Paddy

My 1892 is the fatter face version I think. I struggle with the date width, but I think this is the wider date?

As everyone here knows, I am not good on minor varieties! But looking at my 1890 and 1891 Obverse Rs they resemble to 1889 with the fatter chin, but not the 1888? Is it that the Obverse R for 1889 and later is different to the obverse R 1888 and earlier? That is a different die and so not really and R?

... and Noonans too! Commission on all that lot must have been much more than expected.

"Scott" is reference to another member here who has a particular affinity with metal-detectorist coins! As for cleaning - be very careful and don't use anything abrasive or corrosive. One technique is to soak in clean water and then put in the deep freeze. Wash off and repeat several times. With luck this will split off some of the Verdigris and crud without damaging the underlying metal.

The tide levels for all the 1874 pennies I believe are "low" compared to some later ones, so there is no variation with that. (Low and high tide varieties are of interest in the veil head Victoria and Edward VII pennies.) I have downloaded your picture, rotated it and expanded as far as I can. I think we are going to have much better photos of the "2" to accept as that and not a damaged "H" as there are no other records of a die number in that location for an 1874 penny. The reverse on your coin appears to be Freeman H, which is the most common for an 1874H penny.

Took me a while to find more info on Book 3 - Tickets and Passes. A very niche topic and not for me I think. I'm sure I would find it interesting, and I suspect I have had a few goodies through my hands in the past, which I would enjoy looking up, but I am not collecting or buying in that area now. I have Book 2 - Unofficial Farthings - and have rarely used it. PS. By the way, if anyone is looking for a cheap copy of Book 1, there is one coming up at auction at Whitton & Laing in Exeter on Friday.

Wow! That has hiked a bit! It was £25 when it came out in 2010, but second hand prices quickly jumped to around the £65 mark, so I guess they felt there was the demand to justify it.

That sounds like a fascinating book! The Withers list of evasions is part of "The Token Book" (volume 1) by Paul and Bente R Withers published by Galata in 2010. When I last went looking for a copy of this for a friend I found it difficult and expensive to buy - I hope you have better luck. The book also covers 17th, 18th and early 19th century tokens very well - not completely comprehensive but enough to cover most needs.

Yes - it is in the Withers list of Evasions (not a contemporary counterfeit) as W276. Only difference is that lists it as "GLORIOVS" whereas this one is "GLORIOUS". Value in Fine given as £20. Nice find!

I got taken to task on another forum a few years back on the distinction between "Contemporary counterfeit" and "evasion". The Contemporary Counterfeits generally closely resemble the Regal issues, though more crudely made. They are noticeably underweight, as that is where the criminals made their margin, and often created ready-worn to discourage close examination. Evasions deliberately change the design. Sometimes by a little such as an invalid date, or altered legends, sometimes by a lot with a different portrait. The argument in court would be: "It is clearly not intended to deceive - the details are all wrong. If the recipient was foolish enough to accept it as a halfpenny, that is their mistake." So most of the examples posted recently in this thread, including that linked to on Ebay, would be Contemporary Counterfeits, not Evasions. @The Bee's with an invalid date drifts into the Evasion area. Evasions are far more collectable, particularly by the Americans as many were produced in the colonies around the time of the American Revolution.

If this is 7+G I think the variety is noted in @secret santa's excellent website. Rarity given as "?" so not enough data yet to know. See: https://halfpennyvarieties.wordpress.com/victoria-halfpenny-varieties/

I would say this is a contemporary counterfeit rather than a modern fake. Still fairly collectable, but not to the tune of $575! The seller, who makes themself out to be a bit of a coin expert, probably should have made that clear in the description.

I have to say I don't like the unevenness of the rim on the reverse. Are there any other signs to indicate fakery?

I think it is only $500 - still seems a lot!

Hi Richard - I will PM you.

Interesting! I have not seen that before. The R looks almost as if someone has selectively flattened that section with a punch post mint? I can't quite see how it could come out of the press like that, but I may be wrong.

Thanks for all that. On the subject of farthings, best just to start a new thread. I too collect farthings and I would enjoy seeing what you have.

I am not particularly good at telling varieties apart, but by comparison with Terry's selection above I would say @The Bee's is the 13 tooth version. Whilst on 1877s - many years ago when I was just getting into coins and really only interested in getting each date, I bought an album of decent pennies at a market. Many were very nice indeed and are still part of my collection. Amongst them were two 1877s. I kept the better looking one and sold on the other. The dealer that bought seemed stunned to buy it for only £1 and I have worried ever since that it might have been a narrow date that I missed!

Not sure if @Martinminerva's last post fulfilled the challenge, but this one today in change from my butcher's in North Devon:

This from the BBC website this morning. Interesting and very rare Viking penny from Athelstan II, formerly Guthrum, as King in East Anglia. Also discussion of the implementation of the new detectorist rules regarding items of National Significance. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg79e45341po Oh, and PS: For once the pictures of the coin are quite good!

Generally the best place to find decent hammered is online with the better coin auctioneers and specialist dealers. Ebay tends to have them over-priced or over graded - when they are not fake. Henry II is more difficult to find in decent grade, but Noonan's have some nice ones at auction on the 6th September. (noonans.co.uk).

I don't have the book to see the details of the coins you are looking at. (I gave up on decimal last year!) What year are you looking at? I know there is a privy mark on some of the 2019 Britannia 50ps, but that is clearly too early for a coin to record her death.

I have spotted a job lot at a local auction including a set of Model coins featuring Queen Victoria's children. They are white metal and have some biographical details for each child. Apparently in a tortoiseshell box, though this not pictured. These are not for me, but if anyone here is interested, PM me and I will send you a link. Current estimate is only £20 to £30.

I have never used them, but I understand your views on Ebay! Have you tried emailing them - or messaging them via Ebay?

I don't know about anyone else, but I have to have music on when I am working with my coins. Pink Floyd is my absolute favourite but quite a few other groups and artists figure frequently in my (randomised) playlist. Here are my top twenty, in no particular order (after Pink Floyd): Pink Floyd Tangerine Dream Led Zeppelin Muse Adele Gorillaz King Crimson Mike Oldfield Moody Blues Fleetwood Mac Emerson Lake and Palmer Dire Straits Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Suzanne Vega The Strawbs The Beautiful South Thin Lizzy Chris Rea Pentangle David Bowie What does everyone else listen to? Modern or Classical?