Sleepy

It's a Lightning II, it says so on the coin, look up F-35 on Wiki and it will all become clear.

The W&M is a beauty.

I think they may have spent too long in silver dip which gives a sort of powdery coating to the coin.

Snobby London bias??

Young engineering apprentices messing about.

I still have a 1976 Coin Year Book that recommends lacquering coins in it's coin care section!!

Certainly better than a few I've got!

Only just noticed this thread so sorry about the late reply. In Linecar's "The Crown Pieces of Great Britain" he lists a 1930 Bombay Trade Dollar No 205.

The border on the reverse reminds of the trade dollar!

Not really my thing but some hard work and good research!

Must agree can't see anything to suggest a 9 over 8.

The thing is I don't even think the vendor is trying to be untruthful, I just think he is being stupid, a bit like the person who slabbed the coin in the first place.

Thanks a lot Rob, as per normal you always come up trumps, the difference is very subtle I think I would need this picture in front of me before making a decision. Gone through mine and they are all the same as the right example, another coin to look out for lol.

Whilst we are on the subject Davies mentions that there are 2 different reverses the CH's are thinner, don't suppose anyone can put a photo of the 2 examples up to compare?

She sounds as mad as a hatter, or should that be the Queen of Hearts?

The typography looks very similar to the advertisements scripts of that era.

A great resource Declan, the pictures are so much clearer than those in Davies, wish Chris would do a re-edition of Davies similar to the one done with Freemans!

ESC is English Silver Coinage since 1649, it is the standard reference for this period, the latest 6th edition by Maurice Bull is available.

I just happened to have ESC opened near the right page when I read this post, your half groat is the first milled issue of Maundy Money referred as a undated Type C ESC2167A. The other undated types, D, F and B (don't ask what happened to A and E) have a & instead of ET. Don't take the term Maundy Money to literally for this period it is just a general term for small silver change.

and a nice looking coin John wouldn't go anywhere near it with dip!

I've seen this on many pictures of coins from this era,never realized it had a name, always wondered what caused it??

Looking at my own 1820 example it looks like the E's of PENCE have a few issues, so it might have been a common problem with this type. A better in focus photo would of course have helped.

I know next to nothing about siege pieces so my opinion means very little, but I think Robs article makes a very relevant point, why bother minting them when your stuck in a castle with nowhere to spend your wages.

Although the York and Lancaster's are considered "cadet branches" of the Plantagenet's they are as much Plantagenet's as the main line, they were both directly related to Edward III, and if they had surnames in those days and it was Plantagenet then it would be Plantagenet. It must be remembered that the name Plantagenet wasn't used until Richard of York, the father of Edward IV, started using the name as a way of subtly emphasizing his claim to the throne, and he hadn't murdered anyone, yet. By the end of the war of the roses the 2 had wiped out just about every legitimate claimant and Henry Tudors claim was via an illegitimate female line from John of Gaunt.

Because yours is an earlier coin, it is marked 1982 on the rocks below the lighthouse, you'll also notice it has a younger version of the Queens head on it compared to more recent versions.