Paddy

I agree completely. My enquiry on relative price was simply to get an idea of relative scarcity as the coin is definitely not for sale. And yes - I do like it very much. I think the reverse design on the veiled head half crowns is one of the best they came up with.

That is brilliant - thank you. Mine is definitely 1 and A, so the standard issue for 1893 and so nothing to get too excited about. (Although a pretty good example I think!) Thanks again.

I have so far avoided getting into varieties on Victorian Silver, and I have no books on them - could you expand on the above a bit? Spink mentions a longer tooth variety for the 1896, but not for the 1893. Do both occur on both dates? The 1896 value jumps from £125 in VF for the shorter tooth to £165 for the longer tooth - are there comparable figures for the the 1893? I have a very nice 1893, which I think is longer tooth and I would be interested to know if I have picked up a rarity!

Looks like Amazon is getting into the fake coin market too! This one is a laugh: https://www.amazon.co.uk/YunBest-Antique-United-Kingdom-Coins/dp/B07NTJYQ2F/ref=pd_bxgy_201_img_3/257-3157509-3924743?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07NTJYQ2F&pd_rd_r=16b4708f-032e-4c51-9f30-16310fa59822&pd_rd_w=eZVQS&pd_rd_wg=mQqM7&pf_rd_p=6f720012-7a84-4e92-a268-5ba72c1e4b52&pf_rd_r=K3BDTJZ6HTZQZ54FMJMS&psc=1&refRID=K3BDTJZ6HTZQZ54FMJMS

Belated for Christmas - came across this tidying up my photo files. (May have been posted here before - sorry if it has.)

Why should the truth get in the way of a good story?

I did some research on this for a local collector a couple of years ago, but seem to have lost my list! A good starting point is the list of Commonwealth countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_Commonwealth_of_Nations However this includes Mozambique, which was never British, and misses out many that have been in the Empire at some stage and have severed contacts, or been amalgamated into other nations. Also misses many places that are not "Members of the United Nations in their own right" to quote Pointless! So a few to add: Egypt, Palestine (protectorates in the early 20th century, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey etc (don't count as independent), Ionian Islands, Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) Demerary and Essequibo (Went into Guyana but has lovely early 19th century coins) East Africa, British West Africa, British Caribbean Territories (which are now all several different countries) The various provinces of Canada, (which formerly were more independent than now). Probably others can add many more. Someone was quoted in a recent documentary as saying that 70% of the countries of the world have either been part of the British Empire or invaded by it at some point! (They did include Chile because some British pirates landed there once, which I think was stretching the point too far.)

I remember him best on Rutland Weekend Television (I think?). Was "How sweet to be an idiot" one of his? Very funny. So many of our great artists fading away.

Thanks - just done that.

... and the full coin to confirm we are on the right track:

I am posting this for a friend in the US who is having trouble registering to post here. 1861 Halfpenny, I believe Obverse 6 and Reverse G. The F of Halfpenny has a noticeable lump that makes it look like a P. Is this how the F over P should look, or does that appear differently? Close up:

I recommended this forum to a member of Cointalk and he has applied for a login - he says over a week ago without response. Is there an issue? I can pass the message on to him if he has made some mistake and needs to reapply...

Scale might clarify things, but that looks to me like Toy Money - made by the likes of Lauer for the education/entertainment of children. A lot of this stuff was made whilst Victoria was still alive, even though it depicted the future Edward VII and so the lack of date and the use of a Victoria style reverse would fit. Certainly not gold at that colour - probably brass. Post the diameter if you can.

Doesn't look quite flat to me - a contemporary forgery is a possibility. Certainly not one I am bidding on. Our old friend Lukasz again I see...

The only memorable Xmas card I received this year:

I thought this was supposed to be "Stuff to make us laugh" thread". That one makes me pretty angry! Con merchants like that are causing untold damage to our hobby. When someone who has fallen for such an ad finds out how badly he has been taken for a ride, it is likely to kill his coin collecting urge dead.

Yes - unfortunately the only real answer to global warming, destruction of habitats and extinction of non-human species is to reduce the human population to less than a tenth of it's current figure. I can't see that winning many voters at an election though...

You are much better to upload the image direct here - as long as it/they total to less than 500Kb. (There are numerous applications to cut your image size down if they are too big - I use Photoscape.) Even if you succeed in uploading a Photobucket link, it is not permanent as any change in Photobucket or your account with them will break the link.

Most of my Ed VII Half Crowns are well down on that grade as I have collected them "on the cheap" from job lots. Here is the best I have:

Not sure that one would even make VF on the UK scale - maybe XF Sheldon? "Sometimes" failing to achieve accuracy is somehow more damning than never achieving it!

Buckets of it here! Hic!

Thanks Rob. I looked hard at that before I posted, but I am still not sure. The gap between the top of the head and the letters is appreciably bigger, and the top of the bun comes a lot lower in relation to the Ns in Britannia. It is really noticeable in hand - I am not usually good at noticing variations but this one jumped out at me as soon as I compared them.

... and the reverses for completeness:

I picked up an 1840 Sixpence at auction yesterday as a potential upgrade. When I came to compare it to the existing incumbent it appears the new one has a much smaller head. No mention is made in Spink - is this a known variety, or is something else going on here? New one is on the left:

The mint is going to be guesswork. The only book I have on these states, for the Alexander III halfpennies: "The mints for these issues are uncertain". Based on the 4 stars of 5 points (20 points in all) being Edinburgh and the halfpenny having only 2 stars of 5 points, it would be reasonable to guess the coin posted would also be Edinburgh. As to value, the cop out answer is "whatever someone will pay you for it"! The Coincraft book of 1999 suggests £50 in VG and £100 in Fine. These prices were probably way too high at the time, but probably closer to the truth now.