Coinery

I watched a number of the lots go out today and couldn’t believe the prices! I wanted lot 136, the Elizabeth sixpence, but that sold for over £450 with juice! I thought I’d get the halfpenny however to sell on - not a particularly nice flan OR coin really - but £167 for God’s sake!

The 4 is much more up for debate in your example

I’d have to go with some kind of 4 involvement myself. Is there any way of ruling out (or in) any of the theories by looking back over the dies with regards to that distinctive bead below the 5?

Just got in from work…your post really moved me! 🙏

I guess with a Victorian penny being worth around 50p today, it would make it worthwhile! I guess the better forgers would be concentrating on the silver or gold, leaving the lowly coppers to those whose life was transformed simply by their affording to buy bread? I don’t buy the mangled ‘genuine’ penny theory. I’m inclined to think that someone made up some cast dies and had a play. Just out of interest, and I couldn’t find any when searching the images, does that misaligned ‘I’ in Victoria exist as a variety?

Gorgeous, real head-turner that!

Someone practicing with homemade dies for forgery, possibly?

I was willing to pay up to £160 for the two, been watching the lot for ages…it just happened to fall right between my two nightshifts and I, in no uncertain terms, ballsed it up!

Lot of 2 halfgroats at todays DNW sale which I set an alarm to bid on but missed the lot (been on nights). What a lovely little coin, and an uncommon PM too, I wanted it SO much. The other in the lot (PM 2) was worth £40 on eBay, so an absolute steal at £75 hammer for the two!

I think so many lower-grade detector finds are spit and foil to clean, that anything is possible. When hammered is really crappy, and consequently aggressively cleaned, the end result is a flat, washed out, and uninspiring coin. I believe the deep-layered cabinet tone of old collectors’ coins on good metal, is what we’re all really looking for.

Really cheeky one…would someone be kind enough to share an image of the current Spink prices for the 6th issue E1 halfgroats? I appreciate current auction sale prices are the best search and measure of true worth, but curious:)

All a bit worrying, that’s for sure!

I took some screen shots on my iPhone but the files are apparently too large, and I haven’t got access to a laptop/pc right now 😩 Really frustrating!

Give up!

You could actually buy a worthy coin with 4 of these washers!

That’s standard punctuation but rotated…you can see it correctly orientated between DG AN

Ahh, yes, a good and logical shout, thank you

Strange isn’t it? Not a super-grade coin…I can’t imagine it being worthy of copying. I appreciate the overmark is of interest to a small minority, but otherwise nothing noteworthy about it in the context of the other specimens out there.

Ha, ha, yes, of course…it’ll probably be yours eventually Hope you’re all keeping well!

I agree, and I’m grateful it’s still deeply under the skin, it’s such a tangible and lovely art!

@Peckris 2 blimey…how do I resize an image on my iPhone? How are you, by the way?

Frustrating that uploading images I’ve just screenshot and cropped on my phone is SO difficult because they are apparently still too large!

And there was me thinking, after selling ALL my coin books for a song, that I’d never buy a hammered (in fact any) coin again! I still love the Elizabeth I coins the best…blimey, I now need to buy a BCW again! 😳 In the meantime, anyone happy to share photos of the sixpence section, with the relevant rose, lions, shield and Lis bits at the back of the book to accompany?