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I find it annoying as a buyer, you select the coins page and all you get are £1 coins and 50ps....

Hi, im new to the forum and not a collector but have come across a copper ten pence coin. Have googled and found reports of a silver 2p but not the other way round which I have. Have magnet tested it and it is magnetic. ..is this of particular interest? Or not unusual? Any info gratefully received!

That's a possibility. The dies are likely to have the same locating mechanism, so if you had say 20 presses with only one having the dies the wrong way round, it would lead to a seemingly irrational ratio. Does anyone who has visited the mint know how many presses are used?

Ebays not bad if you know your stuff. You need good reference guides first so you know your not overpaying for coins but in some cases stuff like that goes out the window if its a really sort after coin your after. Don't bid on anything thats got blurry pictures. Be picky and selective about what you bid on. Use a sniper also to drop your bids in. Never bother with ebay on a Sunday. Its great the rest of the week but Sundays are stupid. Seems to be people without a clue of a coins value on Sundays running up the prices and paying silly money for coins. Sunday is definitely a sellers market on ebay. I avoid it at all costs on Sundays. I mainly use ebay for buying my coins and a few dealer's when they get fresh stock. I am thinking of trying some of the online auction houses soon , if anyones got any recommendations or tips on using them I'd be most appreciative. Also anyone who sells coins feel free to PM me your website details so i can browse your stock. Thanks.

When I was a teenager (I can still vaguely remember this experience) I worked at a J Lyons teashop in Brighton, and occasionally relieved the cashier on the ground floor till. In those days a cup of tea was 6d, and one day a customer came along the counter with his tea and handed me a coin. I took one look and asked what it was, and was told a shilling. I'd never seen one like this before, but I took it anyway and gave him the change. I swapped the coin out for a shilling of mine and took the coin home, and some time later discovered that it was indeed a shilling of George IV dated 1826 and in GVF grade. Goodness knows why the customer had spent this coin, which was certainly worth a few pounds back then, but he did. How it came to be in such good grade I've no idea. Either way, It's still in my collection and although I could easily obtain a better grade example this one has special place because its the coin that started me off collecting. I've no intention of swapping it out.

got these + 2 Elizabeth II's (50% silver still) for very little, these 2 are hard dates, the 1914 is worth more then i spent alone. Denga, 1731 overstrike over a Peter Kopek 1764 2 kopek 1778 5 Kopek... high grade as well.. big lump of copper

Thanks John, they are certainly much appreciated, your father gathered a great collection. Jerry

I have not bought through eBay in months. I find looking at hundreds of pictures of pennies a difficult task unless you narrow the search parameters down and even then you may find quite a few to sift through. Having said that it is another place to look and there are still some good coins on there amongst a lot of rubbish, and its too easy to rush in and overbid on something that you should have left. Spend some time looking at the various dealers sites. Get some books and do some reading and just take it slow. Easier said than done I know.

The reverse is stunning, the detail in the lions faces and I could almost reach out and touch the harps breasts, UNC maybe even proof, but as Nick says the obverse looks like it's been polished.

Yes it is a matt proof. Obverse looks lightly polished.

I have no Idea. I am sure one of the experts will come along soon. Looks to me as a very nice coin

Sorry here is the obverse.

interesting question .. it is the genoese gateway ... there are many theories about it .. My preferite is that it is a symbolic rappresentation of the city of Genoa itself . The medieval name of the city was infact IANUA that in latin means door or gateway. Genoa at the time was probably the most important mediterranean commercial port and the majority of goods destined to the today North Italy , Swiss and South Germany passed through it, so it was a sort of geteway to the central Europe. This Construction can be found on the first and almost all the genoese coins struck from the 1139 to the 1638 , including also many of the coins struck in his colonies. The gateway became a sign of quality and for that reason it was maintened for a quite long period, but was reproduced on many coins of others country in slightly different ways as for example on the Crusaders states coins. Here some examples of genoese coins reproducing the gateway

Bear in mind the following estimate was based at a specific point in time when I looked at prices and subsequently will have changed. The current copper price is $2.2522 per lb. The current exchange rate is GBP1 = USD1.2891. There are 453.592 grams per lb and the nominal weight of an Irish 2p is 7.12g. Therefore the intrinsic value at current spot prices is £0.02742. Old Irish currency can still be exchanged for Euros by the Central Bank in Ireland. £1 Irish = Euros 1.269738. GBP1 = Euros 1.14254. 2 Irish pence would therefore be worth Euros 0.0253948, or GBP 0.0222266 assuming no currency conversion costs. Melting it is therefore a no brainer, being at a premium of over 20% to the amount receivable should you travel to Dublin and pay it in. If it was uncirculated with full lustre, it might retail at up to a quid, but there isn't much demand.

A penny I got the yesterday. Not normally my area of collecting but the price was ok.