Paddy

I picked up this one at the auction on Saturday (mis-identified as possibly Russian would you believe!). I am fairly sure it is a medieval jetton but I have yet to find another to compare it to. One site (finds.org.uk) has something with a similar reverse but a seated king obverse and quotes a Mitchener reference, so I wonder if my one is in that book? Any help much appreciated:

This has just appeared on the BBC local news website down here in Devon: "A large quantity of rare UK sterling coins worth about £4,000 has been stolen from a property in Plymouth. Devon and Cornwall Police said the coins were taken during the summer, from a property in Efford. They said: "The coins were not just a financial loss to the victim but of great sentimental value as they had been collected to pass on to family members". The coins included. A £25 gold & silver coloured coin A large number of £5 coins, A £5 Princess Diana commemorative coin, Five 50p Shakespeare commemorative coins, A £2 Isambard Kingdom Brunel commemorative coin A quantity of 50p London 2012 Olympics commemorative coins complete with packaging." Now I have every sympathy with the victim of this crime BUT - either the reporting is a long way off the truth, or someone is bumping up the value of their coin collection a long, long way! Or maybe the collector genuinely believed his coins were worth that much? In any case, worthy of comment...

I've seen quite a few in the last week - mostly still very nice condition. I have NOT gone looking for the errors, though I am sure there are lots! 🙂

Yes - I have used this for years and I personally find it better than acetone, particularly if you add a little detergent.

... and then this 1932. Shame about the spot on the reverse but the rest looks good:

A couple of Penny upgrades from a local auction yesterday - nothing scarce but nice grades I think. First this 1904:

Well these seem to have started appearing in bulk. Dealer friend at the market today had acquired a whole bag of "W"s which he was selling at 50p each. (He would have done better to disguise how many he had!) 🙂

Very useful - thank you for posting that. I do quite a lot of online bidding and have tended to settle on Easylive as giving the best value when commission bidding is not viable. Your post confirms that. I am also a bit fed up with Saleroom.com - I have clearly registered that I am only interested in coins but get a constant stream of emails for everything else they sell.

Yes - it was back up Monday morning but down most of Sunday - not sure why and it may have been a local issue as it seems others were still posting while I couldn't get it. Useful site anyway, though only really for US and World coins - their following for GB varieties is pretty low.

Anyone else use Cointalk forum in the US and finding it down today? I viewed it happily this morning but since lunchtime I have not been able to raise the site at all...

It is a very lovely thing nevertheless. Pomander looks favourite. It may have been made in India or some other colonial situation where hallmarking was not the norm. I would guess late 18th or early 19th century by design but I am no expert.

Can we keep the politics to the non-coin section of the forum. I came here to avoid thinking about it!

Because just once in a while someone falls for it and they make a fortune for a piece of scrap metal. Or you can take a more charitable view and say they are just pig-ignorant! (Apologies for the insult to pigs, which are actually quite intelligent and likeable creatures.)

I was thinking more of it being affixed to a box or chest or similar. Certainly not for hanging round the neck! As Royal memorabilia is a bit out of fashion at the moment, particularly when it relates to Charles, I suspect its value at the moment is closely linked to the silver content.

I got this one today as an upgrade to my 1719 Farthing with Small lettering. Also lacks the stop on the reverse.

I can't say I "know", but I would call this a medallion or possibly a plaque. The blank reverse suggests it may have been intended to be fixed to something else? Pretty awful portrait of Charles! An idea of scale might help... BTW - welcome to Predecimal coins!

Welcome @Coinosaurus ! The 1986 single colour £2 coin is the commonest of the 7 issued before they went bi-colour. As such it does not command much of a premium although I cannot say how much having it graded would add to the value. I sell them regularly at market, ungraded, for £3 or £4 even in the best condition. Over the single metal £2 coins the one to watch out for is the 1989 "Claim of Rights".

Another pick up from a bag brought to me at market. I think it is a Henry V Half Groat, S 1773 or near there, but I would appreciate confirmation or correction. Main identifiers for me seemed to be the mullet on the breast and the unusual Crown. Weighs 1.56g and measures about 20mm across.

I know this is no great shakes as a coin, but I believe this is another in your vein - 1566 threepence with lion over rose mintmark.

Always welcome Kev - I keep finding 1887 sixpences in hidden stashes and I have never examined them for variations other than the basic 3!

I certainly remember picking up pre-1920 silver during the 60s, but it had pretty much faded out by the 70s. I don't recall ever getting any Vicky silver but I heard a tale of someone in New Zealand getting a William IV halfcrown in change! Best I had, only ten years ago was finding that one of the "pennies" in my pocket after a day at the market was actually a half sovereign. Somebody must have gone home very upset!

Thanks very much for that - I have bookmarked the link for now and will return to read the articles later.

... and here is the one currently in my collection. (Apologies for the poor colour - this was taken before I got a better handle on that.) NOw - the new one seems to have a smaller roase that the old, but the old is not big enough to be the large rose variety, and in any case I don't think that is recorded for this date. Having spotted this, I also noted that the colon after Reg is different on the two coins, and the angle of the colon after Britanniar is also changed. Are these recognised variations?

As some of you know I am a reluctant variety collector, so I am struggling with these two 1855 OT Pennies. Here is the one I have just acquired: