secret santa

Bernie's collection is now available as 2 PDFs - superb pictures. https://www.sovr.co.uk/

Excellent - thanks.

Certainly was.

£15,150.

I hadn't realised that he was the same Geoff Cope that played cricket for Yorkshire & England !

Don't think I know that one.

Which auction house ?

You must be exhausted.............

I think "proof-like" should be taken with a pinch of salt. The scratches look quite harsh. P.S. Victoria is on the obverse; Britannia on the reverse.

Hope nobody heard you taking pictures in the toilet - some incorrect assumptions may have been made !

Gouby says this variety (1898Ab) is "scarce ?" But 1898 Ba and Ca are both "rare" So, almost certainly No but I doubt that anyone has done a serious analysis.

There was an explosion yesterday in a Japanese car parts factory - apparently it was raining Datsun cogs.

Bernard is the father and a good friend of mine. You can view the online catalogues at Colin Cooke. https://www.colincooke.com/collections/

I have an advance notice of this and there are some fantastic penny rarities in the sale.

I have made mention of this being now found on an F15 on my varieties website (without using your images). Please reassure me that you are happy for me to make reference to it.

Yes, especially as I messaged him a few days ago to tell him it's a modern replica.

Yet another seller trying it on..... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267031963314?itmmeta=01JAE84Q7N90TDWNDGG4FNXX4A&hash=item3e2c5866b2:g:C~cAAOSwsExnESii&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKn0kJg003yHYLOxjTi%2F9VJ3XWF4rXPP7M7umpLAzY4NYWkkDPjUBV4B4oim95aa48o05mOInXxyS7KbgNzEgVmxIYLccmqN5rJbdLBIR3s3Pg19RZTDnc99%2FuspL%2BW6ISDSJO4CUJQXnD%2BvG5TAG3CFwzFbVGEgb0RM8Kx0mm%2B2K3A%2FgBlnSqQBSHGl8Rho7kqsk8%2F32TGdPzHKZqnHqTMu2cnoukWaC0q69WoQZ2bQVvC7aKK2AFmDye6tDEyTsY2HxhlqqMtWqGlVCuSndgoR|tkp%3ABk9SR_jzksjTZA

I think there may be something in this because the "fatter face" becomes more obvious with wear and so the queen may have noticed in 1892 that the modified obverse was becoming distinctly less flattering with wear (see example below) and requested a reversion to the original obverse R (Freeman 12).

I have now changed this obverse from a "sub-variety" of Obverse R (Freeman 12) to an Unrecorded Obverse R* on the varieties website.

Interestingly, and obviously when you think about it, the versions of 1889 F127 with the missing serifs are the normal obverse R.

As she was with the initial unadopted beaded obverse A and B on the pennies.

I think this theory is gaining ground, especially when you compare the modified obverse to the 1895 veiled head obverse: Modified obverse R Veiled head obverse It may be a prototype stage before the final "old head" design.

I've just flicked through the LCA sold pennies dated 1890-1892 and all the 1890 and 1891 coins have the fatter face and the vast majority of 1892 have the normal obverse although there is at least one that seems to have the fatter variety. I wonder whether there was a subtle attempt to age the queen's portrait (as in 1874) which she then objected to and so they reverted to the previous obverse ?

I've just checked through my dates from 1882 (F114, F115) through to 1894 when obverse R was used and, like Paddy, my 1890 and 1891 pennies all have the fatter chin, but 1882 to 1888 and 1892 to 1894 have the normal chin. It seems strange that this slightly different obverse was used for a 3 year spell in the middle of a 14 year run. I've asked Michael Gouby for his views.

They may be advertised at that cost but I don't expect that they sell for anything but a few cents. Very common indeed.