Paddy

... 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:

This beggars belief - and it seems some mugs are buying them! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Winston-Churchill-Coin-Crown-WWII-WWI-Hitler-Nazi-Germany-Medal-Silver-London-UK/401589041208?hash=item5d80927838:g:Fz0AAOSwaSZaNvRG I sell them at 50p each - anyone interested? 🙂

I thought their shops were over-priced enough but their coin listings are incredibly dear! I can't believe they sell much.

As requested by Rob, this ticket from my new Henry II Penny. Apparently this is a "Ray Inder" ticket.

... and the tickets:

The other one was this Henry II Northampton Penny as an upgrade:

... and the tickets that came with it as I know some of you love these:

Well both my major purchases at DNW were hammered. Edward the Elder Penny to fill that gap in my sequence of Wessex monarchs:

Yes, and the second was so unpopular that he was probably murdered. The third was an imported Dutchman and the fourth was "Silly Billy". Anyway, at the present rate our next king will probably be "Vladimir I".

Yes - welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy this madhouse! As Peck has alluded to, the starting point should be some good reference books. Those shown in the banner ad above are great to get started. For more detail the Spink "Coins of England" that is published each year is the bible. (The 2018 edition is on special offer on Amazon at the moment as they clear the decks for the 2019 edition and the changes from one year to the next are relatively small.) Once you have formed an idea of what you want to collect there are lots of people here to give you great advice, so feel free to ask.

By the way - you may have noticed the historical list of mintage figures has disappeared from the Royal Mint website at the moment - at least for the £2 to 50p range. I contacted them and they tell me the site is undergoing maintenance and the list will be restored "soon".

Yes - I went for the Silver hammered as well. Picked up an Edward the Elder to fill a gap and a nice Henry II as an upgrade. That is about all I can justify spending at the moment.

He has got the date mixed up too - coin pictured is 1879M, not 1873.

Welcome to predecimal coins! The people here are pretty good at helping you out with anything you find in the way of British Pre-decimal and Decimal coinage, so we look forward to your queries. First advice is to get a good book to support your search. Those advertised in the banners on this site are a good starting point and very good value. If you get more specialised we can recommend others to cover specific areas in more detail.

Could you give more details on the book you have? The only reference I have is for Evasions in the Withers Token book, but it does not help with the counterfeits much.

Thanks for the update! I will pass on to the owner.

And lastly Shilling with Hearts:

Then Shilling without Hearts:

Then Sixpence with Hearts:

OK - My contributions (4 coins in all). First Sixpence without Hearts:

It is always a couple of years behind but the source I use is the Royal Mint: https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/circulation-coin-mintage-figures/two-pounds-to-20p-issued

That is brilliant - thanks Rob! I have never been good at spotting the various shapes in the hammered coins, something you seem to be able to do outstandingly well. Thanks again, Paddy

A chap in the market has found this Groat metal detecting and has struggled to get it properly identified as it appears to be a mule. The obverse appears to be a Leaf issue with a Cross Fleury mintmark, but the reverse is an Annulet issue with a plain cross mintmark - and I can see no combination in Spink even close to this. Where are we going wrong?

I am also getting lots of requests for them, but mostly from people frustrated because none of them are turning up in circulation! They (like me) prefer to collect circulation coins from circulation at circulation prices instead of paying the Royal Mint's extortionate figures. It seems those sent for circulation so far were distributed to the post offices and the vast majority were taken up by PO staff for resale on the net. I suspect (hope) the RM will suddenly flood the market with them early next year.