Coinery

Of course the fish tail could simply be damage? The lettering of the coin is pretty distinctive, however, so finding the monarch should be quite doable!

The darker coin looks to have the Edward II crown of class 11 as imaged (and all credit to the amazing book Rob credited above for this). The other one is too time consuming for me to look into (I don’t have a lot of free time at the moment), though the serpentine/fish-tail S is probably a good launch pad for you to start from. Good luck 👍

Yes, as Rob says, a farthing not a halfpenny. With the beaded inner-circle on both sides, as well as the Civitas legend, makes this class 28 onwards. The high crown, with that classic axe-like left fleur and, of course, the bust, plus the broken-topped angle-backed E, makes this most certainly a London Type 30 farthing of Edward II

An empty clothes rack? Nothing suspicious about that in my wardrobe

You won’t need weights for these, you’re bang on with the identification, a pair of Commonwealth (Oliver Cromwell) Halfgroats. I think they’re quite a simple series (very little in the way of varieties), with nothing to add beyond it being a very interesting period of our history.

Poor Gary, but absolutely fantastic that you’re still around and working with the counterfeit coinage. Nice to hear from you.

Manchester and Birmingham house prices will soon be the hot ticket, as the peripheries of the UK slowly slide into the sea!

Just to clarify, as I realise my post may not have come over as it was meant to…I don’t remember shillings at all, but I kind of like the idea, as was said, for fun, if there were such a thing permitted in the commercial realms of politics Digging a hole here…sorry, Chris and Copper123, you may know where/how I made my mistake here (hopefully), sorry 🙏

Did you see that canal one, recently? Unbelievable!

OMGoodness! Not the first name on a party list I’m guessing? 😩

Stunning stuff, absolutely love it 👏👏👏

@seuk used to specialise in these, and had quite a collection I believe. If my memory serves me correctly, he either had, or was putting together, a book and/or website?

I’m away this weekend, but great news that you can provide a weight…tbh measuring the dimensions of a coin with a plastic ruler is satisfactory enough for ID. In the early days I bought a fancy tool but, given the variable sizes for any given denomination, and that they are rarely round, the weight is generally sufficient, so it was never that useful. It may be useful with milled coinage, but rarely! Save your money and buy another coin instead!

I hold Paddy’s position, too…there would only be a small number of academics willing to invest the time in this. There are definitely a few on here, though thankfully I’m not one of them, my head’s full enough already. Interesting read, and do keep going. Good luck!

Cheers, Rob…wishing you, your family, and all those you’re caring for, a happy and prosperous 2026. We just need more people to be kind without motive, without any expected reward, then there’s a chance for us all. Stay safe and healthy, my good man 🙏🥂

PS sorry about the rant, H, I love your enthusiasm, you’ve woken the forum up a bit…but PLEASE buy some scales, they cost pennies and halve the effort required in identifying your coins.

Hey, H, I personally think both the coins are pennies tbh! You have been majorly misled by the idea that one is a farthing, it’s ridiculous! As for myself I feel really uncomfortable with you setting ‘expert’ against ‘expert’ to attain provenance/identity, etc.…it all sits very uncomfortably with me, personally, especially when you can’t even provide a basic weight, at nothing beyond the cost of around £15. Speaking only for myself…I’m looking for your personal, and financially minimal commitment of weight in the future!

These have to be money-laundering pieces…what a genius way to make a living!

I absolutely love this! If you were ever able to bring this man’s life any more alive, do start a thread, I’d follow it like a novel. What a story, and so intimately connected through that coin!

That’s stunning, @Ukstu I’ll try and look the thread out @Sword it was in a conversation about Maundy money, as you guessed.

Now that’s what it’s all about, capturing historical moments in time. Similar to when we talked on here recently about whether a particular coin could be proven to have passed through the hand of Queen Elizabeth I herself, things like that, what an exciting thought. Or a bullet hole through a signpost in Somerset where a dog fight between a spitfire and a German light bomber occurred. Love history!

As Chris said, photos can make things look an unusual way and, as I said, I’d really want to see the physical coin if I were buying, ‘and I’m not claiming yours is counterfeit,’ but an interesting piece for sure. I think that’s sorted any libels out! 😉 Seriously, if you bought this from a reputable dealer in a fair, it wouldn’t matter even if it were genuine…if you had second thought about a coin, for any reason - as long as the coin was EXACTLY as it was when you took it away - they wouldn’t blink an eye to receive it back, knowing you’d be coming back to them, time and time again. Let us know how you get on.

My first thought, regardless of whether I can ‘do’ a plugged coin or not, was whether it was genuine? A lot of fake coins are scuffed up to look old, and the scratches in this piece look so intentional and even, on a coin I would’ve expected to be buckled (or wavy at best) from such a harsh life, yet it has such a perfect and even wear to the raised surfaces? Here’s an example of some of the copies out there for these groats? I’m not claiming yours is counterfeit, just saying this one pricks my suspicion enough that I wouldn’t personally want to buy such an example blind! There’s a really good Elizabeth I fake shilling out there, that was even cast with a plug in place. Either they hadn’t noticed the original coin was plugged, or they thought it might avoid the scrutiny of serious collectors, on account of the market they are typically absorbed by? Who knows?