1887jubilee

Well done Rob. The same coin is illustrated in Thorburn's "The Coinage of Great Britain" Third edition plate VIII ref 104 but the quality is quite poor.

If it is "extremely special" say over £25,000-£50,000 Japan or America might do better.

Has anyone got an authenticated 'Beirut' copy for sale please.

Steep prices indeed but you can't argue with the quality. There is a whole world of investors rather collectors out there. The Americans at Heritage and the Japanese seem to be driving tremendous prices. Just sit back and increase your insurance

Grief; if they are duff my whole collection is probably suspect. On the other hand the 1887 £5 is one of the most forged coins.

Can I contact you to discus? I have 8 different 1887 reverses.

The main point with the obverse is the brooch has 20 pearls not 16 as is normal. So in fact a totally different obverse. Some of these were issued in the 1887 silver only sets. I have not seen a currency piece with 7 to a bead

Yes you are onto something here. I have examined my extensive 1887 collection of 6d. There are as you say different obverses but not limited to the two you show. Even the reverses are not limited to the A-E in Davies. there being at least four of 1887 alone. For comparison I would like to see your obv. 2 if it is 1887. I only have one.

The 1887 Halfcrown with 7 to a bead is a significant rarity. I have sent the information to a friend in Australia who has been looking for one for some time. The double florin obv.1 rev. B is well known but represents only about 5% of 1887 double florins. If you have anything else 1887 please contact me. PS good to see all the familiar names on the forum.

Another test is to measure the distance from the top of the R in REG to the top of the T in VICTORIA. This is done with vernier callipers (for more reliable results take an average of 10 readings). Most of the proofs measure 33.6mm Other coins vary a good deal up to 34.6mm. This was a test introduced to me by Peter Davies of British Silver Coins. And no it is not a proof though the tone is rather pleasing on the obv.

I have never seen the actual catalogue or the archive. Can you give me a link please?

I am trying to track down a shilling collector who might know where this coin is. ESC 1406 (3rd. ed.) BSC 1000 (1st. ed.) I know and have seen the Royal Mint example but where is the one sold Spink & Son 11/7/2001 lot 1039 £1450 (£1668). I have the corresponding sixpence. The designer is said by Davies to be J E Boehm and the engraver said by Seaby & Rayner to be L.C. Wyon.

The delay suited me perfectly as I managed to log on just a few lots ahead of the one I wanted. I should have missed it really. There was no sound though which was a pain. I can't get used to the extortionate charges though. Why do we put up with it. My local auction house do not charge ANY buyers premium. Which is fine if all you want is a few modern Royal Mint proof sets and a second hand fridge freezer.

Could it more likely be clashed dies?

did you try https://bsjauctions.auctionmobility.com/ I found this worked for me . It's a bit late now I am afraid. Half the problem was knowing if I was registered but a phone call soon confirmed. I was very happy with the coin I got and even happier that BSJ are bringing it back to the UK for posting here.

Rev. A proof. anyone seen rev. B proof?

Looks like a classic Rev. B unless you have other information. Of course it comes in proof as well......... or does it? When you say "we did the sixpences" what were your conclusions? I have worked on an analysis of over 2000 and I don't know of anyone who has come up with anything in the statistical form of pie charts, and statistics that I could talk to. The only other person that has heard it all is my grand daughter and since it sends her to sleep ................the floor is open.

Yes. The R/V is a variety of the R/I. You will notice the serifs on all the Rs are long on the right of each foot. You will also have noticed the R/V on the R of Gratia which is not so strong. This is on all R/Vs.The R/B is not R/B it also is just a variety of the R/I . So there you have three R/I varieties already.

OK . You have got my attention. It is good to see I am still remembered amongst the officionardos. How many varieties are there? Well I will give you a clue. When my daughter wants the children putting to sleep she says "Grandad tell them the story of the die varieties of the 1887 sixpences. It has become something of a joke in our family. Pekris has an odd one which was thought to be a pattern and may still be I have only seen 3. (2 are mine and one is his.) If you really are interested and can cope with the mind numbing minutiae it would be best to begin with the R/I of which there are more than a dozen. Then the various proofs:- R/I ,matt, YH , normal JH short serifs rev withdrawn, rev 3 , filled crown, broad ribbon , narrow ribbon. How anm I doing, have you dozed off yet? Pattern with SIX PENCE only R6 so available; Of course you could include the Spink & Son pattern sixpences in tin, copper, brass, silver, gold, aluminium.....................with or without Spink & Son on the reverse.......................with or without MADE IN BAVARIA on the rim....................and a few that have S&S on the trunk or JEB or are blank...............some of these are easily found there were a couple last month in DNW.........fast asleep yet. Come to Plymouth and we will have a chat. There are some easy ones you still have missing. Rob I am up over 350 counting all the repro stuff on the market

I have the whole lot photographed direct from a copy Dyer let me borrow and have both articles as well. There are other £2 pieces not mentioned notably the one with concave milling London Coins 6th. Aug 2010 auction 129 lot 1993. ex Davies. I have not worked out how to do a private messages so will not put details here.

Not to mention import duties of 5% on Numismatic items

There is one helpful get area that is not taxed where it might otherwise be charged at the 5% and that is the exemption for "investment gold". I was charged on an 1887 £2 at the 5% but when challenged HMRC repaid the duty. As you say though you cannot get back the Royal Mail charge that was wrongly applied in the first place.

One available here https://coins.ha.com/itm/great-britain/world-coins/victoria-silver-specimen-golden-jubilee-medal-nd-1887-sp64-pcgs-/p/3064-176001.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

I have been studying 1887 sixpences for fifteen years and can confirm this as a recognized variety. You should see from the coin that the Rs all have both serifs left and right at the base of the upright so this coin is a variety of the R over I that is in most books. If you look at the R in BRITT: you should be able to see the R/I very clearly. This is a distinguishing feature of this die variety which has come to be called A over A but, as pointed out, it could be an inverted V. The specimens I have do not show a bar to the "A" but you will have noticed how weak the strike is from your own specimen. They turn up from time to time on ebay and fetch fairly normal prices but then most people don't know what they are looking at. In a survey of 1,518 sixpences I have found 5. I don't look for them any more. Extrapolating this would give a mintage figure of 12,107. Given You have one and Nick has one the sample then would indicate 17,000+. It is most likely this pair of dies had a normal use and so the actual figure would be more like 30,000. Well done on spotting it. There is a specimen in The Royal Mint collection RMM8457.

I bought a BRESSER with 5 year warranty £48 on ebay. It works fine on the lowest 20X but the magnification is too high for a lot of coin work. I don't think we need anything over 25 X . I think it would be good if someone came up with a software package that would compare coins with a view to spotting differences. Anyone know of something like that?