Charles II (1st bust) 1 Crown How would you grade this?

[Citizen H]

So the reason of asking is if a coin is rare its condition goes by the side a little...

this crown although its seen circulation is in quite good condition.... details are legible and minor rubbing...

where would this Crown sit on the grade scale? 

 

 

[Martinminerva]

2 hours ago, Citizen H said:

where would this Crown sit on the grade scale?

A solid Fine for me.

[Paddy]

I think I would have to give a split grading - "aF" on the obverse but "nVF" on the reverse.

[Sword]

I would say Fine, reverse better

[Coinery]

Forgetting the grade, the good thing about it for me is that there are no major digs or edge knocks/bruises, etc., making it a collectable fine too. Potentially your most valuable coin to-date?

[pokal02]

Fine for me too.

[Citizen H]

10 hours ago, Coinery said:

Forgetting the grade, the good thing about it for me is that there are no major digs or edge knocks/bruises, etc., making it a collectable fine too. Potentially your most valuable coin to-date?

Many Thanks for the input, during the early days when I joined the forum I asked about values but now realise establishing what I have and its condition / grade is more important... Its really appreciated that more experienced collectors are helping out as I work through my hoard... this will be a keep. 👍      

[Peckris 2]

Good Fair / Fine + 

There's not enough hair detail on the obverse to rate as F 

[Rob]

The problem with all lower grades is that it is subject to the degree of dishing to the flan. The dies always seem to have a more dished reverse (probably by design to see the date (as opposed to the monarch which is easily discernible from the profile. The less dishing, the more even the wear. Whatever, Fine for me too on the obverse, the reverse inevitably better - say good Fine or nVF.

Edited March 20 by Rob

[Citizen H]

As I work through the Hoard rather than start a new topic I thought Id ask the same question,

Edward the VII only had one Crown coin...this one Ive not cleaned / washed, left well alone,

the tarnish is patchy and its seen some circulation knocks to the edges, grade wise where would this sit? 

 

 

[wlewisiii]

Good practice for me. I dug out my copy of The Standard Guide and looked at it and you pictures. 

I think that I'd call it (UK system) GF or just shy of (US) VF.

The obverse shows a flattened ear but you can still see the front and rear edge of the bald spot.

The reverse seems a bit more worn - the rein is disappearing on the neck but the sword is still quite clear. Lots of the high points having been hit.

Anyone else think I'm off my rocker? (Or should I grab one of my 1935 crowns and get on one? 🤣)

[Peckris 2]

I'd agree - the reverse is no better than GF, but the obverse (under the tarnish) looks better; it's not easy to tell but I'd say AVF?

[Citizen H]

9 hours ago, Peckris 2 said:

I'd agree - the reverse is no better than GF, but the obverse (under the tarnish) looks better; it's not easy to tell but I'd say AVF?

many Thanks, I was surprised to find it and I did look it up, I didn't realise Edward VII only had the one Crown Coin, its been tempting to wash it.....for now I've managed to resist the temptation.... all the very best "H"   👍 

[Peckris 2]

1 hour ago, Citizen H said:

many Thanks, I was surprised to find it and I did look it up, I didn't realise Edward VII only had the one Crown Coin, its been tempting to wash it.....for now I've managed to resist the temptation.... all the very best "H"   👍 

It was the very last year that Crowns were issued for general currency. Arguably it too might only have been a commemorative, but you could argue either way as 1901 was definitely currency.

[wlewisiii]

Well, 1900 was currency. There was no 1901 crown.

My understanding is that, much like in the US, people just didn't want to carry around the weight of the 25 g. coins. Here the casinos are the main reason they were in production as long as they were and were a big influence on the introduction of the Eisenhower dollar in 1971. 

Using the crown as the basis of a commemorative denomination was probably the best thing that happened to the coin. 

 

Of course, I don't tend to think they're too heavy ...

Or too bulky... 

But then most things are paid for by me with the funny plastic card rather than from a bag of silver coins ...  

[Citizen H]

4 minutes ago, Peckris 2 said:

It was the very last year that Crowns were issued for general currency. Arguably it too might only have been a commemorative, but you could argue either way as 1901 was definitely currency.

🤔 this one looks like its been used 🤣 £50.66 in scrap prices value....I did read that mintage was 256 000, proofs 15 000,

I did just read that Years GV 1927-1936 

Generally struck late in the year according to demand and intended to be purchased as Christmas gifts, they did not circulate well, due to the low mintage.

Proofs for all dates exist but are extremely rare, with no known mintage figures, as they were for V.I.P issue.

This coin was not included in demonetization legislation when decimalization was introduced in 1971. It has been confirmed by the Royal Mint that the coin remains legal tender, having been remonetized with a value of 25 pence........all good stuff 👍

[Citizen H]

12 minutes ago, wlewisiii said:

Well, 1900 was currency. There was no 1901 crown.

My understanding is that, much like in the US, people just didn't want to carry around the weight of the 25 g. coins. Here the casinos are the main reason they were in production as long as they were and were a big influence on the introduction of the Eisenhower dollar in 1971. 

Using the crown as the basis of a commemorative denomination was probably the best thing that happened to the coin. 

 

Of course, I don't tend to think they're too heavy ...

Or too bulky... 

But then most things are paid for by me with the funny plastic card rather than from a bag of silver coins ...  

I had a chat the other day about these things..... payment on phones and plastic cards....by 2030 all coins are obsolete....black market etc still use coins... old silver / gold coins come into own and put back into service...could this be why I started hoarding 30 odd years ago? 🤔 always good to have a plan B,....C,D,E...etc etc etc....  

Edited 5 hours ago by Citizen H

[Peckris 2]

11 minutes ago, wlewisiii said:

Well, 1900 was currency. There was no 1901 crown.

Yeah, my bad - though the 1900 mintage was twice as high as the previous two years; theory: after Victoria died, they decided to use up the 1900 dies and carried on minting with them in 1901. That would indicate that if she hadn't died, there would have been currency crowns in 1901 and maybe 1902 if she'd gone on that long?

[wlewisiii]

That's a good point and probably the truth of the matter. I still wish the Double Florin had been more successful, too. 

[Citizen H]

1 hour ago, wlewisiii said:

That's a good point and probably the truth of the matter. I still wish the Double Florin had been more successful, too. 

Ah yes... double florins

produced by the Royal Mint from 1887 to 1890, coinciding with Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. It was one of the shortest-lived coin denominations, struck only for four years. 👍

[Rob]

25 minutes ago, wlewisiii said:

That's a good point and probably the truth of the matter. I still wish the Double Florin had been more successful, too. 

A lot of bar workers wouldn't. That's why they stopped using them as were frequently passed off as a crown at a financial loss to the barmaid through deductions in her wages.

A sort of play on an anecdote I experienced on more than one occasion whereby an old landlady in a pub in Oldham which did a particularly nice pint of Oldham bitter, had a terrible habit of giving you £4.02 change for a pound note after you had bought 7 pints which cost 14p a pint at the time. This is 50 years ago and she is long dead, but everyone remembered her for her reputation, even in a conversation with a local I had a couple years ago! I wish I could remember the name of it, but is probably long demolished - or a fast food outlet.

[wlewisiii]

Reminds me what I have read that in the old west, a beer would cost one bit or 12.5 cents but because of the lack of change in many places and the use of bits (8 sections of a cut dollar from the Spanish 8 Reals or Piece of 8 ) you could buy your first drink with a quarter (i.e. two bits), the bartender would give you a dime back, and you would buy your next drink with a dime, so all things became even.  

[Paddy]

1 hour ago, wlewisiii said:

That's a good point and probably the truth of the matter. I still wish the Double Florin had been more successful, too. 

Not only did the Double Florin prove unpopular at the time, it still seems unpopular now. Whereas a Victoria crown in reasonable condition will make much more than melt, a similar double florin can still be picked up at scrap or even less here in the UK. Anyone looking to make a long term investment in silver would do well to keep an eye out for cheap DFs at the moment.

[wlewisiii]

WIsh they were that cheap in the US! 🤣

Quite a bit over melt when I actually see one. 

They weren't very well liked and had real issues but I just like big silver coins 😎

 

[pokal02]

Seems strange that double florins were introduced into currency at the same time as crowns were re-introduced (no currency crowns since 1822 other than the 1844/45/47's) - any ideas why?