Sleepy

Thanks for replying VS. I have recently got hold of a 1953 set and was surprised to find that the obverse portraits appear to be frosted. Both Davies and ESC seem to say that the frosted coins are VIP proofs. I sometimes think my eyes are playing tricks but I have compared them with other proof coins and they do look frosted.

Can anyone confirm if all of the 1953 proof sets (crown to farthing) had a frosted design or only the VIP sets? Regards Phill

He's after a grand but only going to dispatch it 2nd class letter lol.

Looks cast to me!

Has anyone got a copy of David Grooms book on British Silver Coins, and does it add anything to the above conversation. I've stared at the images until I've gone cross eyed and I can't see any difference between the 2 images.

killjoys, not sure where that came from, I'm sure they don't have auto correct on the forum??

What a bunch of Christmas hilljoys!!

Davies also says the 1928 2B should rock if placed head down on a flat surface due to the high relief, have you tried that Paddy?

Thanks Paddy that's a really useful resource. Does beg the question though why everyone is casing the 2009 kew 50p and not the 1992 single market which had nearly half the mintage?

He appears to be doing a better job than the RM in noticing and highlighting fakes to the public!

I have a 1857 shilling in much the same condition as yours both A's in Britannia are uncrossed plus one in GRATIA there are also strange blobs growing on some of the letters, I just think it's die wear, neither ESC or Davies list such varieties.

Sorry I never replied about this topic but I have been away for 4 months with very poor/no internet. My BoI 6 shillings is a fake found this one on ebay just before I went away. If you look carefully it's an exact copy of the one I acquired (minus the scratch on the cheek) at least this one was labeled honestly as a copy, think it was a US seller. Feel sorry for my Father who brought it for me, at a general auction, a couple of years back for book price, I had peaked his interest a few weeks earlier after chatting about the history of the Bank Token series. Other giveaways its fake, it is the same weight and diameter as the genuine item but is noticeably thicker by approx 0.5 mm. Thanks for all your replies guys which made me look harder. Phill

As promised the coin

My mistake Rob the BoE 5/ has a plain edge, I thought it had a milled edge from looking at my photos, but on inspection after removing it from storage it has a plain edge. I shall post photos of the BoI later, for any interested parties later it has very clean fields with no evidence of any underlying 8 Reale, but the highlights on Obverse and Reverse are well worn so don't think it ever circulated much but was handled a lot.

I have just acquired a BoI 6 Shilling Bank token could anyone tell whether it should have a plain or milled edge, the BoE 5 Shilling Token, I have, has a milled edge but the BoI I have has a plain edge. I've looked on the net but can't find any pictures that show this very well.

That proof shilling is a beauty, and it answers a thought I was having about my type B being a proof that fell on hard times, it has that bluey golden toning that you see on proofs, but now I can see from the detail shown on the proof that mine is no way near.

And here's the other 2 for comparison.

We did the 1887 Sixpences a couple of weeks back, so how about moving on to the 1887 Shillings. Could anyone confirm or not whether this is a 1887 Shilling with the Large Garter and Q with almost no tail, Davies 981. I have the other 2 mentioned by Davies the looped tailed Q and long tailed Q 980 and 982. I was also wondering if there any other varieties not mentioned by Davies.

Mine looks very similar to yours, always wondered if there was something else in there?

I thought coins used to be issued in paper mint rolls, or is that what the banks subsequently put them in? Something like this. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352339297334

and lastly a WH Sixpence

a NH Sixpence

Start with a Shilling

The grade of my HC I shall bow down to the more knowledgeable within the forum, however the coin IMO is not dipped, despite what the best efforts of my really rubbish picture show. I would say it still has just about full luster judging from the cartwheel effect the coin displays when held under a glancing light.

I use a Database called Collectany, if you search around on the Forum you should find some references to it. It is pretty straight forward to set up provided you think about what you want at the beginning and the main reason I use it you can stick pictures into the fields.