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As a collector of currency issues pennies only, here's why I shy away from proofs. There are far too many scarce years and types within the penny series that can keep one so busy for a lifetime that the presence of proofs is best seen as a nuisance. Further unlike Silver and Gold, Copper and Bronze coins react pretty much with anything and lose their mint state. So to find something that has beaten the odds to survive in good nick is something I (personally) find fascinating. Consequently the tendency is to go for the currency issue because out of many thousands a handful have survived in decent grade as opposed to the 3 or 4 proofs made for the same year that are all probably still fine and dandy after spending time in a safe somewhere. This is possibly why proofs of some years are less expensive than the corresponding currency issues (think 1950, 1951, 1953 etc). I recently came across an 1895 2mm proof that sold for lot less than an 1895 2mm currency version in unc. Further most penny collectors are obsessed with varieties, one of every type is better than the sharpest or shiniest and this obsession feeds into the next generation automatically or the minute one unwittingly obtain a scarce variety. The joys of Penny collecting .....

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.)

Surely proofs aren't currency issues but on steroids.. There'd be spots all over the back..

Glad to see that the images are well liked. I am attaching a few more photos of dies and matrices (thanks to VS for teaching me the term) taken on the same date. The quality of the photos are not unfortunately not great (I had to use a zoom lens through display cabinets and was not allowed to use a flash).

One listed in the Colin Adams sale Mike. Spink July 2003 Lot 299. Not sure if the picture will help. Pete.

a few highlights of the week in a recent bulk buy about £11.20 and found this in a load of pennies at the dealers I have been through and ignored many times, no idea how I missed it. 1890 narrow date, wasn't really looking for it, but it stands out.

UIN 0037481 Coin Type CR.G6.1951.09 Origin Great Britain Description Crown George VI 1951 Variety Plain Edge, struck in error on unedged blank Standard References Davies 2020E Provenance Grade CGS 93 Population Level 1 out of 1 Finest Known

Brilliant many thanks

Die crack shown in last photo.