1916 George V penny

[thedigger]

Here is a 1916 George V penny which i think the front can be seen slightly on the back?

The back of the coin is a lot more shiney than the front...is it possible that the back has in its life been cleaned, if so has this destroyed the coin?

Is this a common problem or as im going through these coins am i getting too picky by trying to find "that all elusive coin"

While im asking so many questions...I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those that have taken the the time to answere every question ive posted so far..cheers

[Peter]

Its called ghosting and effected bronze coins until the metal mixture was changed in the 20's to prevent this....keep looking.

Regards

Peter

[Peckris]

Actually this was a HUGE problem for the Royal Mint from 1911 to 1925/6, when they changed the obverse effigy to cure it. It affected every denomination, but can be seen most clearly on silver shillings and sixpences, bronze pennies and halfpennies. The reason for it is that the portrait was designed in high relief, and occupies most of the area of the obverse. Consequently when the dies struck, the force of the blow ensured that the amount of metal that was displaced for the obverse had the effect of "drawing out" metal, affecting the reverse and giving rise to this "ghosting" effect. (It's most evident where the reverse features a shallow rim and fairly shallow overall design - the halfcrowns, where the reverse design is fairly strong and the coin thickness is comparatively wide, don't show it.)

If you collect George V you will see a lot of this.

[scott]

yup, i have it on a 1935 as well, and a 47 but meh

and yes its pretty common