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 !

Very interesting Vicky Silver, more information on the Pretoria connection and subsequent acquisition to the UK would be wonderful. It sounds like the complete set has changed hands more than I have known. Good stuff ! see what you can find out. I was told by someone who viewed the complete set that my 1922 proof penny was nicer than the one from the other set. Would be most interested to see a picture of the second coin.

Yes, Two 1924 proof sets were bought by Spink & Son (I believe). All but the pennies were dated 1924. I also hear that these sets were given originally to the South African government to show the quality of striking by the Royal Mint. (Not sure this is true because we were probably already producing coinage for South Africa) Spink split one set and sold individually. The second set was sold complete to a European collector. I was offered the second set for £7000 but did not buy it as I could not find buyers for the rest of the set minus the penny ! Regarding the post above, As far as I am aware there has only been one coin found of the variety of the M E penny dated 1922. Die pairing Obv 4 with reverse C

One more to add to your list, 1922 proof, obverse 3 with Reverse C

Made an error on the previous description of above coin. It should read Obverse 4 with reverse C

1922 Obverse 4 with Reverse C* (pattern)

No mention of this 1926 variety, Obverse 4 with this pattern reverse, not Rev B or C, or C*

Here's a few more

Picture 4

Picture 3

Picture 2

A few pictures of different open three pennies. If I recall, some 3's are not upright, some exergial lines are curved above 3, some are not. Some 3's are slightly different, noticeably the top left serif of the three.

There are at least three different reverse dies used in the production of the open three pennies. Each one is clearly recognisable as different.

I believe that this coin is probably similar to the metal content of the 1922 penny that sold in the James Workman auction 2 at Colin Cooke Coins. The coin had a high ferrous content because it was strongly attracted by a magnet. This 1922 penny sold for £400 + premium. I would be most surprised if this 1919KN fetched the enormous figure suggested. If it does secure a high price, it will prove the power of national newspapers.

Your coin is an absolute GEM. You would definately have made the right choice.

Define "heat" & "cool" I would have thought it went without saying that few would store their coins adjacent to extreme sources of heat. On the other hand many would quite reasonably store them in dry conditions at room temperature between 18C & 22C, say. The temperature that they are kept in does not gaurantee them their lustre. To ensure they are not affected by moisture, the temperature of the space they are kept in should idealy be about 4 degrees F above the surrounding space temperature. Moisure will not ingress into a higher temperature. If silica gel is placed with the coins, the crystals need regular monitoring. These crystals will saturate within a few hours in normal conditions. Silica gel comes in different forms. The older type silica gel is dark blue when perfectly dry and turns pink when saturated with moisture. The newer type is brown when dry and turns (blue I think) The crystals therefore need to be visible and not in cloth bags. Idealy the coin collection and tray of crystals should be kept in multiple sealed clear plastic bags, with the crystals visible. If silica gel crystals are used, they are only beneficial if kept in their dry state. Saturated crystals will be more harmful than none at all. Silica gel crystals can be dried out in a microwave oven. Sealed plastic bags do not stop 100% moisture. Another thing that affects bronze lustre is sulpher. Tobacco smoke contains substances that quickly degrades lustrous bronze coins.

I believe that there are two different Obverse dies used for coins that have the reverse N over N sideways. One die pair has a double struck A in Victoria and the other die pair has a normal A but the last T in britt and R,E,G are doubled. The R is most noticeable.

I think that it is most probably a Jetton, "a reckoning counter"

I've just done a little research and I've found that the 'famous' 1954 penny was sold in the USA in 1967 for about £10,000 and then again by Spinks in November 1991 for £23,100. Is the British Museum one a second example, or is it a proof one like the 1952 penny? No, there is just the one, not in the british museum, but in a private collection in the UK.