jelida

Just an oddball. Letters and digits on worn/filled dies were often repaired by re-punching, and not surprisingly these were often slightly misplaced. Of little extra interest unless the wrong punch has been used or the misplacement is extreme. As for the ‘4’ it may just be a die flaw. Jerry

During the first week of May I spotted a 'Silver Hammered Penny King Edward I' for sale as a Buy-it-now' on Ebay, £38 total including Ebay insurance and 48hr Royal Mail Tracked delivery. As the coin was in fact an Edward III florin coinage penny of Canterbury, and quite scarce, I bought it and tracking showed that the vendor posted it on 10th May. Over the next 48hrs or so it tracked to the Birmingham MC sorting office - where it stayed. After a fortnight I spoke to the vendor who contacted RM and received an unhelpful reply and no coin. After 3 weeks Ebay gave me my money back within 24hrs of my claim as suggested by the vendor and I wrote the coin off mentally with much regret. It is noteworthy that with the refund Ebay actually state that if the purchase is subsequently found it can be kept and they do not have to be informed. Well, it was delivered out of the blue by postie on Thursday! Only 8 weeks in transit! The vendor and I have exchanged several cheerful emails and I get to keep the coin for nothing! As far as I can tell the coin is S1547, N1122 (VR) and DIG Obv 1 rev Ai. Jerry

An 1889 F127 narrow date,13.5 teeth £200 on Ebay.

An 1874H F69, £17.10 on Ebay.

Then a decent 1863 'open 3' , £30 at Midland Coin Fair.

Finally, after a month of challenge getting BT/Open Reach to repair my landline I at last have acceptable broadband and can post some recent acquisitions. First an example F10 new obverse 2*, £20 at Ebay auction.

What great fun! That is really rather clever, nice job! Jerry

No, it’s not an R over B; unless it’s the same coin, I’ve seen this flaw mis-described before, even major auction houses are chancers at times. Jerry

Here is mine, and nice tone in the hand. Auctioneer’s photos. Jerry

I spotted two nicely struck and very acceptable Commonwealth halfpennies at the MCF last Sunday, asking price about £225 in both cases. I bought my own one from a European auction early this year, fully struck up and less than £180. There are nice examples out there but one on a Timeline Auction went for over £500 IIRC. Jerry

Yup, that’s another one. Jerry

Looks like a standard Freeman 22 to me, though as you say the indicators are not all clear. The ‘N’ is just bruised and worn. Jerry

Hi Brodie, I’m afraid that this is a normal 1863 penny and not one of the rare varieties. In this condition it is worth scrap metal value only. It’s not so much the position of the ‘3’ as the actual design of the ‘3’ digit that governs the rarity. Keep searching and good luck! Jerry

My thought’s exactly! There seems to be an influx of fake Lizzie halfpennies at the moment, I wonder about this one too with the key over woolpack facing the wrong way and a very uneven border. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/287335422050 Jerry

Good pictures, nice coin. It will tone well on a sunny windowsill , turned from time to time . Jerry

Try to take some clear photos of both sides of the coin, it’s difficult to comment on the images you give. There are some very good Chinese replicas available now and looking at the finish we need to rule those out first. Doubling in the strike would be a possibility, if we are dealing with the genuine article. Jerry

I suspect it may be related to the Irish obsidional currency , this article may give you a lead. https://oldcurrencyexchange.com/2015/09/03/obrien-rare-coin-review-confederate-catholic-rebel-money-coinage-of-1642-44/ Jerry

It really isn’t reasonable to expect us to influence decisions as to how you spend your money where the facts are not clear cut, and the perspective of other parties photographs is notoriously unreliable when making size or thickness estimations. Some you will get right and some wrong simply because the image does not reflect reality, but it has to be up to you whether to take the plunge. It’s great to hear of a successful rare find or new discovery when it is definite and in the hand and when correct weights and measurements and clear photos can be taken, but we don’t need to be party to your thought processes before the actual facts can be ascertained. And please don’t be so quick to take offence when it is largely not intended, which is in itself offensive and unhelpful. The sources you quote are excellent, and with the addition of Gouby are exactly my primary sources. You are clearly a quick learner, but experience can only be gained over time , often by trial and error which is where you are at now. Jerry

You need to get it in the hand and take clearer photos. It isn’t a recognised variety of penny, halfpenny or farthing, and you haven’t made clear the denomination or date. The proportions aren’t quite right for a ‘T’ and the right arm is missing, but it would be a remarkable find and needs to be clarified. It could also be a die flaw or dig to the left of the upper serif of the ‘E’ - as I said, better photos and a close look at the actual coin are required. If cheap enough, it’s the sort of thing I would buy just to be sure one way or another. Are you going to the Midland Coin Fair on Sunday? Jerry

Better than EF for me, contact marks aren’t so much of an issue as scratches and other damage from circulation. You can always be caught out by photos, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was graded MS 62ish. Price at auction is so unpredictable, you could offer it at a fixed price of somewhere midway between EF and BU in the catalogue but be prepared to wait, or nearer EF price for a quicker sale. Jerry

Thanks Mike, it is good to have a name and know a little more about you - we do get some odd types on the forum occasionally, people join for various reasons but it’s good to know you are a genuine collector. Your latest find of the F14 is also a good one, you see them occasionally on EBay and in the auctions but not often and the circumstances of the find show that your run of luck continues! The next coin fair that I will attend - I almost always do - is the Midland Coin Fair on the second Sunday of each month, details online. It would be good to meet you and talk rarities - I have had many penny rarities unrecognised at the MCF over the years, and of course on eBay and also from foreign dealers and auctions - a look at Richards site will show that - and yes indeed they are still out there and you clearly put the hours in. If you do want to build up a representative penny collection don’t forget the commoner coins too, and the coin fair is an excellent place to find those, often at very fair prices. Jerry

You seem to be talking about this coin on two threads , it really only needs one. How about photos so it can be verified and included on the database, which will make it more attractive. It really is quite hard to believe that you have found all these great rarities in only a couple of weeks when hundreds of highly knowledgeable collectors are looking out for them - you haven’t just bought someones collection? Are you a collector or a dealer? Most of us on this forum know a fair bit about each other (including in many cases our actual names) as members of quite a small community. At the moment you are just a moniker. Jerry

Now you’ve got it, how about a photo?

I too would doubt that it is a VIGTORIA, speaking as someone who already owns one. The ‘G’ component is not large enough or the right shape, though I agree the blurred photo is vaguely similar at a glance. Don’t loose sleep over it. And don’t advertise or share images until a coin is in your hand! Jerry

Not if use of the alternate letter was intentional, as I explain above it’s just part of day to day maintenance of a die. And also difficult to prove it’s not just partial die fill of the lower limb of the ‘E’ . But it’s a grey area in that some collectors enthuse about mis-strikes and die flaws, incidental dots and dashes and the like. To my mind a true variety is a deliberate planned change in the design on the die, the flan (weight, metal composition, polishing ) or a significant accidental change through the act of man. Obvious date width differences might just creep in in the later years when die to die differences were rarer. And not all variations even if rare attract a premium, desirability to collectors plays a major part along with whether published or acknowledged by an accepted expert in the field (Freeman, Gouby, Sessions et al). Jerry