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I often get asked how hammered coins were made (beyond the 'hammered' bit), so put together a quick, light-hearted step-by-step guide. Thought it might be handy for those new to the field. Step 4 is by far my favourite.

Many thanks Martin, Glad you liked it. I wasn't sure how to describe the halfpenny, so that's brilliant. Its a bit worn and not obvious what's going on when you look straight at the coin (on the photo of the obverse you can just see the light bouncing off the 1. Tilt the coin slightly and the 1 jumps out clearly. An affordable impulse purchase. If its any use to Richard he is more than welcome to use it for halfpenny varieties. Very Best Regards

The 1874H penny above is a standard Freeman 71, namely 7+G by his die pairings. However, your 1861 halfpenny is much more interesting - it is a Freeman 282, coincidentally also a 7+G pairing by his halfpenny die pairs, BUT the 1 over 1 to the left was only recorded by Iain Dracott back in 2004 in his series of halfpenny articles in Coin News magazine, and not many are yet known. As halfpennies tend to be less focused on by collectors, I bet there are a few more around and unnoticed, but once again you have nailed a pretty rare, if not especially (yet) sought after, variety! Well done again!

Last Bronze today an 1861 Half Penny . Condition is poor (Gouby 7 obverse not sure on the reverse) but the date was of interest. Must be lots of examples around in better condition, but nice to have this one

Very distinctive top of lighthouse confirms reverse g.

I picked up a job lot of coin books at auction for a couple I wanted (Stewartby and Marsh). The rest are of no use to me. If anyone wants them they can have them at postage cost only. (Or free if you are prepared to pick up from North Devon!) The American Numismatic Society Museum Notes, Nos 15 and 16 (1969 and 1970); The ANS again, An Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards 1973; Ancient Greek Numismatics by William E Daehm, 2001 printed by Davissons USA; Spink "Essays in Honour of Robert Carson and Kenneth Jenkins" 1992.