Chingford

Weight seems light, Dr Nicholson 1874H Thick flan weighed 7.97grams similar to the 1876H Thick Flan mentioned in Pecks, Ex Hoblyn and Foster, 123.1 gr (7.97 grams). Nicholsons was 2.5mm and Pecks 2.25mm thick. Pecks combination for the 1876H was 9+M, sandal without straps, LH 3 windows 2+1 and Oval dome of hemet in high relief separated from the lowe part by a distinct incuse line. John

Teg, my posting was specific to a series/coin/date, in particular 1825-1860 Copper Penny/Halfpennies, this is my chosen area of collecting, it wasn't meant as a generalisation. Pecks book is monumental, I can't think of a like to compare it with either modern or old. There are specialist books avaliable for specific denominations/types, all by specialists in that particular field, a couple of simple examples would be Bronze = Freeman, Marsh = Soveriegns, etc.. but I can't think of a book/document specifically for the Copper series, if anyone knows of one and I have missed one I would be very interested in the title/author, also any mint records or reference to the period 1825-1860. Bramahs variations for the above series does list many variations that Peck didn't record in his book, and as his book was in 1960, Bramahs 1926, I would think Peck would have used Brahams for research. If there are any coins Bramahs listed within 1825-1860 Halfpennies and Pennies you have had difficulty in finding, or need a Picture to help identify/confirm, drop me a PM and I'll send you a jpeg, I have identified and have an example of each. John

There is every chance of any of the above combinations exist, just needs someone with the time to study enough coins of the date and record the findings. Coppers are very poorly researched, nothing much was ever recorded by the Mint or the records are lost. Most collectors refer to Pecks for the recorded variations, although Bramahs actually recorded far more variations to the Copper series than are actually knowingly collected, as they were not documented by Peck in his work. John

Thanks Josie, the ones I need are a single cardboard piece with no pvc, aperture is to the exact coin size, think they were originally by Whitman or Sandhill from the 1960's. I am currently trying to have a 'Hole punch' custom-made, as I haven't found any old stock about out there. John

There three types of 1837 Halfpenny date, none of the current refrrence books refer to the variations. They are Short 7, Long 7 and short over long as your example, Michael Gouby shows the three types on his web site. It would seem the 7/7 is the more common of the three John

Josie Try the following link, good site for Numastic literature http://www.galata.co.uk John

All references to the 1825 - 1827 series state that the obv/rev relationship is upright and not inverted, as you rightly state, I have never seen an inverted piece or even references to one in this series. The dies were probably incorrectly set, but this would probably have been spotted and corrected quite quickly after a only few coins were struck, so it could be quite rare. Now it has been highlighted we can only wait to see if any others surface as collectors re-examine their collections. With most errors/variations it is demand that will dictate the price, but for reference purposes, the only coin I have seen sold recently that was of a similar nature was the 1841 Halfpenny, Nicholsons collection, and that sold for 4 times the price of the correct alignment. Coins were both alignments are recorded, and seemingly plentiful, like the 31 Halfpenny and Penny, the difference is about 10%. John

Quite right, Proclamation dated 13 June 1843 Half farthings were made current, hence the design change on the reverse, 1839 was colonial, 1842 onwards English. John Need another coffee, Proclamation was 1842 not 43, must read before posting.

Pecks are as follows Half Farthing 1446 1828 Rev A 1447 Ditto Bronzed proof 1448 Dittp Copper proof 1449 1828 Rev B 1450 1830 Rev A 1451 1830 Rev B 1452 Ditto Copper proof 1476 1837 1590 1839 1591 Ditto Bronzed proof 1592 1842 1593 1843 1594 1844 1595 Ditto E/N Regina 1596 1847 1597 1851 1598 1852 1599 1853 1600 Ditto Bronzed proof 1601 Ditto Copper proof 1602 1854 1603 1856 1604 1868 Cupro Nickel proof 1605 1868 Bronze proof Third Farthing 1453 1827 1454 Ditto Copper proof 1477 1835 1478 Ditto Copper proof 1606 1844 1607 Ditto RE fro REG 1926 1866 1927 Ditto Bronze proof 1928 1868 1929 Ditto Bronze proof 1930 Ditto Cupro Nickel proof 1931 Ditto Aluminium proof 1932 1876 1933 1878 1934 1881 1935 Ditto Bronze proof 1936 1884 1937 1885 1938 Uniface in Aluminium Obv Quarter Farthing 1608 1839 1609 1851 1610 1852 1611 Ditto Bronzed proof 1612 1853 1613 Ditto Bronzed proof 1614 Ditto Copper proof 1615 1868 Cupro Nickel proof 1616 Ditto Bronze proof All were commonwealth issues, not GB Currency, although widely collected. I am missing the last few numbers/dates, could someone complete the list John

Freeman didn't cover fractionals. John

My guilty use of foriegn currency was in the earlier Eighties, whilst over in Germany, we found that the five pence piece was the same size and thickness as the one deutche mark, and all the cigarette machines took them. We gathered all the 5 pence pieces we could find and asked Tourists etc.., then we used them to empty the fag machines, unfortunately it was a bit obvious and only lasted a short period before we all got canned, as one of the guys emptied the machine in our billet first!

I'm sure Colin Cooke collection had one, catalogue should still be viewable online John

Good to see your spelling is as correct as the grades offered by the slabbing companies. Very well put. Good to see your spelling is as correct as the grades offered by the slabbing companies. Very well put. Me speling is orways bean a strong point. Did a search on CGS-UK and came up with a recruitment company, glass merchant and a courier, no links found to CGS-UK as a coin grading company also no links on London Coin Auction site apart from the Catalogue mention. Thought it might be Lockdales but again no links.

I just got my London Coin Auctions catalogue for the December Auction. Under English Certified Coins they have introduced a new UK Grading company. CGS. Coins are graded using a 1 - 100 scale as follows 1-20 VG, 20-40 Fine, 40-60 VF, 60-80 EF abd finaally 80-100 Unc no images of capsules are included.

An author search at Abebooks.com with a keyword from the title should bring up any avaliable listings. John

The book I personally use for information on predecimal mintage totals is A Guide book to English Coins by K E Bressett, relatively easy to come by and inexpensive. It gives a guide to mintage within a particular year of most, if not all, english denominations, although it starts at George III it covers all years up to decimalisation in the later editions. The figures relate more to numbers of coins produced for that year, rather than the number produced of a particular date. For instance Pennies produced in 1825 were recorded as 1,075,200 but the dies were not produced until the November of that year, the production figure of 5,913,600 for 1826 would probably include for coins still dated 1825, depending on the condition of existing the dies, the number of coins required and when the order was placed that year. John

I'll have a look through my records/coins and come back to you, I only pulled a couple of coins for these images. I'll see if I can upload a series of images of the various overdates to the Gallery, but this probably wouldn't be until the weekend. If there are any other types/dates, let me know and I'll get those done first.

Doesn't look like it. The 1858/3 normally has a characteristic flaw running through the bottom of the date and it doesn't show too much of the 3 either. Not very good grade example attached.

Thanks John. These both show a feature that I couldn't reconcile with an underlying 6. Both have an indent to a lesser extent than the overlying 8 but nevertheless a clear indent and that suggests to me an 8. It would have to be deformed a bit, but I have never seen a 6 with this feature. I would expect a 6 to have a straightish trending slightly convex outer border on the left side.

Images of different degrees of over strike

Thanks, that's clearer than I've seen with the top of the 6 showing. Given the degree of curvature of the back of the 6, is there any trace of the loop of it in the bottom loop of the 8? If so, by extension, it would have to be a shorter 6 than the 8 and in that case is the 8 the large date variety or not? I've seen a similar example with the left side underlying, but couldn't see any trace of a loop or the top of the 6.

I am after some help to track down a supplier for coin frames/slides. They are single 2" square cardboard , cut out to the exact coin diameter and embossed with the coin type ie copper ½d, Copper 1d etc.. I have exhausted my current supply which I bought several years ago and my old supplier hasn't any left, most people now use the mylar type of 'flip' with the acetate both sides enclosing the coin but I find these a little inconvenient when regularly removing coins for reference purposes, the plastic types I find too bulky and haven't the frame to avoid touching the coin surfaces with regular handling. If anyone could point me in the right direction please. Thankyou John

That's a very useful tool, I've heard of the search previously but have never been able to find it, could you point me in the right direction Follow the Advanced Search link and choose the By Bidder option, then tick the boxes you want for the time period in question and also tick whether high bidder or not. Thanks Rob, found it. John

That's a very useful tool, I've heard of the search previously but have never been able to find it, could you point me in the right direction

There is a lot of this going on, I think you had a good point in your earlier email, to expose these dealers/sellers, using a forum to make members aware of people/auctions that could be a problem. I my four years on ebay I have exposed several fraudelent dealers/sellers to Ebay, all who have been removed, but then seem to re emerge under a different name.