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I knew I'd heard about this before, but couldn't remember where or when. It concerns the rumour, started in the late 19th century, that a gold ingot had been accidentally added to the metal mix for the 1864 penny blanks, and that consequently some 1864 pennies had gold in them. It became a craze which spread over to as late as 1907. David Pickup wrote an excellent article about it in the July 2021 edition of Coin News, if anyone is interested in reading about it.

Thing is, there were 4 Elias 288s on the list. So unless there is corroborative evidence that it is indeed ex-Elias, you can't use the provenance. In this case, Patrick Finn listed 4 pieces from St. Lo (506-509). The Elias sale (1990) had 3x Elias 288s (lots 417-419), but none of them were the same coins as on the list. So unless there is something else to indicate ex-Elias, I'd ignore it. Some of the Anglo Gallic coins noted in list 18 were ex-Elias, but all were referenced with the corresponding lot number, so can easily be checked.

The coin indicated is a grand blanc of St. Lo. The Elias ref used refers to 'The Anglo Gallic Coins' with the relevant number given to all the Anglo-Gallic coins in the list and should not be taken as ex-Elias collection. This is an ongoing problem whereby an important collection provides the reference, but gets interpreted as being the coin in question. You always need to cross check this info.

Gouby says that the 1882Ha is 'Rare', and that the 2/1 variety (same obverse/reverse) is 'Extremely Rare'. I think that pretty much ties in with my own experience. I regularly try to spot 1882 types with fewer reverse teeth on ebay (Gouby's Reverse P), and then try to determine the obverse type if I find the right reverse. Clearly you need a decent ebay picture to have a chance of spotting the 2/1 overdate, which is seen on both Gouby (P+p) F111 and Gouby (R+p) F114..................with the 2/1 on the F114 being particularly difficult to see. I have also seen, and think I have pictures of, 1869's and 1864's with several different date widths.

Thank you so much for the lists which arrived today ,i am really greatful 👍 Pete.

Martin Hughes. Coins sold through Spink, Auction 130, 16 November 1999.

Pleased to be able to identify these tickets as the hand of Stephen Hill when at Baldwins (now Sovereign Rarities)

Thanks for posting that useful link. I'm interested in getting information about the amount of 925 and 500 silver coinage that was withdrawn from circulation, and there seems to be some useful data - e.g. the following from the 1949 report:

Some 1970 sets sell for a premium as there were two dies used for the OBV on the Florin ,Halfcrown ,Sixpence and Half penny. The Half penny is hard to find and collectors pay quite a lot more for one ,D of DEI too gap or I of DEI to tooth. Always worth checking to see if you have one.