Stuntman

It's certainly an impressive display of craftsmanship and a lovely thing to behold. Thanks for sharing!

Best wishes from me too.

I replied in your decimal thread! I think it's the NI coin as well.

Interesting stuff. I'd probably be inclined to leave my proof coins alone, but good to hear that you've had good results with your careful cleaning.

I think the blank is already a bimetallic blank before the coin is struck. That was certainly the case when I 'struck' my own £1 coin at the RM Experience in Feb. Therefore I would be surprised if the centre is actually struck separately from the outer, but the design as a whole could definitely be struck slightly off-centre I would think.

It looks like the Northern Ireland one to me. The centre of the cross is altogether smoother and more uniform on the England one. A good find either way - especially so if it truly is the NI one!

^^^ Well, the after is immeasurably better than the before. Was that just a short immersion in acetone and then just air dried?

Any more talk like that, and I will be forced to give you a damned good thrashing

Good stuff, gentlemen. Carry on (and don't mention the war)...

Some interesting stuff there already, and Iggy sounds quite the character. It's a pity that the coins probably haven't been stored particularly well for a good while. The misstrikes are interesting, and I think the Godless florin is in perfectly decent nick. . I think VickySilver is probably the most knowledgeable here with regard to conserving/improving the silver coins and hopefully he'll be along sometime to contribute- otherwise it might be worth sending a gentle PM in his direction asking for advice? FWIW I don't see any harm in starting with an olive oil soak for the 1920-1946 silver coins, leaving them in for a week or so and then gently poking off any more gunk with a water softened cocktail stick before a final rinse in de-ionised water and then careful drying (Vicky would say high thread count cotton towel I think). Start on the worst ones first and see how much improvement there is. For the pre 1920 silver I'm not sure if the olive oil soak is recommended. The one time I tried it, it improved the coin a bit but not as much as I was hoping. Keep posting

Wow - were you actually given all those coins? Sounds like an amazing windfall. Any you might want to spare??

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

^^^ I can't get that image out of my head now... (In answer to Sword's question - yes I agree. I happen to quite like the modern takes on this design, found on the 2005 and 2012 sovereigns. Especially the 2005 as it's stylistically very different).

A big hello to you too. Tell us more...

Almost certainly all real, I would say.

Keep 'em if you like 'em. If it were me, I'd probably keep the Magna Carta coin because it commemorates an important event in British history and I think it's a nice design on the coin. It's quite scarce in the grand scheme of things (about 1.5 million minted) but not worth much if anything over face value. And it's in decent condition too - better than your other ones there I'd say. Now try to find the other commemorative £2 coins, there's about 40 different designs in circulation I think, and some of them are fairly hard to find.

I sign in quite often and catch up on the posts, but I haven't acquired any coins for several months can't really contribute much at the moment. But I have two coins coming (eBay wins) that hopefully I will pick up and photograph over the weekend. Happy days!

I had to google what Pareidolia meant! Thanks for adding to my vocabulary!

Cheers Peckris. And where was the Bristol Apostrophiser when they needed him in the 18th Century?

Paulus - do you know why it has William III on it, as opposed to George III? The date on the obverse(?) appears to say 1689, which fits with William III, clearly. Seems odd that the denizens of Hull would be so brazen with their tokens?

I think that you can still have all these thoughts when you 'find' a coin, whether online, at a coin fair, at a nice safe shop, or indeed in the ground! I have very few UNC coins, many of mine are VF or worse. I like the romance of thinking about where the coins have been and who may have held them, but I'm happy to track them down at dealers and fairs rather than digging them up from the great outdoors! Vive la difference indeed. Have fun with the detecting, Prep. Hope you find loads!

Agree with the chaps above with regard to cleaning. VF+ for me too.

I agree with Dave, and the guide at the Royal Mint Experience tour also said the same when I went there earlier this year.

Some very nice visual treats above. I particularly like cathrine's 1848 and Rob's 1853 proof.

The Emperor's new coin!