More Pennies

[mrbadexample]

1 hour ago, Iannich48 said:

 

That is an impressive job that you have done there Jerry, and quickly too.

This. How fast was that? 

Of course now I would like a step by step breakdown of the process. I would have ruined it. 

[jelida]

Ian was very lucky with this coin in that there was a remarkably good surface preserved under the verdigris (green areas) and under the oxide (brown areas). Held to the light, the field almost prooflike, and had I stripped the whole coin to a reactive surface and then evenly toned , this sheen would have been lost so I decided to tone through the existing, which could be taken further over time.

When I first saw the coin the verd looked almost waxy, and I wondered whether there was an organic element, so I tried a couple of organic solvents -  acetone, DMSO, petrol- which had no effect on the verd but did at least remove any contaminants that might have blocked the verdicare.

Under the microscope it was clear that all the discoloured areas of the coin has experienced corrosion, being both very hard and adherent. Working each side sequentially, reverse first,  it took about a day of Verdicare to start to soften the corrosion and enable a gentle picking off with the needle, in tiny plaques;  I had to take this very slowly in sessions of an hour or so, microscope work is hard on the eyes and neck. I suspect it took 15 to 20 hours of microscope time. The fields were mostly done with the polished tip steel needle, he detail particularly the denticles with an orange needle on insulin syringe (courtesy of our late diabetic cat). I was always working through a thin layer of Verdicare.  A very steady hand is needed, and pressure on the verd rather than the coin. There was a good cleavage plane of reddish oxide on the surface of the coin,  which helped a lot.

My feeling is that the coin, while not perfect of course, has come out better than I expected

Jerry

[PWA 1967]

I know not many collect Models ,however you will have to believe me that they are really hard to find in high grade and problem free.Most have been messed about with , cleaned ,played with or not stored properly.

They are easy to buy for not much money but not easy to find in this grade 😃

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by PWA 1967

[mrbadexample]

54 minutes ago, PWA 1967 said:

I know not many collect Models ,however you will have to believe me that they are really hard to find in high grade and problem free.Most have been messed about with , cleaned ,played with or not stored properly.

They are easy to buy for not much money but not easy to find in this grade 😃

 

That's a good 'un Pete, nice find.

[alfnail]

Anyone get this one at Stacks Bowers yesterday? MS64, but a few marks, not as good as the one Pete sold at Baldwins. 

[PWA 1967]

No but i know who did 👍

[secret santa]

What did it go for ?

Just found it - $960 plus commission, shipping and customs

Edited January 19, 2021 by secret santa
correction

[jelida]

I dropped out at about 700 dollars, bit strapped at the moment unless a nice BRONZE penny comes along. But a good coin, I think the purchaser did alright.🙂

Jerry

Edited January 19, 2021 by jelida

[mrbadexample]

Was it described as the large rose?

[jelida]

45 minutes ago, mrbadexample said:

Was it described as the large rose?

No, that was not noted. It is still a variety that can creep under the radar, though it looks like a number of us had spotted it.

Jerry

[1949threepence]

It's a beauty. I saw it, but am skint at the moment so regretfully had to miss bidding. 

[alfnail]

3 hours ago, jelida said:

I dropped out at about 700 dollars, bit strapped at the moment unless a nice BRONZE penny comes along. But a good coin, I think the purchaser did alright.🙂

Jerry

Hey Jerry, if you want another project perhaps you can stitch this one back together and then re-engrave....now that we all know what a wizard you are with the needles!

 

 

[jelida]

8 minutes ago, alfnail said:

Hey Jerry, if you want another project perhaps you can stitch this one back together and then re-engrave....now that we all know what a wizard you are with the needles!

 

 

Eeek! I think that one is beyond me! But that is a shame. Large date I presume? Thankfully I do have a reasonable example, that came from a forum member.

Jerry

[Bronze & Copper Collector]

2 hours ago, jelida said:

Eeek! I think that one is beyond me! But that is a shame. Large date I presume? Thankfully I do have a reasonable example, that came from a forum member.

Jerry

A job for Allen Stockton...

[secret santa]

A must-have for penny collectors. Michael's Victoria edition has superseded the early pennies but it covers Edward VII to Elizabeth II.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-coin-book-The-British-bronze-penny-1860-1970-by-Michael-Gouby/363269173178?hash=item549487afba:g:XFYAAOSwRFtgDGIm

[1949threepence]

On 1/24/2021 at 10:25 AM, secret santa said:

A must-have for penny collectors. Michael's Victoria edition has superseded the early pennies but it covers Edward VII to Elizabeth II.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-coin-book-The-British-bronze-penny-1860-1970-by-Michael-Gouby/363269173178?hash=item549487afba:g:XFYAAOSwRFtgDGIm

Thanks for the heads up, Richard. Been after that book for a long time. Just won it for £21 - not a bad price for something as rare as hen's teeth.

Never once seen a copy on Amazon or e bay.  

[Rob]

I sold my copy to someone who was desperately looking for one at Wakefield 5 or 6 years ago because I never used it and had obtained the useful volume (1860-1901). I assumed if I had one, so did everyone else.

[1949threepence]

51 minutes ago, Rob said:

I sold my copy to someone who was desperately looking for one at Wakefield 5 or 6 years ago because I never used it and had obtained the useful volume (1860-1901). I assumed if I had one, so did everyone else.

There was your clue.

[mrbadexample]

And more to the point @Rob, do you assume that about all your books? 

I think it's safe to say you've got a few I haven't. 

[Rob]

To answer MBE, the answer is obviously no. The number of penny collectors who routinely use Gouby references would imply that they mostly have the info at their fingertips.

In the case of the penny book, I acquired it when I bought Colin Adams' library in 2005. I hadn't used it in 10 years and in the interim had bought the useful volume which is the detailed 19th century varieties (not available when he stopped collecting), with the 20th being fairly superfluous as it didn't contain the recent discoveries. The 20th century effectively duplicated Freeman.

I regularly help people with missing items if it is no loss to myself or my collection. On occasion I have rejigged the coins around a few criteria in order to help someone out whilst still maintaining the integrity of the collection and library. This was one such instance.

Edited January 30, 2021 by Rob

[mrbadexample]

17 minutes ago, Rob said:

I regularly help people with missing items if it is no loss to myself or my collection. On occasion I have rejigged the coins around a few criteria in order to help someone out whilst still maintaining the integrity of the collection and library. This was one such instance.

I think that's brilliant. I didn't have an inkling of the extent of your library until your recent posts on another forum. The information you command at will, quite frankly, does my head in. I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast. 

[Rob]

8 minutes ago, mrbadexample said:

I think that's brilliant. I didn't have an inkling of the extent of your library until your recent posts on another forum. The information you command at will, quite frankly, does my head in. I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast. 

That's ok. I have trouble remembering that I need to eat breakfast sometimes. Last week I didn't get round to it until half three.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Rob

[mrbadexample]

39 minutes ago, Rob said:

That's ok. I have trouble remembering that I need to eat breakfast sometimes. Last week I didn't get round to it until half three.

I don't have that problem, if I'm not eating food I'm growing food. 

Anyway, while I have your attention and completely off topic here but I believe you had a half decent collection of halfpennies? I'm looking for more examples of the F264 - can you point me in the right direction to any you know of please? I can find more with a die letter than I can this. 

[Rob]

I didn't have one and neither did Nicholson or Samuel. The only one I have noted was Freeman's (lot 91A), which was practically mint state with much lustre. It was bought by Peek according to my catalogue, but that sale had a number of fictitious buyers, so isn't guaranteed to be genuine.

They're certainly very rare, but it's also fair to say that at no point was I interested in filling the gap at any cost, so tended not to look at lower grade material. I never encountered one in my travels.

[mrbadexample]

2 minutes ago, Rob said:

I didn't have one and neither did Nicholson or Samuel. The only one I have noted was Freeman's (lot 91A), which was practically mint state with much lustre. It was bought by Peek according to my catalogue, but that sale had a number of fictitious buyers, so isn't guaranteed to be genuine.

They're certainly very rare, but it's also fair to say that at no point was I interested in filling the gap at any cost, so tended not to look at lower grade material. I never encountered one in my travels.

Nicholson I checked because I know where to find it (although he didn't seem to collect much rang tang ). Never heard of Samuel - can I view that collection somewhere?

And thanks.