davidrj

from Wikipedia:- Finnish businesses and banks have employed a method known as "Swedish rounding" when tallying sums. Due in large part to the inefficiency of producing and accepting the 1 cent and 2 cent coins, Finland has opted to remove these coins from general circulation in order to offset the cost involved in accepting them. While individual prices are still shown and summed up with € 0.01 precision, the total sum is then rounded to the nearest € 0.05 when paying with cash. Sums ending in € 0.01, € 0.02, € 0.06 and € 0.07 are rounded down to the nearest 5 cents; sums ending in € 0.03, € 0.04, € 0.08 and € 0.09 are rounded up to the nearest 5 cents. The 1 cent and 2 cent coins are legal tender and are still minted for collector sets as required by the EMU agreement. ************* So maybe the 1p's days are numbered. I agree with Peckris the penny has a far longer history than the pound, maybe we should rename the pound as a "New Penny" as the French did with the franc, don't tell UKIP though

All my 1p,2p & 5p go in the charity box on the sideboard, every little helps for lots of worthy causes

I still have my copy of Freeman's "Victorian Bronze Penny",and find the figures for the number of actual coins he had examined of each variety fascinating; somehow more relevant than "rarity ratings". I also have the first edition of his later volume. The descriptions and photos in Michael Gouby's books are much easier to use in my opinion, his new specialized edition is superb David

link that works Honduras 4 real

Good to see a seller saying his picture is better than the coin! Honduras 4 real

and here's me thinking it was the rarer narrow date variety

Has to be my open 3 1903 penny for 49p

That's the one. I always thought the colour of KN pennies was due to a lower tin content, George VI Aussie pennies go a similar colour Leaving small change in you jeans pockets when it goes through the washing machine often produces intersting results, I assume soap powder is fairly alkaline

Thanks all for the advice, having just reached the magic age where Her Majesty pays me to stay at home (although still working two days per week) I fancy a new project for days when it's too wet/cold to garden Don't want to host anything public yet, but a hotlink/HTML type application appeals. Lots of photography to do first

Most US coins have astronomic mintages, so minor varieties add interest and something for collectors to search out My view is if you can't spot a difference on a VF coin it's a minor variety

I've been meaning to set up a picture database of my coins for some while, none of the available software I've tried fits my needs - I collect world coins (albeit almost all penny sized) A friend suggested that setting one up using web design software may be more use, with the added bonus I could subsequently share my gems with a wider audience on line. Any advice much appreciated

I assume that the 1895 2mm was the first design that was abandoned some reason and replaced with the "normal" reverse used from 1895 to 1902(LT). The 1897 "Gouby X" is the odd one, never seen a picture of one in high grade.

OK Scott, if my scanner was working properly I'd send you photos, but it's one of those where you need a ruler and the two coins side by side. 1) On the variety usually known as the '1895 2mm', the angle of the trident and the P of the word 'penny' are 2 mm. apart whereas on the standard issue they are 1 mm. apart; 2) The variety has a slightly lower tide, but on neither type is the tide a particularly prominent feature and on worn examples it may have disappeared altogether. This is what gives rise to the variety's other name of '1895 low tide'; 3) The word 'penny' is much more scrunched up on the variety and has noticeably smaller spacings than the word 'one'; 4) Britannia is actually very slightly smaller and neater on the 2mm. making her look slightly more elegant. Hope that answers your question. Scott, there's a nice 2mm 1895 here 1895 2mm

Now that is a very minor variety and no mistake. ?? why should this be considered a minor variety? totally different die - higher tide, shield much closer to the rim, P of Penny to a gap rather than a tooth Do you consider the 1902 low tide minor? Another puzzle though.. why does it exist just for 1897 and in such low quantity

Unlike bun pennies, that later reverse just doesn't seem to arouse enthusiasm.

Not just classics - undated 20p :-(

Looks a bit like Wellington to me - similar portrait here wellington token

Finally went for £931.45, not bad for 99p start! way out of my league, so another gap remains unfilled

This one's interesting 1860 penny - LCW below foot 99p start currently at £825 with 5 days to go

Hopefully this may prevent the daily recycling of junk on Ebay new Ebay rule

according to Tony Clayton's site metals used for coins there is a German medal in Uranium, Osmium much too hard & brittle

Er no, it's a one-off thing, each pensioner gets as many Maundy pence as the age of the monarch. see Wiki Maundy Not sure why she got the crown and the 50p (?silver proofs??) D

It's Maundy Thursday today, and I thought forum members might like to see the full range a pensioner receives from her Majesty This set belongs to my 93 year old mum, who was a recipient in 2004 (Liverpool Cathedral)