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... and one or two more!!😉

Obverse 2 Mike, 143 teeth, best way to be sure.

No worries Mike. I had already started on 1858, whilst counting the large roses. Year 1 for 1858's has just over 400 coins, of which about 10% are No WW, and of those 2 are missing serifs. I haven't counted the other 4 years yet. I believe the missing serifs on the first I of BRITANNIAR only occurs when paired with a single obverse 'No WW' die (most examples have the same flaw after T of GRATIA). Several years ago, I tested several B26a coins, which I had accumulated over the years, against the wording found on Page 108 of Bramah, as follows:- "Another prolific source of minor variation is provided by the colons on the rev. Probably every die creates a colon variant and the only really satisfactory way of describing the position identifiably is by measurement and by the rather delicate indication afforded by projecting the line of each colon and so cutting the inscription opposite". Below is a picture of one of my B26a coins, with the projected lines as per Bramah. I tried to find the best pixel to identify the centre of each colon dot, and then drew a straight line through these centres to the opposite side of the coin. The teeth where the projected lines meet the opposite side are numbered (larger figures). Numbering starts from the tooth where the stem of the rose hits the border, and then works clockwise. The smaller numbers measure the distance between each pair of colon dots. I found that all my pieces had very similar sets of numbers i.e. within a range of 3 border beads, so I think Bramah's theory does work quite well at identifying individual reverse dies.....if one has the time to do this!!! Just thought that may be of some interest; I have reduced image size to meet the predecimal limit.

Hi Mike, I was wondering whether you might ask about the 1854 No Colons Bramah 17a one day! I'm afraid I haven't yet started on the 1854 analysis, partly because there are around 4,000 of those in my 5-year study; also, I was wondering what to attempt. Clearly the OT/PT split is relatively easy, but perhaps not that interesting. The OT no colons is clearly feasible, but I would also like to attempt the 1854/3. I'm thinking, however, that in the absence of a good additional identifier, I don't think the picture quality of most ebay listings will be detailed enough to allow me to do that one. I will do the No Colons count at some point and post on the forum. Thanks for asking, it's good to get a bit of pressure to make me do it. 😣 By the way, I have a spare copy of Bramah if anyone is interested, but it won't be for peanuts!

My 5 years count of ebay listings (2007-2011) found 13 large rose 1858's, from almost 3000 listings of 1858's. Of these 6 were small date and 7 were large date. I remember that when I first became aware of the large rose variety (courtesy of another member) I found the small date type first, and it then took me a good year to find the large date type. I don't think that many collectors were aware of the large rose varieties back during my study period, so this would suggest that the small / large date types have similar rarity. These stats probably go against what most collectors now believe to be the case. In any event, 13 large roses over 5 years compares with 70 x 1849's, so I think it is a pretty difficult type to locate, particularly in a decent grade.

I'm thinking you probably have nice examples of all those Mike!! 😉

5% of hammer seems fair 🤑🤑🤑

Indeed Mike, they could employ at least a dozen people on this forum who would describe pennies better than they do. At least their pictures are good quality, so you can easily see all their mistakes 😜

They don't get any better! British and World Coins (7 & 8 June 2023): Lot 393 | Noonans Mayfair

My 8 year old granddaughter has just started collecting these and I was hoping someone might be able to recommend an album for her to keep her collection. I would prefer one which has writing which describes what is depicted on each coin. Thanks in advance

Many thanks Dave, I have ordered the Cambridgeshire Coins 2023 album, actually got free postage by ordering through Az..... which saved a couple of £. Will have fun helping her with the collection.

Hi Mike, A quick scan through those 76 images indicates to me that about half were rubbish / very low grade, but there were about 10 in VF or even a tad better, and there were 2 that looked in very collectable better grade. I attach those images fyi

For anyone who is interested in Victorian Young Head penny sub-varieties. Yesterday I managed to acquire an upgraded example for my 1857OT Gouby Style B (Narrow Date). I knew this sub-variety was very difficult to locate, so I decided to update my ‘5 year’ statistics (all ebay YH listings). Some may recall I shared these on the forum about 6 months ago when there was a discussion about different numeral 7 fonts, and the rarity of the ‘long 7’ type of font in particular. A close up of Gouby Style B is pictured below, together with the revised stats from my ‘5 year’ study period. On this date style the numerals 5 and 7 are very close, and both exhibit repairs which can be seen under the microscope, but not so clear on the poor reference example on Gouby’s website. The stats show that I found only 15 examples of this particular date style, making it far rarer than the ‘long 7’ Gouby Style E. For comparison, during the same period I found 76 x 1856OT’s, 59 x 1853PT’s and 50 x 1844DFF’s. Now I need to just move on 20 years and find a few more narrow date pennies!!

When that supposed 1841 No REG Colon Proof sold at London Coins in 2009 I noticed that the obverse had some interesting features, in that the top bar of both I's in VICTORIA, and DEI, were very weak to the point of being missing; also the C of VICTORIA had been repaired. It made me think that the coin was perhaps NOT a Proof. Picture below refers. I have an example with exact same features in my own collection, which I can show tomorrow if anyone wishes to see. I would also sell my coin to anyone who wants it for far less than the $6.5K that Heritage sold theirs for in 2017.....and perhaps even less than the £900 that LC sold same coin for in 2009! 🤣

No problem Mike, glad to help. It's always difficult deciding to part with one of your nicest pieces, but when you sell to someone who you know will cherish it then that always makes it much easier. I am constantly under pressure to sell my collection rather than leave it one day to those who will not understand..........and probably sell for a fraction of what they are worth!!😨

I have a lower grade example of the 1854 No Colons for sale, which can do for around a third of what Mike paid for the above coin. PM me if interested.

That's a very nice one for a spare Richard!! 😁

Forgot to mention all 4 sets of Colons also same positions

Full pictures of my own coin for reference:-

I'm sure Jerry's is a 4/3, and also think it's probably from the same die pairing as my own example.............even though the hair is not as good on my coin. I think I can see that on the obverse there are legend similarities for example the numeral are all identically positioned in relation to teeth, and there is a small protrusion above the I of DEI:- Whilst on the reverse there are similar protrusions on the 2ns N of BRITANNIAR and the G of REG. The following pictures refer:-

I would appreciate input on an invoice before I settle please. I seem to recall there was another thread which discussed Customs VAT regarding purchases from abroad but cannot recall if there was any outcome. I recently won a lot at a Stacks Bowers Hong Kong auction. I immediately settled this about 4 weeks ago, and the lot was delivered by Fedex about 2 weeks ago. The original SB’s fees were bad enough for a lot with hammer of just $110, but when I received yesterday another invoice from Fedex for £43.29 on top of the original SB bill it was a complete shock. I have never bid with SB before now so wondered whether any member may have had a similar experience and, in particular, whether I should be challenging this Fedex invoice rather than just paying it and then trying to forget. Any thoughts would be most welcome thanks. I have written to SB but as yet no reply. The calculations are as below, hopefully make sense. I should add that this was for a banknote, rather than a coin………if that makes any difference to the VAT

Thought this would amuse. I sent off form BOR286 to the Revenue, as suggested by Pete in a separate email to me on 30th May 2020. This morning, almost 3 years later, I get a simple reply as per below, referring me back to FEDEX!! The attachment to their reply shows that they received my request on 8th June 2020. GREAT SERVICE FROM CUSTOMS

Might be able to help you with the F78 Mike. Thinning down the collection, and got a good example of ja reverse on my 1875.............so guess that'll do for my needs. My F78 is aUNC with some lustre. Email me if you want to consider buying.

Spinks e-auction now online and a couple of their penny descriptions aren't brilliant either..... including a far better than usual 1854 No Colons, Bramah 17a.

Again unimpressed with Noonans penny descriptions:- Coins and Historical Medals (4 & 5 April 2023): Lot 499 | Noonans Mayfair