secret santa

This is a promising start. Coins are little works of art and, if you find a particular denomination attractive or impressive, you will derive great pleasure in finding out more about it/them. Read about them as people have said, and the fascination will develop. I think you will get greater pleasure from collecting rather than investing and people's love for their particular subject just sings out from contributions on this forum. Half crowns have some of the most beautiful artistic designs seen on British coins.

Thanks for that info, Mike. I believe that he had some really nice coins - the anticipation is killing me !

F27 would be a hell of a find - think you meant to type F22.

That works - but I can't bring the photographs up on any particular lot ????????????????????

Did you find it ? My attempts to search their archive fail dismally.

Just about all the die 4s that I've seen have been very well worn. I've never seen one better than AF as I recall. You could wait for ever for a nice one.

Try my varieties website - the pictures are much bigger than Freeman's book (unless you're looking them on a mobile phone in which case Gawd help you)

It appears that the 1901 has the last 1 over a gap because the 1 is tilted slightly. Have you by any chance checked with Michael Gouby that the one he talks about in his book was also tilted ?

And the sea does NOT cross the linear circle (unlike rev G) - very distinctive.

I think my Canon macro lens was about £600 but worth its weight in gold.

I've just checked my spare F16's and one has got some teeth marks from a die clash which are suspiciously similar to my original specimen above. Perhaps it's just a die clash which looks a bit like L C WYON.......

Don't worry, you see much worse than that on the forum !

All Obverse H (Freeman 5) coins have those 3 dots by the teeth I believe.

No dot I'm afraid.

Actually I'm thinking more and more that they do !

Could it be that Obverse 5 (Gouby H) was originally intended to also carry L C WYON below the bust but was later abandoned ?

Actually, although the "letters" are in a different place from Obverse F (Freeman 4), they are about the same size and spacing.

Bought an interesting penny in Baldwin's auction last week. Advertised as F15 with weak signature under the bust, it was clearly an F16 with some strange markings under the bust. Close up there is some extraneous metal, perhaps from a die clash, that appears to the naked eye to be a very weak "L C WYON" but isn't !

It bears no resemblance to the 1862 over 1 penny.

If you search London Coins archives, you'll find plenty of lustrous F10 pennies that sold for under £200 - it's quite a common variety as Peckris describes above - just trying to manage your expectations.

I think that may be taking things a bit too far ! Definitely one for the geeks.

Thanks Pete.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARE-1865-VICTORIA-ONE-PENNY-COIN-COIN-HUNT-WITH-SOME-LUSTRE-Z24/222932297922?hash=item33e7cce8c2:g:TokAAOSwfqFaycvA Lustre ? Surely it's cameo at least ?

Here Here.

10 out of 24 on Monday, 12 out of 20 on Tuesday - a select bunch !