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I bought this a few years ago but have not put the pictures up before ,the pictures are not mine although the coin does have better lustre in hand. 1926 ME ..........CGS 80.

It's PE, obviously. Otherwise you'd be 'Enckris 2'.....

Well, it was Jerry's photographic memory and the 1926 ME is not on my rare penny site, but otherwise, spot on, Eric 😄

and

F50 1865

Peck 1342 ,again IMO looks much better with the different background 🙂

Thanks Mike that's interesting , so his 1944 wide date example had a light finish to. Now I wonder which is most common the light or the dark. ??

Made me smile. Remember those innocent good old days, before the plague really took hold ⚰️ (couldn't find a perspex coffin)

Two recent acquisitions:

That is wonderful Pete- is it the Colin Cooke one?

Three beauties there Pete, especially that ME.

At the end of the day, Blake, it's up to each collector to decide and set their own personal parameters, which may, in each individual case, increase or decrease over time. When I first started collecting pennies seriously, nearly 10 years ago now, I never imagined I would develop such a completist mindset during the intervening period. At that point, I would have said that one decent 1908 (for example) would have been enough. But as my interest deepened, so did the completist side. I suppose if something is worth doing, then it's worth doing well - and you only succeed by relentless pursuit of your ultimate objective. With regard to the different types and their popularity/notoriety, the clincher is what has charisma, and what doesn't. As you say, the 1890 dropped 90, is arguably a type in and of itself. Certainly recognised by Gouby, as we know. But not one which attracts a lot of attention. Conversely the 1934 missing waves, creates a bit more fuss. Moreover, you only have to look at what brings in the big money. Compare and contrast the F90, 1877 narrow date penny with an 1881H Freeman 103. The 103 is probably rarer than the F90, but head to head at auction, we both know the F90 is going to draw in the greater number of punters and get the most money. Probably because it's instantly recognisable. If a die No 1 under date ever does appear, it'll no doubt fetch in excess of £20k. Although maybe there isn't a Die No 1. Perhaps they considered the normal dies to be "No 1" and started at No 2. All very interesting and worthy of discussion.

Slabbing, as has been pointed out, is slang for a coin that's been sent to a "professional" grading service. Like everything else in America (who, me, cynical?), coin collecting has been taken to the absolute extreme with this hideous practice. This is one of my main reasons for getting out of my own country's coins and into British coins, where things are still much more civilized and gentlemanly (my recent eBay experience with a certain gentleman from Cardiff notwithstanding). I also enjoy the feel and heft of a coin, which is something utterly lost when they're slabbed. It's like going to the Louvre and seeing the Mona Lisa behind ten feet of armored glass. Somewhat diminshes the experience to me. Also, just because some "professional" at a grading service puts his stamp of approval on a coin, the price usually goes up by several factors for an identical coin. As an example, a given Franklin half dollar with full bell lines (lines across the bottom of the Liberty Bell on the reverse) might sell for $300 'as-is' in a given grade (say BU/MS65). Send the same coin to a grading service, get it 'certified' as an MS65 FBL (full bell lines), and suddenly it's worth $3000. Why? Because one person at the grading service said so. No other reason. It *is* possible to "crack" a coin out of the slab without damaging it. You just have to know how to do it. It's done all the time when someone sends a coin in and it gets a grade less than what they were hoping for. Often they'll resubmit it in hopes of getting a better grade the second time round. This may be at the same grading service or at a different one. See how the whole process becomes just plain silly very quickly? Contrary to what these grading services want you to believe, it's still a very subjective process. And the level of nitpickiness that separates a PRF69 from a PRF70 (for example) is so microscopic that I don't believe the average mortal human being can ever tell the difference. I've got one PRF70 Roosevelt dime and one PRF69 (same year, same mint, identical coins), and I'm damned if I can see a single iota of difference between them. I'm SO thankful this ridiculous practice has not pervaded the British market. I only hope that people don't tire of the American market and start doing the same thing to the British market. I'll be a steadfast holdout for buying "raw" coins! Farthings forever J