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I was in the British Museum recently and took some photos of the Gothic Crown dies. They are on loan to the BM from the Royal Mint Museum. (There is a hairline crack at 10 o'clock on the obverse die.)

They generally have a much better finish. Another thing with most VIP proofs (not all VIP proofs) is that they are made from sandblasted dies this gives the coins a Matt finish, which shows the coin's details in much lucid fashion. You might want to compare the 1953 VIP proofs to normal 1953 proofs to see the difference. I would recommend looking at the 1953 (because this is one year for which all strikes are fairly easy to obtain and compare) hapenny and six pence coins. Its best to see a few of these in hand as it helps you identify a strike accurately. On the 1953 proofs look at the bridge of the nose on the obverses and you will notice far more detail on the VIP proofs. However kindly note the most of the 1953 VIP proofs are not struck from sand blasted dies. Here's one that was http://londoncoins.co.uk/img.php?a=146&l=3414&f=o&s=l. Some of the VIP proofs also came in specially designed boxes. Based on the strike you can (broadly) classify coins as currency issues trial strikes specimen strikes proofs VIP proofs Matte proofs Patterns ? (possibly not but there are some 1860 beaded border pennies that I would add to the patterns lsit)

How are things now everyone? There were some IP addresses being blocked. They seem to have been added automatically, so I've removed them all now (and that were spammers have probably long since moved on to spamming somewhere else).

Its all down to those nasty European bureaucrats. They are showing us what will happen to us if we vote to leave the EU. Fire ands pestilence next, followed by plagues of locusts.

Die crack shown in last photo.

This is the CGS 1936 brass threepence

Firstly, many thanks to Chris for letting me post details here. It feels more like letting my mates know, than out and out advertising, so I don't feel too guilty! I've now been advised of the following timetable: Tuesday 3rd May (probably late afternoon); the catalogue and full details will appear on the Colin Cooke website. The sale itself will run from 17-24th May. Steve

Another one i got from Guy .....The Coinery Glad i didnt buy a lower grade one as another to keep. 1865/3 and thanks to a couple of forum members for confirming the variety. Pete.

LIGHTER THINNER DOT LIGHTER THINNER DOT with DIE CRACK