Penny Acquisition of the week

[Peckris 2]

5 hours ago, The Bee said:

The first is the ONE from the reverse of an 1873 penny. I wondered if the E had been repaired with an F, or whether there was just damage to base of the E ? (nice penny whether damaged or repaired)

 

 

I would doubt it, for the simple reason that an F would still have its bottom serif. My thought is that it's either die damage or a slight misstrike.

[Martinminerva]

11 hours ago, Peckris 2 said:

I would doubt it, for the simple reason that an F would still have its bottom serif. My thought is that it's either die damage

I agree. There is clearly damage with the die crack and resulting blob of metal in the O so it is likely that the E has suffered damage too, maybe abrasion? Again, it is just possible a partial hand-repair has been done as was mentioned on one of your halfpennies, but can't be conclusive from this pic. A high resolution enlargement, if you can do one, might help, but Peckris is right that an actual F punch would have a bottom serif.

I think your 1854 halfpenny on the previous page is just the result of corrosion - maybe a cleaned detector find out of the ground. Acids in the soil cause all sorts of pits, blobs and effects to the metal. As an occasional detectorist myself, I have found many once-nice coins sadly similarly affected.

Edited December 28, 2024 by Martinminerva

[The Bee]

Many thanks again for your help 

I will return the halfpenny to the discard pile ! I will have a closer at the Penny. I am sure you are a both right, it is most likely damage, probably random abrasion. Peckris is absolutely right, it can't be an F as there isn't a trace of a serif, even an upside down L wouldn't fit (had one been available)

Very Best Regards

 

[alfnail]

[PWA 1967]

1 hour ago, alfnail said:

Going to end up common and anyone that wants one already have one soon 👍

Edited December 31, 2024 by PWA 1967

[secret santa]

1 hour ago, PWA 1967 said:

Going to end up common

I've still got only 18 of them as yet. Just added this one (with credit to Ian)

[PWA 1967]

33 minutes ago, secret santa said:

I've still got only 18 of them as yet. Just added this one (with credit to Ian)

Yes didn’t realise there was two types of F24 👍 Not knowing is the only difference the leaf or any other indicator please ?                                   Can ignore this as just looked on the website 👍

Edited December 31, 2024 by PWA 1967

[alfnail]

Yes, it is F24 with top leaf present, as per pictures below.

Interesting that in MG's book he says '2 Known' with top leaf, and '7 Known' without top leaf, whereas Richard's website shows more examples of type with top leaf.

I will be selling this F24 as I have a high grade F32 which will do me for my collection.

If anyone is interested in having the F24 please feel free to message me. For reference (£), I think it is similar grade to the one sold at London Coins in June 2017. 

[Mr T]

On 1/1/2025 at 12:51 AM, PWA 1967 said:

Yes didn’t realise there was two types of F24 👍 Not knowing is the only difference the leaf or any other indicator please ?                                   Can ignore this as just looked on the website 👍

Yes I don't remember this one either - filled die I'm guessing?

[Mr T]

Is there a .pdf of the Bernard Workman Collection auction available by any chance? I found https://auctions.sovr.co.uk/index.php?option=com_timed_auction&auction_id=26 but wanted something more offline.

[Bernie]

20 hours ago, Mr T said:

Is there a .pdf of the Bernard Workman Collection auction available by any chance? I found https://auctions.sovr.co.uk/index.php?option=com_timed_auction&auction_id=26 but wanted something more offline.

Auction details of collection, starting at page 11, lot 186 online.

Sovereign Rarities

Edited February 2 by Bernie
Missed info

[jelida]

A nice penny from Ebay, 34 Euro including postage. Considerable residual lustre that doesnt seem to show in the pics - nicer in the hand!

Jerry

[jelida]

And I was surprised to spot this in a little tub of coins in my local auction at the weekend; somebody else must have too, as it went for £170 plus commission. But a bargain I think.

Jerry

[PWA 1967]

They were two good buys Jerry, well spotted 👍.

[secret santa]

On 2/2/2025 at 12:14 AM, Mr T said:

Is there a .pdf of the Bernard Workman Collection auction available by any chance?

Steve Hill of Sovereign rarities sent me a nice 4 page Word document containing pictures of most of the coins as a pre-auction publicity release. If you let me have your email address, I'll mail it to you.

[Rob]

There was a printed catalogue of the pennies only. They might still have some copies if you ask.

[Mr T]

Excellent, will do secret santa.

I'll look into that Rob though hopefully being in Australia won't an issue.

Thanks all.

[alfnail]

Have been looking for a decent one of these on ebay for years.

Have only seen a couple of lower grade ones, and I'm thinking the variety is 'rare', rather than 'scarce' as per Gouby.

 

[PWA 1967]

I think there are a couple of date types in Gouby that are rare rather than scarce and maybe not knowing how many will turn up in the future.Most that are scarce in low grade will be much harder ( rare) in higher grades, 1890 being one of them 👍.

[Peckris 2]

On 10/12/2025 at 12:21 PM, alfnail said:

Have been looking for a decent one of these on ebay for years.

Have only seen a couple of lower grade ones, and I'm thinking the variety is 'rare', rather than 'scarce' as per Gouby.

I'm surprised - I find that 1887, 1889-1892 are by far the most common buns even in high grade.

[alfnail]

I believe there is also a rare 1890 date variety which is not documented by Gouby.

The 9 is clearly higher than the numeral 8. It also seems to be rotated clockwise a little and, perhaps, has a longer tail. 

[Peckris 2]

Ah, you're talking about varieties (the post above didn't mention that)? The regular 1890 is as common as muck.

[blakeyboy]

i've been looking for a good 1890 'dropped 90' for ages.

My only example is a VG one found for me by Mike Hopkins....

[secret santa]

I bought an F33 with I over I in BRITT at Noonan's last week.

It's my second example, but with a different overstrike:

And the previous one: