The most annoying, unfounded rumour this year!

[Guest Guest_Chris]

I believe it was a program on the BBC Thursday 18th June. What was the presenter/guests name that started it?

On behalf of all coin dealers I'd like a public appology!!

[Guest lynne mcgrath]

I believe it was a program on the BBC Thursday 18th June. What was the presenter/guests name that started it?

On behalf of all coin dealers I'd like a public appology!!

it was trading treasures on bbc1

[Guest Guest_Chris]

Thanks Lynne, but does anyone know the presenters name?

[Guest Karl - Wales]

Why would the "experts" on tv , have us belive that the two pence coin with the NEW PENCE stamp

and dated 1978 is worth a lot more than face value

( £70, If Im not mistaken , as i seen the programme in question ).

As they were wrong and misleading, I think an apology wouldnt hurt anyone at the beeb, except a few ego's .

karl blake. (sigh , back to work)!

[Guest Jos]

I also have a NEW PENCE 2p coin dated 1971. Is it worth anything.

Jos

jossmyth@yahoo.com

[Chris Perkins]

No!

Read the link from the front page of the site.

Chris

www.predecimal.com

[Guest Guest]

I believe it was a program on the BBC Thursday 18th June. What was the presenter/guests name that started it?

On behalf of all coin dealers I'd like a public appology!!

nice one people solved my 2p question, but ill be checking my spare change from now on i think.

[Guest darkmast2]

Does anyone know exactly how many of them were made ?

I know they were made to go into year sets and probably a lot of them are still with their original set.

[Chris Perkins]

I heard there were only 450 of the very rare 1983 with 'New Pence' coins, but as it was an error I would imagine there is no accurate figure.

Over half a million 1983's were produced for sets.

Chris

www.predecimal.com

[Guest darkmast2]

Hmm not all that many really so you'd have to be lucky to actually get your hands on one. I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled around sales etc

[Chris Perkins]

I calculated the minimum odds of getting one are around 1 in 14,000,000 but because many collectors already have the rare ones in collections it's probably more like 1 in 100,000,000 which is probably less likely than the second coming of Jesus Christ, and certainly less likely than winning the lottery.

Chris

www.predecimal.com

[Sylvester]

More likely to come across a 1988 £1 coin! Funny how no ones heard about those though, not rare by any means but definately scarce. (Lowest mintage by far...a future investment?)

Sylvester.

[Chris Perkins]

I do remember a little bit of a thing about those 1988 Pound coins, and remember hearing that people were keeping them at the time.

That took 15 years for the public to forget, I hope the bloody 2p rumour runs its course much quicker, or i'll go completely mad.

Will just update the position of my 2p article link!

Chris

www.predecimal.com

[Guest Helen_I'm_a_Guest]

re the 2p coin. The programme the rumour started on was Bargain Hunt. I don't know the presenter's name but he is the one with the dark glasses and dark hair with the gap between his teeth.

[Sylvester]

Not David Dickinson! Surely not? This guy knows EVERYTHING about antiques!

Alright he does know his stuff, but i don't think coins are his strong point, but it is a good programme. I really thought he would have made sure the info was correct before broadcasting it.

Suddenly all my cousins are now raiding my grandmother's copper jar to see if there are any 1983 two pences with the new pence lettering, my uncle was kind enough to inform me of this rarity, whereby i informed him that his kids needn't bother looking in the tin because i've been checking it every saturday for the last five years just in case! (That was amusing, seeing the look on their faces!)

Actually i'd already taken all the machin head portrait copper coins so i knew their search was fruitless (and the chances of an 1983 old word one turning up are even rarer).

Three reasons why i hoard all the machin stuff, well firstly i like the design, secondly it helps me save quite a bit and i do it with this end in mind (like £2 coins), and thirdly i'm on the look out for any 1972 proofs that might turn up...why well despite the lack of value it'd be nice to see if any escaped the proof sets.

Oh and a fourth reason is just a little experiment on my part to see which dates crop up most often...in the 2p range i think it would have to be from most encountered to least encountered...1971 (billions of the things), 1979, 1981, 1980, 1978, 1975, 1977 and lastly 1976. (72-74, 82-84 not issued and i haven't come across any of these yet). I have a feeling 1985 was a smaller mintage though? but is a Maklouf portrait and i'm not that keen on this one, haven't made my mind up whether it's better than the current one yet though?

Pennies a bit harder but, 1971 is the most frequent, '83 and '84 are major players (so to speak), mid 70s stuff not quite as common as the later 70s stuff, and 1982 is the year i see least of.

I also check all the 10p's too.

Sylvester.

[Emperor Oli]

Slightly off-topic but David Dickinson was convicted of fraud so one really shouldn't believe what he says!

[Chris Perkins]

Was he really! Well i never, and he seemed such a nice chap.

Chris

[Guest caroline]

I believe it was a program on the BBC Thursday 18th June. What was the presenter/guests name that started it?

On behalf of all coin dealers I'd like a public appology!!

Is it true and what is the 1983 worth. people have the right to know whether its true or not .

[Chris Perkins]

Yes it is true for the 1983 'New Pence' coin. Some say there were only 20 error coins made, although I imagine the exact numbers are not known.

I certainly have no intention to hide the facts from the public, and in an attempt to stop people annoying me about it (not you of course) wrote about it at length, as you'll see on this page:

http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm

Which is linked to from the top of the home page, and has been for some time.

Chris Perkins

www.predecimal.com

[Emperor Oli]

This topic just drags on and on and on and on and on and on and on - people should read the info on the site!

[Chris Perkins]

Thankyou Olli!!

I still get bloody emails about it. I think i'll start ignoring them now. If people don't see the huge link on the top of the front page I will take no time in pointing them to it.

Chris

[Chris Perkins]

Just to put an end to this one (hopefully)...

The programme that started people emailing about their bloody 2 pees on the BBC did state correctly that it was the 1983 Two pence with 'New Pence' on it that is the rare one. Perhaps the programme should have made clearer that none of the other are rare or valuable, but it didn't.

So it seems that the Great British public must be either completely stupid to think on average 3-5 of the 2 pees in their pockets are worth £400 each, or the story seems to have evolved in a Chinese whisper style.

'My brother told me 2 pees from 1983 with 'new pence' on were rare, he saw it on the telly'. 'I told my Mum, Dad and 6 friends all 2 pees with 'new pence' on them were rare, because I couldn't remember the date and it probably doesn't matter, my brother saw it on the telly so it must be true!'. Those 8 people with the wrong information told 10 people per week, and those 10 people told another 10 people the following week.

But just to make absolutely sure, those 800 people within 2 weeks that have the wrong information decide to look on the internet to see if the rumour is true....Just to make sure that this months mortgage payment or the years car insurance can actually be paid of with a special rare 2 pee that each of the 800 people coincidently own at least 5 of...

Those 800 people find my website and about 600 of them are observant enough to see the link on the top of the home page that points at the correct information about the 2 pee rumour that I posted there about a week after the rumour started. What about the other 200 people?

The other 200 people are far too concerned by the fact that their 2 pees MUST be worth almost £1000 that in the whipped up frenzy they don't really look at my site, they don't read it, they don't notice the bloody link at the top of the main page. Instead they grab my email address from the contact area, or they use the message facility on the site, and they write me a charming email....

'i have 5 of those rare 2 pees how much will you give me for them?'

At first my replies were quite polite: 'I'm sorry, it's only the 1983 2p with 'New Pence' on it that's rare, see here:

http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm

After about 50, my replies were along the lines of: 'I'll give you 10p for them! They aren't worth anything more than 2p, see here:

http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm

That's about as sarcastic as it got and after 100 or more what I really meant to say was: 'What are you talking about? They made 100's of millions of the bloody things. Did you not see the link at the top of my home page? Your coins are worth 10p.

What are the chances 10p can suddenly turn into £1,500? The information is on the site, read it, leave me alone!'.

So for those of you that still think your 2 pees are worth £300, SEE HERE:

http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm

Or i'm likely to get very nasty!

Chris

www.predecimal.com

[Sylvester]

Just to put an end to this one (hopefully)...

The programme that started people emailing about their bloody 2 pees on the BBC did state correctly that it was the 1983 Two pence with 'New Pence' on it that is the rare one. Perhaps the programme should have made clearer that none of the other are rare or valuable, but it didn't.

So it seems that the Great British public must be either completely stupid to think on average 3-5 of the 2 pees in their pockets are worth £400 each, or the story seems to have evolved in a Chinese whisper style.

'My brother told me 2 pees from 1983 with 'new pence' on were rare, he saw it on the telly'. 'I told my Mum, Dad and 6 friends all 2 pees with 'new pence' on them were rare, because I couldn't remember the date and it probably doesn't matter, my brother saw it on the telly so it must be true!'. Those 8 people with the wrong information told 10 people per week, and those 10 people told another 10 people the following week.

But just to make absolutely sure, those 800 people within 2 weeks that have the wrong information decide to look on the internet to see if the rumour is true....Just to make sure that this months mortgage payment or the years car insurance can actually be paid of with a special rare 2 pee that each of the 800 people coincidently own at least 5 of...

Those 800 people find my website and about 600 of them are observant enough to see the link on the top of the home page that points at the correct information about the 2 pee rumour that I posted there about a week after the rumour started. What about the other 200 people?

The other 200 people are far too concerned by the fact that their 2 pees MUST be worth almost £1000 that in the whipped up frenzy they don't really look at my site, they don't read it, they don't notice the bloody link at the top of the main page. Instead they grab my email address from the contact area, or they use the message facility on the site, and they write me a charming email....

'i have 5 of those rare 2 pees how much will you give me for them?'

At first my replies were quite polite: 'I'm sorry, it's only the 1983 2p with 'New Pence' on it that's rare, see here:

http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm

After about 50, my replies were along the lines of: 'I'll give you 10p for them! They aren't worth anything more than 2p, see here:

http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm

That's about as sarcastic as it got and after 100 or more what I really meant to say was: 'What are you talking about? They made 100's of millions of the bloody things. Did you not see the link at the top of my home page? Your coins are worth 10p.

What are the chances 10p can suddenly turn into £1,500? The information is on the site, read it, leave me alone!'.

So for those of you that still think your 2 pees are worth £300, SEE HERE:

http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm

Or i'm likely to get very nasty!

Chris

www.predecimal.com

Well Chris as i once read regarding the 1997 £2, and i suppose you could also do this with the 2p 'new pence' coins...

Next time someone asks tell them you have a 'new pence' coin and you are willing to sell it to them for £20, the amount of 'believers' that think that the 'new pence' coins are worth a fortune will suddenly become sceptical once they realise that they are not getting something for nothing, and will not part with the £20 mark my words...

Then again you also get so of the persistant types that if you offered to sell them one for £20, they'd offer you £30 for being so generous and insist that you take it. Some people are just born mugs...

Sylvester.