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Coin # 1. For BRAVERY: I had a wicked father a violent man who would always take anything from us he wanted. I was on holiday in Cornwall and the night before a waging storm had ripped apart the family tent and I my sister and the dog named Bruce sat in the blue Vauxhall Viva all night listening to the claps of thunder and the wack of my father as the rest of the family tried to keep hold of the metal poles, the canvas and my father's fist . Fear controlled our every action when he was around unpredictable as a summer storm. The Morning after was as peaceful and as beautiful a day as you can imagine on a cornish beach in mid summer, the only reflection on the night before could be seen in the masses of wood and seaweed littering the shore and the crashing of the still energised waves. The event, of course, led to a premature departure; but there was still time to be on the the beach once more, more importantly in the jewels of the crowning glory of the coast: the rock pools. I was a light footed creature as a child, unlike now, and knowing I had already spent too much time searching I jumped over a few more pools; scanning for movement of shrimps and fish. The reflection caught my eye first, the sun was at an angle to fall to the back of one pool and something glittered deep. In mid air I stopped sharp on the rocks leaning down legs astride a broad crack filled with water I attempted to reach down but the depth proved too much and i fell grazing my shoulder.... but I had it. The salty blooded water I could taste, but the pain meant very little as in my hand as I opened it was a coin worn and pitted but on it was a face I could not at first recognise. My brothers were at the time heavily into Metal and rock and had posters of T REX on the wall and when I picked up this coin all I could see was the wild hair and profile of Marc Bolan it was the crazy 70's. The coin had been tumbled and I had no idea how long it had been there, but I like to think that it has travelled the sea currents from the wreck of the Association which went down in 1707. The crazy captain ( there by rank rather than sense) forced a group of ships returning across the Bay of Biscay up through a terrible storm. The local story goes that a midshipman, who knew the waters, had advised the captain of the position off the Scilly Isles. Confronted with common ...common sense he had the man hung on a charge of stirring a mutiny. The ships went down with the loss of about 1600 lives that night and carrying a lot of silver, coins are today still coming up from the wreck. So Marc Bolan's (T Rex) or as he is know William the III's 1697 shilling was my treasure ....Of course I got a hiding for coming home bloody and a bit torn but that coin stayed with me hidden for many years. It served as my "weathering the storm coin" growing up with a violent tempest of a father. I lost it at some point when I left home as a kid but in later years I found a few , one on an old setting has the date and loss of the association written into the edge. At times it's worth facing the storm searching for treasure in the calm that comes after and leaves you with something tangible to hold onto. An ironic twist being that the Captain (the father of the ship) sadly survived.... it is strange how bullies often manage to avoid the fates they impose upon others. My first coin. Age 7 Coins can bring us many things Bravery came with this one.

Yes, the resolution is set too low. Needs more pixels. Actual rather than imagined evidence is far more convincing.

Nice. I've always liked the first type 1911-13 better than the 1913-21 type. A well struck up example is a handsome coin though worn ones have shocking reverses due to the virtually non-existent rim.

If a coin was struck outside the collar the blank would be larger . I thought the whole point of it being in the collar was to restrict the metal from spreading out further than the set parameters?

Its likely that there were more than one master die, and batches of working dies were made and stored, only then to coming back out of the cupboard, as and when required in a hap-hazard order over a long period .

yes I see that and perhaps in that issue of the $$$$ preoccupation with the value is the central problem. It is nice to look at coins as an investment but they rarely are likely to make anyone that rich and yet still money and value is at the core of the problem as it prevents in some ways the academic interest taking charge of collecting. Personally I think we lose out on some important history when we effectively barr people from identifying aspects of their coins whether that is altered lettering, or designs. Even that somewhat frivolous posting on the lumps of metal and the sinking ship in the 1806 half penny give us some clues about the history of the minting in the SOHO coins. If nothing else the impact of the environment within the soho mint maybe. Boulton himself refers to the issue of rusted dies and the problems of the minting process in the references to the condition the early planchets arrived at the die presses and hence had to introduce some alternative approaches to resolve the problem. There is no doubt the steam driven process caused an atmosphere where rusting and damage to steel dies was a major problem bearing in mind the rate of production and urgency to deliver contracts on time and to a uniform standard quality. So whilst I would recognise that the "individual" might be driven by his or her pocket in making choices about value that remains a choice they make. We should all pass any references with a sceptical eye, that is the duty of anyone. If anyone is naive enough not to do so or to take an action swayed by such "fake news" has only themselves to blame if in the saleroom their rarity does not reach the price they expect. there is a subtle line between presenting evidence for peer review and presenting fake information it is important to create an environment that allows new findings to reach as many "experts" as possible to evaluate and follow up on ideas that change perspective.