1862 penny! but no 1954, so I widened my search to international sellers and found this extraordinary fabrication 24 sold but there are 5 left if you bid now

All 1954 coins have new obverse without BRITT OMN, so genuine

I'm no metallurgist, but I suspect either die degradation or metal flow rather than a font change

Mine appears to have straight bottomed E and normal die axis

I think we are talking worn die on these

See http://www.predecimal.com/forum/topic/8270-an-interesting-1898-penny/?hl=%2B1898+%2Bpenny

Happy birthday

Exactly! His BP1875 Cd was from memory from a coin he saw back in 2000, I wonder if he got the die pairing wrong??? I would classify my coin as BP 1875 B L+ja. It's odd the rev has the trace of the cannon ball and a very obvious die crack, which would go along with the theory it was caused by a piece of grit. But a piece of grit affecting two different die pairings in exactly the same place???? beggars belief

My 1875 cannon ball with the grit affecting the obverse die too, as predicted by Gouby in his footnote to BP1875 Ce, I suspect his BP1875 Cd is an error

V.E. III's coins are the most falsificate in Italy because there are a lot of collectors and in genaral have high prices .. However It's strange because this coin is rare but not too muchu Someone liked it, just gone for $625 (£404)

I have one, this was in my cache of buns saved from circulation, quite clear in hand but difficult to get a good image

Oh dear are we starting to get fakes of rare bronze now? this is a rare coin with a mintage of just 250,000, and poor survival rate in the tropics - but this 4 Bese of Italian Somalia has to be cast surely a real one in high grade here

Fascinating link, 47 yrs after the introduction of the new fangled bronze coinage, we are now 45 yrs since those first decimal sets were issued The question remains as to why there are so many varieties of the early bun bronze, was it down to lack of experience of the Royal Mint or the utter incompetance of Watt and Co who had received the contract for the job. Heatons, who took over the task certainly had the experience; they ran the French Mint in Marseilles, producing high quality bronze 1,2,5 & 10 centime pieces 1853-7 totalling 6,200,000 Francs. Likewise production concurrently by the other French Mints all with identical dies produced in Paris

Me too, Stay strong Peter