Bernie

I have now had a chance to examine the 1953 BB/TB penny from the Spink 2014 auction. I now believe the coin is a currency striking and not a sandblasted coin/die (definitely not a proof)

Definitely a Freeman 6, dies 1+B (Gouby 1860E dies C+

I do not believe that the 1860 missing colon dot pennies were due to the die being clogged by the bronze, but deliberate filling of the working die or more likely the erasing of the dots on the working hub. At lease two different die pairs have been used for producing the known examples of these missing colon dot pennies. There are quite a few variations of colon spacing and colon positioning of these Obverse 4 pennies, probably due to the missing colon working dies being punched by hand with colon dots.

Never heard of a 1922 filled die penny. Any picture available ?? I know of 1920 penny with filled die.

1915 UNC with 70% lustre selling at Dave Craddock coins for £30 Tel. 0121 7732259

Better pictures of the spink auction pennies on "thesaleroom.com"

There are a few around, mostly from VIP proof sets BB/TB. Perhaps half a dozen, possibly more if the VIP proof sets are owned by VIP's that are not in the numismatic circle. Also at least one (Spink Auction December 2014) struck from sandblasted dies. One other variation TB/TB exists and is thought to be unique.

Thank you for your offer Peckris. Colin G has already helped me out.

A picture might help Dave

I have noticed that from time to time pictures of overlaid coin comparisons have been displayed on this forum. I have some pictures of halfpennies, all pic's of exactly the same size. If any forum reader would be willing to accept a few pictures from me and would be willing to overlay them, I would be most appreciate it. I am trying to establish if there is any differences between halfpennies catalogued as Freeman obverse 11 and 12. The catalogue states differences, but I cannot find them on any of my specimens.

Yes, Brilliant Bob, Peter Wallwork, a Quality dealer !!

Back in the 1960's there were a few coin dealers that erred on the safe side when grading their coins. Mainly the top London dealers and one other. I knew if I bought a coin from "Grantham Coins" it would have been at least and usually better than the grade advertised. I recall buying an 1868 penny in GEF that would now be graded by most dealers as Gem UNC. (I remember receiving it through the post and was over the moon when seeing it!, highest grade Victorian bun in my collection.) I don't know if Grantham Coins is still operating?? I don't recall the owners name, but I bet somebody remembers it !

Spink may have a copy that you require. They might copy it for you. They copied an article from a 1967 volume for me a few years back.

I just collect bronze pennies and halfpennies. Pennies were getting far too expensive for the ones that I required. The new collectors are willing to pay much more than me. I think the final straw was for a Die number 5. I believed that my bid of £3850 would have secured it, but it sold for ~£20,000 (yesterdays man!) :( :( Bronze halfpennies are my long term challenge. I don't lose sleep when I fail to get one in auction. Luckily for me, many collectors of halfpennies have been selling up in recent years, making these rare high grade halfpennies available to buy. :)

I do, 1860-1901, I wish to buy any rare varieties ! especially in high grade !!! :D

I have seen this phenomena before on bronze coins. coins can be reduced in size and weight and still retaining much detail by immersing in acid. The giveaway on your sixpence is the week and extended toothed border. The acid uniformly digests the coins but the edges take the most loss

I'm sorry but I just don't know. The coin is of reasonable grade and therefore should be easy to give a definite answer... but unfortunately on this occasion I would not want to publicly knock the coin. Over the years, a number of 12+N coins have appeared with apparently no "H". Some others have appeared with a weakly struck "H". It is not impossible that this coin is completely authentic. The royal Mint say they have no record of any pennies struck by them in 1882 but clearly a number were struck without "H" possibly to test dies in 1881 or struck without "H" at the Heaton Mint. Luckily most 1882 pennies can be easily identified due to the unique die pairing 11+N with date 1882. My opinion is only another opinion, no better on this particular coin than anybody else's opinion. Sorry :(

A hen's tooth, wonderful find!

I have read that the owner of most of the pennies and halfpennies were from the Michael Cole collection.

Definitely at least two known, Bernie...

Steady !!! I'm only 62

Did Rashenly win the 1864 ?? It wouldn't surprise me, he is most dedicated and a very nice person

I did not bid on the 1864 Penny

I read the question, what will happen to the dealers ? Answer: most dealers place anything rare into auctions to get the very latest best price. Some people are buying coins purely as investment. Because of the high prices they are willing to pay, eventually all high grade rareties will be vacuumed up and only the mediocre coins will be available. Many of these collector investors are so wealthy that they will never want or need to sell them. Price rises aren't a certainty. If demand drops significantly the prices will fall. Prices are kept high by the demand from only a very few collectors of each denomination. When big collections come up forsale or auction, it is quite possible that prices could be very reasonable due to insufficient demand at that particular time. Accumulating a good collection should be treated as a lifetime challenge. I just wanted to share my thoughts

Thanks for the link. Such a shame there are no pictures !