IanB

I think I got it for a good price, £11. Out of interest how do you spot how it's been stored? It looks okay to me, but any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks, I am really pleased with it. I would like to think it's better than EF, possibly AUNC? It's got a lovely tone to it and some nice detailing.

Thank you 1949, your time and effort is appreciated. It sounds like my chances are slim to non - existent of finding this one. However you never know one day I may get lucky, probably the same day I find a 1933 in the same envelope or on eBay as a two for one deal. I am going to keep looking but in the meantime the next time I am near the British Museum I will pop in and hopefully see it for real.

Colin, thank you also for the link, as a newcomer to coin collecting the information especially the part about errors was very useful. i only have a couple of Farthings so far but in the future I hope to add a few more. Ian

Does anyone know of any pictures of a 1920 Penny 3+B? The Rotographic book states it is extremely rare. So far I can only find pictures of the 2+B I might get lucky one day and spot one. Out of interest what would be the prices on one of these?

I don't think that's likely. It would be easier to use a piece of copper as the anode than a coin also you would need to drill a hole in whatever was being used so that when it was wired up there was a good connection for the current to flow. Tape would not create a good connection and would lift off once the liquid got underneath it. This coin was tapped probably with electrical tape as the resist and placed in nitric acid just long enough for the acid to start etching but not so long that the tape lifted and etched it all over.

If it is acid the etched surface will probable look grainy, also as it etches the vertical sides may start to undercut as they are exposed to the acid but I imagine it was not left in to long as the etched surface still has plenty of detail. If they did a good job on it they would have put resist around the circumference of the coin as well otherwise that may show signs of etching also.

The 1 pence looks like it has been etched with acid, the unexposed bits had a resist painted on and then the coin placed in a solution of whatever acid will eat away the unprotected parts. left in just long enough to strip away the first few microns.

I have a question regarding the dot on my 1897 penny. I have been following the thread so decided to have another look at my example and noticed what I think is the start of another dot just to the right of the upper serif of the N. Anyway I wanted to compare my coin with other examples so typed in a search and ended up on the London Coins website where I noticed that some 1909 pennies had a dot in the same position next to the N, there is also a picture of a 1909 with what look to me like a 1897 and a 1909 dot. http://www.londoncoins.co.uk/?page=Pastresults&auc=142&searchlot=2725&searchtype=2 Anyway my question is was the same die used on both coins and as one dot became weaker did the other dot become stronger? I also noticed a dot on the serif on the other side of my N but I figured that may have more to do with damage to the serif than anything else. I think I am going dot crazy. Your thoughts please even if its to tell me to stop looking at dots!

Thanks Azda, I can see what you mean on the 1841 penny, very bright and looks polished but the original quote was for the 1853 penny. Is that bright as well?

As a bit of advice to a novice, could you give some indication as to how you can tell it has been cleaned?

Hi Liam, If you reply back to your own message you will see a text box and in the bottom right hand corner a tab with "insert other media" click this and you should be able to download from your desktop or wherever else you store your photos. There is a 500kb limit so you may have to resize to make it fit. Otherwise create a Flickr account and post the URL in your message. Hope that all makes sense. Also welcome to the forum. Ian

I have the 2015 edition and it works on my iPad no problems. Read it through the Kindle app.

It might just be eyes but the pictures look more like a drawing rather than a photo, maybe photoshop?

My first attempt at Flickr and one of my first attempts at photographing a coin https://www.flickr.com/photos/29132520@N02/?

I am going to take a guess and say they were probably minted by the millions and there are still a lot of them around.

Thanks Frank they look nice. Sorry cannot comment on their value or your other questions. Like your self I am new to collecting but there are lots of helpful people on here who will be able to give you the answer. Again like yourself I have been buying off eBay but have made a promise to myself to start buying from reputable dealers and fairs. If you follow the messages you soon start to see dealers names popping up frequently and its good to view their sites and compare the quality against some of the stuff on eBay. Having said that it's still worth checking eBay for the occasional gem. good hunting. Ian

Hi Frank can you put a link to the coins please so we can have a look.

Thank you once again Nordle for pointing me in the right direction. Happy New Year to you

Hi guys Any chance of explaining what exactly is die clashing and why is it it happening only at this place on the coin and not on other parts? Thanks

Thank you Nordle, that makes a lot of sense. I guess whenever machinery is involved in any form of production then small bits of dirt and grease will find its way onto the item no matter how clean they try to be