1888 Four Pence

[jaggy]

So ... here is the story.

A few years ago my mother, knowing that I was interested in coins, gave me an old brown envelope with a few of them in there. I looked at the contents ... mainly some silver threepence, a couple of GVI sixpences, etc. and didn't pay too much attention to it.

As I have said in a couple of other posts, I have come back to my coin collection after around 15 years. So yesterday I was looking through all my 'odd' coins and came across the old brown envelope. And I saw this coin and said to myself "is that a proof threepence". But, on closer inspection, it turned out to be the four pence. So I grabbed my ESC and my copy of CCGB and, lo and behold, I have a fairly unusual coin given that they were destined for British Guiana.

And I have no idea where my mother got it from. Maybe out of a Christmas pudding.

[Nick]

So ... here is the story.

A few years ago my mother, knowing that I was interested in coins, gave me an old brown envelope with a few of them in there. I looked at the contents ... mainly some silver threepence, a couple of GVI sixpences, etc. and didn't pay too much attention to it.

As I have said in a couple of other posts, I have come back to my coin collection after around 15 years. So yesterday I was looking through all my 'odd' coins and came across the old brown envelope. And I saw this coin and said to myself "is that a proof threepence". But, on closer inspection, it turned out to be the four pence. So I grabbed my ESC and my copy of CCGB and, lo and behold, I have a fairly unusual coin given that they were destined for British Guiana.

And I have no idea where my mother got it from. Maybe out of a Christmas pudding.

They do seem to turn up in auctions pretty regularly (and in fairly high grades too). I don't know whether they all ended up in South America or not, but if they did, more than their fair share have made the return journey.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Nick

[scott]

i got one by luck off Ebay in a bulk buy, (only the obverse was shown for that one) very nice, but holed

[1887jubilee]

My 1888 four pence is a bit of a novelty as it is dated 1887. We know that no 4d pieces were issued for 1887 so I have to assume this enameled one must be an 1888 that has been altered for some reason. Unless anyone knows of 1887 with the same reverse.

[Red Riley]

So ... here is the story.

A few years ago my mother, knowing that I was interested in coins, gave me an old brown envelope with a few of them in there. I looked at the contents ... mainly some silver threepence, a couple of GVI sixpences, etc. and didn't pay too much attention to it.

As I have said in a couple of other posts, I have come back to my coin collection after around 15 years. So yesterday I was looking through all my 'odd' coins and came across the old brown envelope. And I saw this coin and said to myself "is that a proof threepence". But, on closer inspection, it turned out to be the four pence. So I grabbed my ESC and my copy of CCGB and, lo and behold, I have a fairly unusual coin given that they were destined for British Guiana.

Actually they do come up quite often, usually in high grade as do a lot of these late colonials (1902 and 1913 1/3 farthings being cases in point). Seems most were just put aside as curiosities and hence the survival rate is high. Spink in my opinion seriously overvalues them at £80 (EF) and £185 (Unc.). That's the bad news though, yours looks at least EF and seems to be nicely toned, so imho a nice thing to have even if it's not worth a fortune.

[jaggy]

So ... here is the story.

A few years ago my mother, knowing that I was interested in coins, gave me an old brown envelope with a few of them in there. I looked at the contents ... mainly some silver threepence, a couple of GVI sixpences, etc. and didn't pay too much attention to it.

As I have said in a couple of other posts, I have come back to my coin collection after around 15 years. So yesterday I was looking through all my 'odd' coins and came across the old brown envelope. And I saw this coin and said to myself "is that a proof threepence". But, on closer inspection, it turned out to be the four pence. So I grabbed my ESC and my copy of CCGB and, lo and behold, I have a fairly unusual coin given that they were destined for British Guiana.

Actually they do come up quite often, usually in high grade as do a lot of these late colonials (1902 and 1913 1/3 farthings being cases in point). Seems most were just put aside as curiosities and hence the survival rate is high. Spink in my opinion seriously overvalues them at £80 (EF) and £185 (Unc.). That's the bad news though, yours looks at least EF and seems to be nicely toned, so imho a nice thing to have even if it's not worth a fortune.

Yep, I looked at some auction results and they do appear quite frequently. Still, it is a nice little coin. The photo doesn't really show it but the fields are really quite shiny. So much so that, at first, I thought it might be a proof. Not bothered about the value because it didn't cost me anything and I don't plan on selling it.