secret santa

Look at my varieties site.

Me too. At first he he said he'd counted the border teeth and it was genuine but when I sent him pictures with the teeth numbered, he relented.

Another replica penny on Ebay - I've messaged the seller but he hasn't taken it down. I hope no-one falls for it. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/287481861974?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e111028.m43.l1123&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=ee1821cbf0274276908e6d80f2933171&bu=43154646029&osub=-1~1&crd=20260724145657&segname=111028

It certainly IS (both) !

I wasn't aware that Gouby had produced specialised editions for monarchs following Victoria.

A "must have" publication for penny collectors.

Sadly, I think you're absolutely right. I imagine most penny collectors became interested during their school years in the sixties and are now in their twilight years (me included) and it seems that the interest in copper and bronze will fade away with them. I shall probably sell my collection next year and am resigned to losing money on many if not most of the coins.

Interestingly, I bought a heavy 1967 penny (13.43 gm) at London Coins auction in September 2013 along with a couple of decimal errors for £95. Mint Errors (3) Penny 1967 struck on a thick flan and weighing 13.43 grammes EF, Decimal Two Pence 1978 uniface Obverse only NEF, Decimal Penny 1976 VF with raised unusual collar.

I wonder why Freeman included the 1897 dot in "The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain" but not the ONE ' - maybe because the latter looks like an extraneous piece of metal whereas he postulates that the perfectly round dot on the 1897 might be some kind of identification mark. Either way those two example are much easier to describe concisely, just as you have done, than the other spurious dot types which can appear anywhere on the coin.

In my humble opinion, varieties are created by the design process, i.e. the decision to strike a coin from a selected pair of obverse and reverse designs. Any anomalies created by the minting (or striking) process are exactly that - anomalies, collectibility of which is in the eye of the beholder. The confusion was probably started by Freeman's decision to grant a variety number to the 1897 Dot penny. As I say, just my opinion. And the debate will probably go on forever. On my websites, I refer to variations to a particular "variety", such as variation in the date spacing, as a "sub-variety" whereas Gouby assigns specific identifiers. You pays your money......................

Things like this can be collectible without being a "variety". If we start calling them varieties, it invites anyone with a hammer and chisel to start creating their own varieties.

Your picture is too blurred for comment but here are my own pictures from my website: Single exergue with waves almost touching the line and double exergue with waves clear of the line.

I see the replicas are re-appearing. This one purports to be a proof: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206353463647?itmmeta=01KVAT58VF6ZRR0WDV2XM92C2E&hash=item300b9ff95f:g:u3EAAeSwkcBqMm2A&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAAwGfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDqKzVvcjzhpKWp0V99B8G8QpHw2n7Lx%2BwMDY0sBLDshtsY09foJNFJkQ2F4hgcBp5AYrMW7vo0ghUHfYd7fuPbD%2Bk8PcONFzXtYKy6kLqfhzMB4rPI3yPgEzHJx4je7BqCjuYBeonpYqWSugzalgJloB1ah9SKPxvQGfJxOxR9el6FtTeHofq8pRtrGMGLiMNoUvwYYN1fccJsxd1VuLvFI2D%2FhIlsUoq2M2vK69fjlQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4aOldraZw

Nice one, Terry but why the different backgrounds to the photos ? If anyone else had put these pictures up on Ebay, I'd have smelt a rat !

Some lovely rare pennies sold at Sovereign Rarities this morning. Most of them have been on the market before with some increasing in price and some decreasing. The wonderful 1882 F112 BU sold for £12,250 which was cheaper than it realised in the Spink Gerald Jackson sale (June 2014 for £15,150)