1897 penny and twopence

[Guest Pete 252]

My sister has these and wants to know their worth, had a quick look on ebay and they seem to be going for about £ 30.00 and £ 50.00 respectively. My concern is whether they are genuine, copper currency would be easy to reproduce nowadays, are there many forgeries of this coinage and what should I look for.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Pete.

[Rob]

I presume you mean 1797 penny and two pence? If so, there are that many about that it would not be worth making them. Peck notes that there were at least two contracts each of 480 tons of pennies and 20 tons of two pences with possibly more. There are well documented modern copies, but for genuine pieces the number available to collectors is such that there is no real shortage other than in the absolute top grade with full lustre. Even these are only going to sell for about a maximum of £1000-1800, - probably too low a value to interest forgers. In low grade the penny is seriously common, the two pence less so given the above ratio of 48:1 based on weight. If you actually meant 1897 pennies, there are huge numbers available in all grades. There is no copper or bronze two pence dated 1897. Unless they are obviously reproductions, they will be genuine. Their value will depend on their grade and ebay is the last place on earth to look for an accurate correlation between grade and market value. The rubbish is usually overpriced and the good stuff - nobody believes it so bids tend to be low. Post a couple of pictures and it should be possible to give a grade and approximate value.

[Jamesred]

I have a 2 pence and a manx 1 pence i will post obverse and reverse for each coin. I am a beginner in all of this and i would say that my coins are above VF. What do u think?

[Jamesred]

Obverse 1797

[Jamesred]

Manx Penny

[Jamesred]

Manx Obverse

[Jamesred]

Many thanx for any advice given, if it weren't for here id have made a lot of mistakes.

James

[Peter]

Both coins appear to be in less than fine condition.

Whether the Isle of Man coin is a halfpenny or penny it makes little difference to its value.

On Ebay quite frankly anything over £10 each would be a result.There are plenty of mugs out there.

[Jamesred]

MMmmm Dont fancy stickin them on there!

My question was to get an idea of what i thought the grade was so i was far off... ahh well i will just keep to what i know best.

Still i think i got a couple of good coins.

[mint_mark]

You have to see a lot of coins to get a feel for grading... and then it's still subjective. Until you've a really good example of a design then it's hard to appreciate what has worn away! Each design has tell tale areas that show the wear first...