1862 R over R (in Victoria) 1862 uk penny ?

[john brannen]

Hello,

Last week I went on The Beginners section in relation to a possible R over R (in Victoria) 1862 uk penny.

Secret Santa very kindly replied to my enquiry stating that the R anomoly was in fact, a die repair and not 'a variety'.

As a new coin enthusiast can anyone kindly help me with confirming what this should be called....?

Thankyou for any help.

John B 

 

[Paddy]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum!

The varieties and micro-varieties of pennies are a hot topic here, and there is often hot debate as to which is which. It is not really my area of collecting, but as I understand it, a "Variety" is when there has been a change in the design or layout of the dies.
What you have might be called a "micro-variety" where an existing die has been repaired by re-entering damaged or misplaced letters or numbers. During the Victorian era this happened a great deal, so there are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples around. They are collected by the enthusiasts, but generally do not warrant a separate mention in the books. (With exceptions!)
There are also "die faults" where cracks or dents in the dies result in anomalies. These are also not really varieties (though some have been listed as such in the past) but are still collected by some.

Varieties generally have assigned rarity levels and so prices. Micro-varieties and die faults are much more difficult to value as it depends on finding a collector who wants them.