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My friend, who is very wealthy, asked his son what he wanted for his birthday, and his son told him he wanted a cowboy outfit, so my friend bought him Hermes.....

I think it highly doubtful that any pennies dated 1852 were ever struck. They surely wouldn't strike 263k and then melt them all down again? The evidence points to the pennies struck in 1852, all being dated 1851. Given that the official figures show the same mintage in 1849 as in 1851, and the fact that the 1851 is actually nowhere near as scarce as 1849, it tends to suggest that the combined figure of 532,224 is nearer the mark for 1851 dated pennies, and that many of the "268,800" pennies struck in 1849, were actually dated 1848 - kind of ties in with the relative scarcities of all three years. With all that said, of course, many of the mintage figures for that period seem meaningless given the comparative scarcity now.

It would probably help if it is possible to get an approximate number of dies used per annum for the period in question. 1825 halfpennies for example had a mintage of 200K ish with 4 identifiable die pairs (though could be more if identical dies were produced). Whatever, 40-50K struck per die pair is a reasonable guess under normal circumstances. However, we do know that things went awry at the mint in the late 1840s when die life plunged dramatically. According to Linton's article on the 1848 halfcrown in the BNJ vol.29, in 1847 a total of 367K halfcrowns were struck from 22 obverse dies, implying only 16 or 17K per die i.e. roughly half. This accounts for the relatively large number of overcut dates in the second half of the decade, when existing dies were reused, presumably to maximise die use when the supply of new dies was uncertain. The same bar stock was almost certainly used for pennies as for halfcrowns, given they are about the same diameter and so presumably experienced the same problems if it was a metal problem, or if a metal treatment problem then it would apply to all dies. It is unhelpful that the mint records for 1848 to 1852 inclusive are missing according to Linton. A mintage of 236K would suggest between 5 and 13 obverse dies were used in 1852 depending on whether they had sorted the die life problem. My gut instinct is that it was only a temporary blip given the output of 'Godless' florins in 1849 and so we would be looking at somewhere between 30 and 50K per die - i.e. 5-8 dies. Wikipedia gives a mintage of 432,224 for 1851. Does this include 1852 for which none are given? Where does the figure of 236K come from or any quoted figures for the other years in the period 1848-52? How many discrete 1851 dies can be identified? If we are looking at a number well in excess of what you would expect based on expected output per die, then clearly much of the 1852 output was likely struck from 1851 dies, though you couldn't exclude the use of other existing dies, after all, 1849 was a relatively scarce year.

Parcelforce phone number is 0344 800 4466 in case you need it.

If it comes by USPS, remember my experience. I rang Parcel Force yesterday and actually spoke to a human who said "you should have had 2 letters from us". Well, I didn't and they didn't even apologise. Simply confirmed that it had been returned to the US. Customer Service ? - it's gone the way of the Dodo.

The evidence from clashed dies tells us that the softening and hardening processes are not a precise art, as clearly one die was harder than the other for it to make an impression. But given the degree of heating required to soften the die, I think you would struggle to get localised differences on the same die. I presume they will put it in an oven/furnace which should give even conditions across all surfaces. The key to any grease escaping has to be whether it is restrained by a well fitting collar or not. Liquids are virtually incompressible, so at the pressures we are talking about here a sealed unit would have no problem stopping the dies from making contact.

Looks like you were right, Paddy. Thanks for the tip. I made an offer of $300 on this coin The seller made a counter offer of $345, which I accepted. Met me in the middle. It's about in line with what a such a coin would trade at in the UK, and it's certainly a lot better than the current small date 1857 I've got which shows signs of old cleaning. At the original price it was one of their better priced coins. That'll have to be the last coin I buy this year, given what I've spent recently. Just hope it manages to reach here OK.

They'd have to be barking mad to try 😼

Ah, but they can do Lab-tests...😋

Precisely, and I know that you have experienced the same in searching for your "goodies". To me, these quests are what collecting coins is all about. That is why collections such as the Hansen being formed in the States really doesn't mean much to me. So you have an enormous checkbook, big deal. I wish we could have a club of sorts with people of similar interests to "Mr. T" and me....

Can I suggest a piece felt from a craft shop for around a pound

Found this strange tale in the London Chronicle 1813. Re the pigs, I think someone squealed on them.

If you notice cows sleeping in a field, does that mean it's pasture bedtime?