Colin G.

There is a micro variety of 1860 where the lower stop appears to be missing (almost definitely due to die fill), but it is more of a curiosity than a variety that will add any premium. Regarding the others, I can only see the images of the 1860 farthing. Advice I would give about these types of varieties, is that many things can "appear" to exist, I have several coins that I have noted as probable varieties or possible varieties, some of which look very convincing but it is imperative that they need to be confirmed with a very high degree of certainty from a high grade example before I get too interested in them....and even then it does not necessarily mean they will attract a premium...there are only a few of us micro collectors about

I also saw these, that is a definite flooding of the market, 5 clear varieties of 1890 farthing, so you may be lucky and get some of each...but then you still have to find enough farthing micro variety collectors to sell them to... cherry pick from the others and slab a select few...but even then a lot of hard work for not a lot of reward.....after hard consideration and Dave's financial breakdown of it all I have come to the conclusion that I am out of the running

And what a good choice that would be!!

Did you make a note of any prices? I had bids on a few things, mostly farthings. There were some nice ones in the sale. Ahh so you were one of my competitors!! Quite possibly. Were you there, and which pennies caught your eye? I was there...but it was Rob's post I was responding to, I had my focus planted firmly on the farthings

Did you make a note of any prices? I had bids on a few things, mostly farthings. There were some nice ones in the sale. Ahh so you were one of my competitors!!

Yes, I had the same experience. I am assuming/hoping they will get all that fixed in the days to come. I think this is a result of the new website, I have phoned, very quick and helpful as usual...all sorted!!

Must've used quite a lot of pressure to achieve this effect, hence being out of shape, obviously. Oh well, you live and learn, and it didn't cost a fortune, thankfully. It is surprising how clearly the incuse effect is, you would instinctively expect the legend to be squashed under such pressure.

Rob I think the farthings may be able to shed some light, I am certainly aware of a version of the farthing that has a broken A, which is very similar to a flaw found on an 1843 farthing...it may be purely co-incidence, or it could be the same die being re-utilised. I have not seen a copy in hand though to see whether there is any evidence of an overdate, or to try and match any other features. Bizarrely one of the lots I have bought from the DNW sale, is an example of this type...so I will have a copy in hand fairly shortly!!

Charles I Richmond farthing tokens - Should read CARO DG MAG BRI(T) and on the Reverse FRA ET HIB REX Many varieties with different privy marks that are located above the crown on the Obverse...and a lot of contemporary counterfeits

That looks to be post mint damage created by squeezing one coin against another so that it creates an impression of one on another

I paid high for one which I really wanted, got one for mid estimate and couldn't refuse the other at £40 below lowest estimate...hopefully it was worth a gamble!!

There's not a bag of them but about 25 of them were struck (forged) during that period in the 70's/80's by the same person(s)....who, I am told, is alledgedly still around. Do you know why he did not make more? If he could make such good fakes in the 70's / 80's, then I dread to think what will happen in 50 years time. Nothing given he should be pushing up the daisies I didn't mean him, but what forgers in gerneral can do in the future. What worry me is that one day, forgeries will be so good that they can no longer be distinguished from the real thing by visual inspection or weight. Then will all rare coins have to be sold in "slabs" after expensive analysis have been done in labs? Scary! As Rob has said that is where provenance is going to play a major part in putting minds at rest on un-slabbed coins.

I got a couple as well .... ...but did not intend to spend today oh well

Chris I use Siteground, not the cheapest but have always been very good on the support side of things. I should be able to get you 12 months cheap which will also get me a free month of hosting if you are interested. Have a look and let me know if you are interested

It is more obvious when you line the colon up with Britannia's drapery, one would appear to line up with the step back of the drapery and the other hits the furthest projection of the knee drapery...as for the number of combinations........I am a farthing man...sorry

I have to admit the few bits I have sold have either gone through London Coins or DNW. I know with London Coins I have always found dealings face to face to be the better option but if it is a sizeable collection, one would hope they would be very enthusiastic. I can't fault my dealings with DNW as both a buyer and a seller, always been very pleased with the service. I have never yet dealt with Baldwins or Spinks because DNW responded to my first enquiry (which was sent to all 3) politely and quickly and therefore as a result I would now approach them first for any future sales. There are also a few collectors/dealers on here who may be interested if you want to save some fees. Do you have a list compiled and prices in mind

Have you read about the ghost of Matthew Boulton on it?

I couldn't resist putting this one up http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-Luster-UNC-MS-or-PROOF-1806-George-III-GHOST-Farthing-P-1397-S-3782-KM-661-/261225169125?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item3cd23bc0e5

The example that I sold and the slight upgrade sitting in my collection are both shown in the thread below. http://www.predecimal.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7794&st=0&p=82574&hl=+1840%20+farthing&fromsearch=1entry82574

I am with Peter here, not a very well known variety, but gets a premium from us micro variety collectors. For info I recently sold an example approaching EF for £140

I do find it quite amusing that we can't even get a consensus on how to build a poll on a forum...what hope do we ever have of agreeing on grades, it does explain a lot

I can't believe you have put that thought out for the RM to get their hands on you should have at least entered the next competition with that one

The whole forum's gone bananas! I think we should all drink 'bottled' water until we can work out what the hell's going on around here? LOL I think it's partly what Rob says, it's a big collecting world and other people's enthusiasm eventually rubs off on us. Plus I don't know about other areas, but there's little quality hammered Chas I around as far as I can see. After a period of buying very little I started to think beyond 'that looks nice' to actually considering expanding my horizons a bit. It is interesting that there is certainly a reduction in the number of larger hammered coins being found by detectorists. I think as the largest detecting targets it was inevitable that the numbers being found would reduce. I have no doubt there will be more hoards, but your hammered frisbees may be a smart area of investment.......you watch a load of Charlie hoards will be found now!!

My copy has 5p on the cover, which came as part of a larger parcel of books. It's a super little reference volume, even if only 40 pages of less than A5 size. My copy came today and is also priced at 5p Useful info on the dies and, more importantly, the die pairings known - possible a cheapish project to track some of them down Interesting to note these bronze coins were not minted by the Royal Mint, but contracted out :- 1864 Henry Jay & Co 1868 & 1874 Partridge & Co Never heard of these two before . The Royal mint used Watt & Co and Heatons for 1860-3 UK bronze (also without mintmark), Watt & Co also used for Hong Kong bronze cents It would appear no mintmarks appear before 1874 on any UK or Colonial Bronze coinage - I wonder if any other stuff was farmed out in these years prior to the major refurbishment of the RM in 1882? That's another book I have got to track down now!!

Unfortunately no examples in my collection, but in relation to the dies you have noted, I would add the following from a brief check: There are 3 obverse dies involved on the proof dump issue farthings (CC 458 would also be a different Reverse die, position of B in Britannia) 1. With the S underneath the laurels – CC463, 464(LP). Peck plate coin P787. All 1717. 2. With the S just clear to the left of the laurels (later strike of 1 after die polishing?). CC462. - Different die note the I is clear of the head due to the lettering meeting in a slightly different position. 3. S with clear space to the laurels. CC455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461. Bald BM20470(LP), Z42539. (1717 & 1718) Reverse dies are as follows. 1. Badly flawed, lower exergue line touching inner circle. 1717 Bald BM20470(LP) 2. No flaws, exergue on inner circle, laurel closer to A than N.(1717) Bald Z42539, CC459, 460, 462, 463 3. short exergue line, no flaws. (1718) Z37110(thin Ag), CC456. CC455(1718 Cu) 4. short exergue line, laurel closer to N. CC461, An area for a bit more study in terms of settling die combinations, and therefore potential sequencing. I have to agree that the addition of the lacquered proof in Peck does surprise me. Peck is quite dismissive of others in his publication...rightly so in many circumstances, but as a result he seems to try and stick to the proven. Whilst there are clear cases where this is not true, it would inevitably be expected in a work of this size, but the inclusion of this piece really does surprise me. How could it be included without certainty...it is such a unique record in terms of a lacquered coin being included that you would expect there to be clear evidence. I am also not convinced yet, and as you say unless you are willing to part with the cash to view a couple of examples in hand it would be difficult to change my current view. It is also worth noting that the CC example was suggested as a possible? lacquered proof so I would suggest not too much could be based on that particular example either.