loose54

Sorry for the delay but here is a photo of my one. It is certainly one of the better ones I have seen! I quite like the fact it is worn as it conjures up images of it having been taken from a pocket after reading 'check your change'. I must say that I quite enjoy glancing over my date run of pennies and having a split second of 'hope'!!

It was quite expensive but I saw a few go for £100/£130 about 5 years ago in auctions so I thought there must be a market for them. Ingram Coins has one up for £325 at the moment which IMO isn't a particularly skilful alteration but hopefully shows there is a demand for them.

Hi Pete, I will get some pictures of it tomorrow if I get a chance whilst there is still sunlight. My example is not for sale unfortunately but I have always thought of it as a nicer way to fill the elusive gap.

I have an altered date 1933 penny that I got largely because I wanted to fill a gap and I find the modern copies to be so vulgar! It was not particularly cheap when I bought it a few years back but have no intention of parting with it. If I remember it cost me about £200 and that was a fair while ago. What sort of money are you looking at spending PWA?

Evening all, I was going to purchase this 1934 crown for a reasonable price. Looked like a nice coin, nice toning and obviously a rare date. The pictures didn't set any alarm bells off (was obviously going to view in hand before any money was exchanged). Anyway, I came across this website listing repro 1934 crowns as $6.00 for not just one, but a pair. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/great-britain-1934-wreath-crown-copy-coins/117636_1905360743.html Anyway, the coin I was looking at buying, I noticed there is a small 'mark' (detraction) under the A of GRA. This is the same on the forgery coin. I haven't come across a forged wreath crown before but this has put me off buying the original coin. After seeing the mark, it was as if the romance of getting a 1934 crown wore off and I became ultra critical of it, now I feel like the whole look of the metal colour on the obverse is wrong. The seller assures me it is from an old collection (a tag with every forgery) so I was just wondering whether you guys think it is even worth the journey to view it or do you think it is an out and out forgery. As ever, thanks all.

Some interesting points, thank you all. RLC, it would have been nice to have got a number assigned to your coin and listed in his book eh!

Hi Rob, thanks for the comment, when I think about it it is simple logic that it must be incuse on the die! The dot is definitely not a piece of corrosion, under very high magnification it is a very smooth and well rounded raised dot. Thanks RLC, a very nice coin indeed. May I ask what the coin sold for?

Hi all, just wondering if I could pick your brains for any thoughts on this 1878 penny I recently acquired. It has an unusual raised 'dot' over the first 8 in the date. I have seen similar coins, most obvious the 1897 dot penny, but also a couple of bun head pennies. If I remember correctly there was an 1875 on this forum with a raised dot and didn't Gouby list a 'cannonball' variety'? The bottom leg of E in 'ONE' also appears to be double struck aswell. What causes the raised dot phenomena do you think? Is it dirt in the die or something similar? Any thoughts always appreciated.

Thanks all, to be honest I think I would be slightly dissapointed if I only got 1k for it! I find that with key dates and varieties the book value generally goes out of the window as if someone needs one they may pay higher prices. London Coins sold one for £3,400 which with commission means it cost someone £4k. It was a similar example to my coin just without the scratches. Whatever it fetches, it will hopefully go to a good home and give me some spending money to put back into my collection! Thank you for all of your opinions.

Here is the reverse ...

Hello all, I am looking to sell my 1841 Halfcrown. I am torn between putting it into a London based auction house or putting it for a long stint on ebay (the thinking being that if people don't have to pay commission when buying they would hopefully bid higher). I have looked at the London Coins results for the past 4 ish years and they seem to be making good money. Any suggestions on what you all think this example would realise? I see the Victorian market, particularly halfcrowns doing well at the moment in general. There is a scratch on Viccy's neck and a lighter one to the top of her head but otherwise it is a very nice example.

Good afternoon all, I have just come across this seller on ebay. He is knocking out counterfeit coins like he is making them in his own shed. He is saying that they are forgeries but in his own words they are 'indistinguishable from the originals'. Some of the coins are obvious copies and would be very likely to fool most but there are ones such as this 1932 crown which in all honesty could fool even an experienced collector from photographs. I can understand why people collect contemporary counterfeits, I myself have a few, as they are historically interesting, but the production of coins such as this can surely result in nothing more then someone down the line getting badly stung! http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-CROWN-1932-U-K-REMAKE-UNCIRCULATED-/301337280421?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item462919ffa5

Better size reverse image...

Hello all, would I be able to get some confirmation on the variety of this 1861 penny (no sig either side) I just purchased please. Nearly there to getting my head round some of the Freeman's etc!! Thanks!

Wow! I didn't even known an example in MS64 existed! The nicest I saw were the examples in the Laurie Bamford sale ('05 I think?). Is that an auction piece? It must have set you back a small fortune!

I have purchased from the dealer before and have received coins as promised all OK. It seems in this case he got it wrong but I will receive a full refund so the only real risk was on being out of pocket for a couple of weeks. Also, if the coin was a clear confirmed die letter then it would have certainly been a good bargain for the price I paid for it. I would never personally 'throw a coin in the bin' because I believe it will always have some, if only minute, value to someone, somewhere. B&C Collector, thanks for all of the different reverses, are they all your coins?

That was my feeling on the matter. I used that same photo for comparison earlier and thought the die letter in the real thing has the top in line with the base of the lighthouse which would place the bulge on my coin higher then it should be. Do you think its quite clear it isn't the die letter variety I was promised?

Hello all, I bought an 1862 Halfpenny from the States and it arrived today. It was not photographed but the dealer was a member of the ANA etc and before I bought it I confirmed he had a refund policy. Anyway, it was sold to me as the very rare die letter C variety but I am struggling to see the die letter myself. I don't know if the seller was thinking it was the bulge next to the lighthouse or possibly below the lighthouse which I have circled. To me, the bulge to the left of the lighthouse seems to high to be the letter C and the circled 'C' looks too low and too far from the edge to me. What do you guys think?

Picked up this rare 1878 Wide Date Halfpenny. I had been looking for one for a while so it was quite an outlay but I'm happy with it as I haven't seen a better example and even the Nicholson collection didn't have a wide date currency issue

What does everybody think about this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1933-OLD-BRITISH-ONE-PENNY-COIN-/121380829663?pt=UK_Coins_BritishMilled_RL&hash=item1c42dc79df&nma=true&si=HCTIP1LDS82i9wPh3gKl%252Bawq6ic%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Sold a few days ago for £1550. It had a pretty interesting story line with it (not particularly well written and from a seller with very low feedback). I remember that one of the 1933 pennies known was stolen from under the stone of a church, the same church that this seller is claiming to have found this penny near. It does actually look remarkably like one of the Andre Laurillier proofs to me, maybe there's some substance in it! I tend to see people giving a rough valuation of £50k for a 1933 penny but just personally I think one would make much more then that if found today. However, even if this were the real deal I don't think it would be allowed to be sold. I seem to remember a few years back a lady took a batch of 10 1933 $20 coins to be authenticated and when they were found to be real they were all seized and taken back by the mint as they could only have been gained illegally. Surely that would be the case with this penny (again - IF - it were real) and the buyer would lost out on 1500 quid? What do you guys think? Interesting nonetheless!

Guys, Is it me or is this a sadly mis-attributed 1879 penny? I am struggling to see that date as being small or narrow... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Great-Britain-1-Penny-1879-AU55-BN-NGC-bronze-KM-755-Small-Date-1P-SCARCE-/371088609577?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item56669ad129

It has the LCW below Britannia and LC Wyon under the bust.

Could someone please confirm the variety of this 1860 penny for me please, the Victorian varieties are the one area I would love to get comfortable with because I think it is a fascinating series. Thanks for any help!

That is a smart idea with the letter! I may have to request that the sellers do that! I don't begrudge paying the 5%, especially if it is not even every time but that £8 handling fee Thanks everybody!

Hello all, Recently I have been buying a few coins from the USA. However, when receiving them I am getting some customs charges on certain coins but getting no charges on other coins. For example, I bought a £200 coin and it got to me with no additional expenses, in the same week I bought an £80 coin and I got £11 in customs charges before it could be delivered (£8 of the charge was a Royal Mail 'handling fee' and the actual charge was £3 something). I was told that the fees are random because apparently customs just pick out parcels at random off a conveyor belt and check them but I don't know if this is true? I am looking to buy some coins from the states soon, maybe around £1500 worth but wouldn't like to be hit with a huge import charge! Does anybody know the deal with charges or could offer some clarification? Thanks everybody!