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Poinciania time. Trees just coming into bloom and an eastern water dragon a common harmless lizard in SE Queensland. Grows to about 2 ft in length.

I thought it worth reviving this one to show another 1698 halfpenny recently acquired. As has been previously mentioned here, these are very difficult to find, particularly in decent grades, having been struck for three months only. It pays to keep one's eyes peeled…

This is what my garden looks like in the cold and damp!! Cycad, Musa, Echium, Canna, Hedychium all wrapped up. Soil heaters in the pots if it gets very cold. I fit a translucent tarp across the veranda, and we get a small room full of plants to play cards in in the winter! Lemon/lime cross full of fruit this year- gonna do some lime pickle....!!

Not particularly flattering, is it? Having said that, my all time low is probably the 2002 Queen Mother £5 portrait. The first time I saw one of those, I had to do a quick check that it was a Royal Mint product and not some private enterprise output. Give Anne her dues. She is probably the hardest working royal of the 4, and I suspect has a greater sense of duty than the others.

A good crop this year. Pollinating the vanilla orchid flowers is a tricky business.

I brought mine for £63; 8 years ago.

Here's another relatively recent 1701 find I'm rather pleased with. As for Vs on the obverse, large zero reverse.

And my 1694 upgrade. Quite chuffed. . Thankfully people focussed on the description which said pitted flan, which is due to it being cast rather than rolled as per spec, but as that accounts for half the halfpennies or more of this period, should not be something to worry about.

Here's one I found last year, GV over B on the obverse. Extremely rare in any grade.

This was found lurking in with some worn Hammered coins....... Silver 6 Pfennings 1734. Prince Louis Rudolph (Ludwig Rudolf) (1731-1735) Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (German States) apparently quite a rarity 👍

Welcome to the forum. I am no expert on the Gun Money, but it would seem likely that there are many die faults and die fill variations around as they were struck largely on campaign. Even the regal coinage from the 1690s has a huge number of variations.

I took this pic- got a T adapter so my telescope became my cheap camera's lens. No tracking, quick snap, no stacking software to build up the image. Even though it's not up to the standards you see a lot, I'm chuffed I caught the fact that Jupiter is striped! No moons visible- had to stop it right down...

From the other direction Turmeric, Delonix regia ( from old seeds from John), delicate hibiscus etc. I got fed up with my dark garden so I've done something about it!!

I think this is one too. This one in Hong Kong and taken in 1986. The building is the Officer's mess of the Queens Gurkha Engineers - I suspect long since demolished by the new Chinese regime.

Whilst sorting through others I found these mixed in as well, worth showing today, Rose & XII value mm. y & tun ( several bust varieties ) any comments or information greatly welcome. all the very best "H"

I agree, it’s either die wear or very possibly the power of the strike, a reduced impact affecting the metal flow into the recesses of the die. Other detail such as the rocks and the lines on Britannia’s shield also seems reduced. I really don’t know who’s given her the finger though. Jerry

Yes, as Paddy has narrowed it down to, the Bristol coin is class 3cd, and it looks to me that the London coin is a class 10/11 mule, on account of the angle-backed C on the reverse. This is an excellent resource if you haven’t any books on the series. https://www.rodblunt.com/edwardian-pennies

Well done on your sorting! I hope you didn't give away the Crown Jewels to the charity shop! The Gothic Florins are a lovely design. Yours is pretty well worn, but you can still just make out the date as 1871. A nice souvenir.

If anyone is after some 2024 coins best get in now before prices go crazy (as usual when a coin or set of coins is confirmed NIFC): https://www.royalmint.com/corporate/circulating-coin/uk-currency/mintages/

The article mentions "Norman" and "dates to just after the Battle of Hastings" so I'd have thought more likely William I. The few I can read seem to bear the legend +PILLEM, which would indicate that to be the case.

You can view Dalton & Hamer's book online: https://www.scribd.com/document/206664745/The-provincial-token-coinage-of-the-18th-century-illustrated-by-R-Dalton-and-S-H-Hamer

I was going to reply to all these but too many to do - I'll give you the task of finding a D&H. Life is so much simpler with one as all the varieties are illustrated. Punctuation, present or missing is important, as is the position of the legend relative to itself or other features as this will determine the die(s) used and hence the variety. For this piece: Milled edge will be D&H 351 - common. 351a edge reads 'AN ASYLUM .......NATIONS' - Rare 351b edge 'BIRMINGHAM OR SWANSEA' - Very Rare. 351c edge 'PAYABLE AT LONDON LIVERPOOL OR BRISTOL.' - Rare. And for any 19th century tokens you might acquire, a good reference you will find is 19the Century Token Coinage, by W J Davis. Sorry, I will lose the will to live if I do many more. I don't have any copies of either in stock, but do have the references in an emergency and if all else fails will help. Every collector added to the list of known people in a certain field helps.

I need to spend a penny!!!!!!!!! 🤣

I still think there is only one die for these, as that was the 4th I'm aware of, and they are definitely the same obverses. There are 2 different reverse dies however, which is probably to be expected (see alignment of 17 and final A). My current example is the third coin, which I picked up in DNW 76, lot 287. My first one came from ebay in 2004 and both cost a tenner. Excuse the GV/B 1694 which was added to keep things neat. That was the discovery piece by Colin Cooke in 2004. I have since upgraded that with the superb example in London Coins 168, lot 1407. I saw it, GV/B not mentioned in the description, compared with mine and promptly put a very large 'must buy' label in my shopping list. Those are the only two I have recorded, but there must more out there.

oh no it wasn't dont you remember that Dianna coin - i have one here i bought in a bulk lot and it makes me ill looking at it

Or the Queen Mum down at the dogs cheering on hers while necking a bottle of Worthington....

Maybe their should have been a princess Margaret coin should have had a fag in her mouth and be doing a Hilda ogden

I suppose then, that you finally got it in the end.........

I am no longer allowed to "Edit" a post - is this intentional ? Ah, it's hidden behind the 3 dots !!!!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/406401131122?itmmeta=01KAERC51PCV21AAX0JS88BEF2&hash=item5e9f652272:g:xt8AAeSwfFdpHfm3&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cOxyiQubdP6q4BPu%2FxdIXUFNvE9awpV1y%2FtN8jQOjKa6EqNCZRWJO67CdDE38lpIX2PYoe%2FIN2xTD62T0c1biKnXN2BGPDocT6Sqe4hzdEDDO1Cx9ih4MLBEHMXESsCrf4pZDakLlDrHymsvpAIDJ5axfF3QFb0p4hH777kQa%2FiDL%2Fk1kwHmZJknr95kBXJWt%2B9tSzi2fYWleqXNz%2Fd%2FSo1dfWLX3BskJpN2ebLpaw9S4VCQXCGg%2BIyjlBM63Iv7%2BwQESo%2F34yLYokoq6KfxJk|tkp%3ABk9SR5rRsNjTZg An interesting coin, presumably minted whilst Victoria was in rented accommodation trying to hide her facial hair from the nation ?

I am not sure. I have just been looking at all my Ed VII halfcrowns, and all bar 1910 have the orb very slightly offset to the right. I am more concerned by the irregularity of the "SOI QUI", but that could be PMD or poor focus.

Good morning everyone! Haven't posted in a while! I was able to get in touch with Mr. Dyer back in September. Although I am still waiting for some additional clarification here is his initial take on the issues at hand. Firstly, concerning the existence of a silver crown: Secondly, concerning the whole VIP vs Proof vs whatnot debate: I shall update the thread in case I receive more details!

There are advantages to having good old-fashioned reference books!

Hello 🙂 sadly this coin is suffering from some bright green patches but they don't show up particularly in the photo! I think it's an Edward III groat / London but that's all I can work out at the moment. I think that cross is just hidden by a shadow at the bottom of the first photo, but am I roughly looking at the right part of the coin for this type of mark? Thank you 🙂

These almost always appear at 12 O'clock on the obverse, before the monarch's name. 🙂 Without literature to hand, looks like a Treaty period groat without French titles. Dating to between 1361-9.

A recent discovery that some of my florins... below the bust you can see the Die No, makes it that much more interesting for me. 👍

Interesting one, as looks to have an error in the mint reading where the LON and DON have been swapped: DON LON IEN SIS instead of LON DON IEN SIS. Looks to be Edward I, class 3d.

For those that had not spotted it before (like me), there is now an option to contribute to the running of this forum. On the main forum page, down the right hand side, if you click on the amount raised so far, underneath "Current Donation Goals", you can make a donation. All you require is a Paypal account - and funds of course!

Eighteen years and I've found my third one in change today. Not a great looker though.

In case you come across anymore of these, the date is in Roman Numerals just behind Victoria's shoulder. You can just make out the lxxi at the end and can assume the rest. Worth knowing how to date them as some dates are much scarcer and more valuable than others.

Another randomly found lurking at the bottom of a cardboard box... "Ivan The Terrible" Horseman brandishing sabre on galloping horse to right Silver (.960) Lettering: КНSЬ ВЕЛIКI IВАН Translation: Grand Duke Ivan interesting find for me 👍

That’s amazing!

Here's what I did in Photoshop:

Cheers Stu. Elsewhere, I continue to look forward to your return.... 😉

I'm guessing Austria

..and in the top pic you can just make out the yellowing fronds of a very old, very small jacaranda. Like most tropical flowering trees, they should only be grown for their lovely foliage here in the UK- they just will not flower in a pot. In the spring I am going to plant a Caesalpinia Gilliesii and a Citrus Australasica outside, against the shiny fence in the sheltered corner, where I can give them their own little greenhouse for the winter.

Indeed! 🙂

9 badges now!! Just 'Milk Monitor' to get and I have the set!! And yes, Kylie is still in the top ten....

Well I had a lovely weekend sorting and donating lots of coins to various places 😊 the sorting was made so much easier thanks to this forum! I've learnt loads from reading through the many posts. Charity shops were happy to accept the old foreign coins which was great. I also sold a few bits and bobs to some small antique shops. I hope someone else can find those coins now and start or continue their own shiny collection 🙂 I've saved a select handful of coins for myself to enjoy. I've kept this extremely well worn but very beautiful (if I've got my identification right here) gothic florin. What an awesome font that would have been once upon a time!