Frosting on Proof Decimal Coins.

[bhx7]

I have a query about frosting on proof coins. Does anyone know when it officially started being used in the UK Decimal Proof sets.
Not sure if this has been asked before but doing a little extra research and it will help.

Thanks all

Edited December 22, 2016 by bhx7

[Rob]

1980

[1949threepence]

Much less tendency to tone on the frosted ones, I notice. Not sure why that is. 

[bhx7]

Peculiarly I have found some frosted proofs as early as 1975. 

I have two 1975 proof pennies 1 has the reverse frosted the other is not. The half penny from the first set is also frosted on the reverse.

Edited December 22, 2016 by bhx7

[bhx7]

2 hours ago, Rob said:

1980

I thought the same as you Rob.

[Rob]

I thought 1980 because I have never seen a 1979 frosted proof. Also, the reverse is less easily seen to be frosted whereas the bust is a nice big expanse of relief detail, so maybe the reverses were frosted and the obverses not before this time.

[1949threepence]

1 hour ago, bhx7 said:

Peculiarly I have found some frosted proofs as early as 1975. 

I have two 1975 proof pennies 1 has the reverse frosted the other is not. The half penny from the first set is also frosted on the reverse.

Interesting. I've got all the sets from 1970 to 1990, and on mine the frosting starts on both sides from 1980. Prior to that there is no frosting on either side. But of course, that's only my sets. There may well have been some frosting of earlier specimens as well.    

[bhx7]

I have rechecked all my other sets and it is only the 1975 reverse penny and half penny which are definitely frosted. But my other set is the normal high gloss 70's proof reverse. 

Would be interested to see if other members have the same in their set.

Edited December 23, 2016 by bhx7

[Nutsaboutcoins]

Stop it Brian, my decimal collection was pretty much complete until you started all these shenanigans 

But seriously, great work but I have a lot of varieties to find now.

Ian..

[bhx7]

Didn't want to say Ian but found a few more 

[PWA 1967]

Not having a clue about them.

What is the difference please in frosted or not ?.

[bhx7]

Frosted is where they have used an acid etch to the surface of the design to enable the design to stand out against the mirror like ground. The normal is just all glass like. I will try and take some photos and see if I can capture the differences. 

Cheers

Brian

[1949threepence]

14 minutes ago, PWA 1967 said:

Not having a clue about them.

What is the difference please in frosted or not ?.

The difference being that with frosted, all those parts of the coin other than the field, have a sort of perfect matt finish. 

[1949threepence]

Here's a reasonable close up of one - the 1985 proof set 20p - which shows the effect of frosting relief against the mirror like field. It's only a rough one, as I found it really difficult to avoid glare through the casing. Hopefully Brian can do better than me.

 

  

[bhx7]

I have had the same problems as I am shooting through the plastic. Here is a photo of the frosted proof penny in my 1975 set. Also note the "1" and its width toward the border beads.

Edited December 23, 2016 by bhx7

[bhx7]

Here is the second proof 1975 penny. You will see why I said about the "1" here.

[bhx7]

Here is a close up of the "1" and also some of the portcullis

**The photos do not do either coin justice. Both are proof with no toning and mint state. Just not good at catching proofs, especially not the standard 1970's proof finish!!!!

Edited December 23, 2016 by bhx7

[Rob]

Quite a few differences there. The rims on the right look thicker. The beads on the right look smaller, but that might be an optical illusion. The left hand side of the 1 is in better agreement on the two reverses in relation to the border bead and central vertical of the portcullis than the right hand side of the 1 which appears to be aligned with the right hand side of the central portcullis vertical on the second coin, but nearly in the middle of the gap on the first coin. The position of the border beads to the design detail is different.

Is there a difference in the number of beads? If you drop a vertical from the outside of the terminal ring, the relative position and possibly number count vary by a midge's.

Is the right hand side a filled die given the somewhat uneven surfaces?

[bhx7]

Dave G makes a note of the different ones and serifs in his book but don't think he had anything about frosting or bead count.
I have done a quick count and you are right there are more beads on the standard type (Grooms reverse B ) , 110 in total. The first one which I have found frosted  (Grooms reverse C) has 109. Here is a pic of the 2 straight on.

Edited December 23, 2016 by bhx7

[bhx7]

I also have both types of proof penny for 1973 and 1977 and only type b for 1974 and type c for 1976 all of which are just the high gloss proof. The next I find with any Frosted finish is the 1980 set which shows frosted finishing on both sides of all the coins.

Edited December 23, 2016 by bhx7

[1949threepence]

For what it's worth, and it's nowhere near the quality of Brian's, here is a pic of my 1975 reverse, for comparative purposes. Unfortunately it's quite toned and is actually the worst affected of my1975 coin set. The "1" is obviously more akin to Brian's No 110 above.

 

  

 

 

  

Edited December 23, 2016 by 1949threepence