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spotted in manchester debenhams (RIP)

8 years ago now, so a bit late to take it up with them. Besides, I'm not one for whinging, and accept that it's my fault for not doing my homework properly. It's swings and roundabouts with coins. Some you do really well on, and others not so well.

Exactly my thoughts too, after post buy reflection. The coin was advertised as a proof "F129" in the December 2013 LCA, and I somewhat naively went for it , winning for £420. That should have been a hint, because I'm pretty sure it would have fetched considerably more than that, if my enthusiasm had been matched by many others. It's not even a correct description: if it really was a proof it would have been advertised as a 127A owing to the fact that it's obverse 12, not 13. I don't feel I've been entirely done, as it's still a very nice coin, with smooth proof like fields. Sits nicely in my collection as a non proof F127. link

I agree - to me it's only really a proof if it's mirror finish with frosted devices, though I know in many cases that's wrong. My understanding was that a lot of 19th century proofs (and possibly early 20th century) "proofs" (i.e. without contrasted finish) were just nice early strikes anyway, but were labelled as proofs.