Posting research

[Posting research]

What format is your research in?

[Australia Swan Dollar]

Not my area of expertise but I thought there was still a bit of interest in these - the Australian Coin Review magazine produced new ones last year I think so that has no doubt stirred up some interest.

That said, I didn't know that the market was full of fakes so I'm not really sure what to look for. I understand they were die struck and pictures that I've seen show to have been of a reasonable quality.

[½ Guilder - William IV]

Nice find - these coins aren't too common, although they clearly saw some use as yours can attest.

[My Halfpenny varieties site]

Could Web Archive be of use?

[Royal Mint Museum Reference Site: royalmint.collectionsindex.com]

Yes they finally got this back on line.

Still incomplete though so I'd keep my eyes on it.

[1954 penny]

On 2/11/2025 at 1:50 AM, Bernie said:

I believe that the different weight coins were produced to test the dies on different width flans. Paul Holland has investigated this , Apparently the weight of the individual new flans was to equate to how many coins could be struck to the weight of one pound. If my memory serves me correct, one particular weight of flans worked out to 30 coins per pound.

Do you remember which one of his papers?

[Excel spreedsheets]

Not sure about others but I just started with a blank spreadsheet and add a row for each coin I acquire. Not perfect (especially when trying to see where gaps are) but keeping track of what constitutes a complete set for some series is a challenge in itself.

[Penny Acquisition of the week]

Excellent, will do secret santa.

I'll look into that Rob though hopefully being in Australia won't an issue.

Thanks all.

[Florins, Shillings and Misc .... on going sort out.]

Might be worth getting a copy of Davies to identify some of the varieties.

[Minor GB Penny Queries 1899 narrow date 1880 higher 0 and 1889 Victoria's Nose]

On 10/1/2024 at 11:04 PM, secret santa said:

I've taken another look at the two 1889 obverses. Interestingly, I've found that the 1889 F127 which is recorded as Obverse R has a distinct difference to Victoria's jawline as mentioned in several of the above posts. This difference appears unique to the F127 as none of my other Obverse R coins seem to have the slight "double chin" and nor does the 1889 F128 (Obverse S). There are other minor differences around the eye and mouth. It does suggest that F127 has a unique variation of Obverse R, and that Obverse S is a modified version of Obverse R and not a modified version of the F127 obverse. 

Photos of an 1888 penny (obv R) and 1889 F127 (obv R) are shown below to illustrate the difference together with the F128.

1888 obverse R

1889 F127 obverse R

1889 F128 obverse S

 

A little late to this (I had it noted to come back to) but well spotted - I am still amazed that after all this time, more varieties keep coming out of the wood-work.

When obverse 2* was discovered a few years ago I was surprised and thought that surely had to be it.

[Penny Acquisition of the week]

Is there a .pdf of the Bernard Workman Collection auction available by any chance? I found https://auctions.sovr.co.uk/index.php?option=com_timed_auction&auction_id=26 but wanted something more offline.

[Proof 1962 Half Crown Sold At Heritage - Very Rare!]

Need to log in to see I guess: https://coins.ha.com/itm/great-britain/great-britain-elizabeth-ii-proof-1-2-crown-1962-pr63-cameo-ngc-/a/3122-34640.s

[Proof 1962 Half Crown Sold At Heritage - Very Rare!]

I don't follow proofs much but yeah I didn't think the Royal Mint struck many proofs in that era - maybe they were too busy getting ready for the move to Llantrisant.

[2014 Sovereign Mule]

Not sure about the 2002 1/10oz - I feel like all these modern mules tend to get surprisingly little coverage - maybe because they're made for collector coins rather than circulating?

[South African 3p coins]

I thought the early ones were 80% silver but possibly the later ones were devalued to 50%. They should all be silver I believe.

[two pound George Orwell edge mule]

Apparently some of the strike your own 2025 George Orwell two pound coins have been struck with planchets with the wrong edge inscription. The edge is inscribed with IN SERVITIO OMNIUM instead of THERE WAS TRUTH AND THERE WAS UNTRUTH. Seems like it was the result of one morning's worth on strike your own coins at the Royal Mint.

Possibly 60 to 100 struck?

[Victoria 1832, George III 1716, Anna 1703,]

4 hours ago, DaveG38 said:

Funny enough the expensive ones tend to have been fairly easy, but there are some dates I don't think I have ever seen.

Getting somewhat off topic but too right - I was telling a family member recently that there are some coins that money can't get you - only patience can.

[pattern 1961 50c piece]

Yes it's interesting - I can see why predecimal collectors wouldn't be interested, and even decimal collectors might not warm to it as there never ended up being a 50c piece.

[2014 Sovereign Mule]

Ah, not sure why the links don't want to link - and editing tells me that I can't edit the links.

edit: don't mind me - got them working one by one instead of all at once.

[2014 Sovereign Mule]

Bit of a late addendum to this but I saw one for sale recently having completely forgotten about this discussion: https://www.drakesterling.com/great-britain-2014-proof-sovereign-unfinished-obverse-die-pcgs-pr69dcam-49827332

That's a PR69 ($1,950 AUD) but a a PR70 on eBay is listed for $9,824 AUD: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/395996106783?srsltid=AfmBOor8ObE0gPXpWPt6sVdeNc_GdrfHCxiG8iSAFyNExnT7lVl8hVI0

Apparently is happened again in 2015 and 2016 too which seems quite unusual: https://www.thesilverforum.com/topic/38823-2014-mule-sovereign-anyone-know-how-many-of-these-error-coins-were-minted/

[Maundy 3 pence 1762 + 1836 4 pence]

Not a Maundy fourpence unfortunately - just a regular fourpence.

I believe the Maundy fourpence had a different design at this point.

[pattern 1961 50c piece]

Passed in at a recent Spink auction: https://live.spink.com/lots/view/4-FIVKOF/ngc-ms63-elizabeth-ii-halsbury-committee-of-inquiry-on-decimal-currency-una-and-the-lion-pattern-for-a-fifty-cent-piece-1961

[Sovereign William IV 1837]

I'm no expert but the colour seems quite dull. What does it weigh?

[Italian 1624-1629 1 Scudo]

Looks like https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/italian-states-venice-scudo-km-143-1624-25-1629-cuid-1161875-duid-1495817

Not bad - seems to be worth close to twice the melt value even in quite worn condition.

[Wallace and gromit 50p]

Ah, there was a new Wallace and Gromit movie e out not long ago yes.

I think with few exceptions modern commemoratives eventually settle back to issue price, so if you do want to realise the profit, I'd be doing it soon.