jelida

It appears to have been cast in a strip mould, in the same fashion as Potin coins, though I do not recognise it as a British Potin, so if genuine probably Continental Iron Age. More likely a high tin bronze, which can be quite silvery, than gold or silver. Jerry

Guy bought the unc lustrous 1882 no H F112 penny for upper 30’s K a couple of years back. Very keen penny collector. I have had some lovely purchases from his auctions, including an EF 1827 penny at good prices. Really decent bloke, often at the MCF. Jerry

I have examples of 1860 pennies with a 6/6 strike. As Rob says, manual entry of the last two date digits may well be a factor as well as repair of a clogged die. Gouby illustrates examples. Interesting, and worthy of note but not especially unusual to find same letter or digit overstrikes, unlike wrong letter or digit overstrikes which are true varieties. Jerry

He’s at it again, relisting this known altered date penny. This really has become criminal, needs reporting, he is a disgrace. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256308345192?hash=item3bad2af968:g:HJoAAOSwAnRlRNOy&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4Kf6XofPsYAEGjRxP2AxzzbtN%2Ft5ctqy4m973qozTrioluaijEBPg0V30X%2FajPIb46ok1nlNXio5TUw1Krb%2BbISJV9bBOed2yAPYnIrtPM2zpqtBSIjpzloMncR0%2F8itcbdxLMeQzg8Hz3IglEofgEPuzovd5UVZUIpzEY4WWLnm9X9%2FYsFX%2By3n3GHUM3FUSzyKqWVR4dp1ntYA5wjzMe4gv4PCLzIbzOnVqhPbLAolz%2BjI0Q90nE%2Bk0X2bbTaMjgkHAoeWDZR%2Bp1xnsOaUfZWgHGjkHFnVMLBcagpm8gjh|tkp%3ABk9SR_TZipf-Yg

Here, finally, are my friends photos of his acorn penny, an Ebay purchase several years ago at less than £100! The same dies, I think, as my Comber example. Jerry

I would say there are enough points of similarity despite the lack of a colon after ‘mm’. Jerry

One sold at LCA a few years ago, and I have subsequently bought one at the MCF and one on EBay. They are certainly very scarce. Jerry

I will have to get my mate to take photos of the acorn, I’m not sure about the dies matching so it’s worth a look. Jerry

Yes.

It’s clearly a nice thought, that the Queen might have held the coin - but would all 7200 coins have been used in the Maundy service? I have no idea. I do have a mate who also has an acorn mm, at less than a ton on EBay several years ago, so they are about. It is perhaps notable that both acorns and eglantine mm coins I have seen are nicely struck and of full flan, perhaps a little more care went in to their striking. Rare coins anyway. There is an eglantine in the upcoming St James’s auction. Jerry

You will find both in the St James’s auction of Comber III, lots 503 and 504. Both coins are now in my collection of Lizzie pennies, accompanied by a rather nice eglantine from EBay at £50 earlier this year. https://cdn.sanity.io/files/f3pcy24e/production/c199e15e78890aba1f6e583438b2b5fa6a740d20.pdf Jerry

Yes, I have read that also, mintmark acorn. BCW elaborates on page 10, ‘On the 2nd April 1574 the Queen issued an unusual order for just 10 pounds of pennies, to be kept by the Warden ‘ to our use’. ‘ and also states that ‘these rare coins , which were produced just before the acorn coins were pyxed, are the first specially minted Maundy coins. They continued to be produced during the following four years when the eglantine mark was in use, but only in sufficient numbers for the Maundy ceremony’. Jerry

This is very true; if for die longevity studies why use the same marker more than once? If such studies were ‘in house’, then just collect and count/weigh the output from the die in question before release into circulation. If for studies of coinage in circulation, how would you ever reliably track them with such a small output ? You would have to search through massive numbers of circulating pennies if the ratio of extant coins is a true reflection of mintage. Perhaps for dispersal studies, eg town x is given only ‘A’ halfpennies, and a month later is revisited to determine the proportion of marked 1862 halfpennies left? All very strange. But there must be a logical explanation. Jerry

Thanks Paul, I have applied to join a couple and will take a look. It might cure my EBay addiction😯 Jerry

I’m really not convinced that Facebook offers the useful archive of information going back years that the forum does, and its excellent search facility. However I don’t use Facebook for coins…..any particularly recommended groups? Jerry