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Benedetto Pistrucci, arguably the most famous coin engraver, was born in 1783 and died 1855. He was 56 years old at the time of the first photographic portrait. Only two years before his death he was photographed by Arthur R Hamilton. This is, to my knowledge, the only time he was photographed - and could reasonably be the first photograph of a British coin engraver! Most of the images you will find are later (1870-90) reproductions of the original photograph - identified by the black/gray card they are mounted on. I am fortunate enough to be the owner of the original photograph from 1853, signed by the photographer - to my knowledge it is the only one made from the negative and thus the true original piece!

Hi John, Welcome to the forum! The varieties and micro-varieties of pennies are a hot topic here, and there is often hot debate as to which is which. It is not really my area of collecting, but as I understand it, a "Variety" is when there has been a change in the design or layout of the dies. What you have might be called a "micro-variety" where an existing die has been repaired by re-entering damaged or misplaced letters or numbers. During the Victorian era this happened a great deal, so there are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples around. They are collected by the enthusiasts, but generally do not warrant a separate mention in the books. (With exceptions!) There are also "die faults" where cracks or dents in the dies result in anomalies. These are also not really varieties (though some have been listed as such in the past) but are still collected by some. Varieties generally have assigned rarity levels and so prices. Micro-varieties and die faults are much more difficult to value as it depends on finding a collector who wants them.

Often when Una and the Lion's are mentioned, you first imagine gold! For me, it will always be this gorgeous silver pattern piece I had the chance to photograph. Stunning rainbow toning, never seen anything like it.

Silver is always going to be better than gold for toning, due to the latter's relative resistance to chemical reaction. Toned gold is usually due to the copper mixed to produce the correct fineness. As you will be aware, left to its own devices and in a fairly clean environment, it will mostly turn black from silver oxide. Establish what the chemicals responsible for the colour scheme were and you probably have a good indicator of London's atmospheric constituents since Victorian time, though the toning stripe that looks like Britannia let one go, is probably from the fabrics found in a mint set. Though as always, a lot depends on the angle of the shot relative to light source. 15 or 20 years ago, I posted a picture taken one sunny day when I had a tray of Soho patterns on the desk, and the various colours reflected onto the ceiling enabled me to individually identify all the pieces using colour alone. There was a mixture of copper, bronzed, gilt and silver, but all were distinctively coloured. I think I lost the image a few years ago when photobucket went dysfunctional, so will have to wait for the sun to make another appearance unless someone can locate it on the forum. Having said all that, the one below is an oil painting in most lights and from most angles. Apologies to those who have already seen it.

You need to stop this sort of thing right now !

Victoria not looking her best https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/800843380579?itmmeta=01M5Y8QYJPVNDVTD17WE529P6E&hash=itemba75fc3763:g:5WwAAeSwRD5q4FGZ&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAAwCHNgUiiE%2FjQhlDTaMiAde8bHv6%2B83BpYHviYhRXPNyyLSGEyET%2BkoJiqhq0LjWtlQjHs4TJbk850ubzIgdT2ShNbF%2FQ0OsLoD%2BnbWjOwSl9%2BTkwuU%2F1LhsMu6HXy6MydAOkMqkEbgr0ucw%2Fv6XZR2VKg3g96NaaAJwVPR7sH5Gcm7kjqTQ8wdr5Fy34Er8sWubzxQuapdd4tGIwJDK2a4S24elMx6ZTrIme3Hv1U64yE9YWQEfZwwKOPqT%2BP%2BiKPg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9jp38ivaA

surfaced today amongst a mixed bag of foreign and 1950's British coin, glad I did take some time otherwise it would be on its way to the charity shop, so for your consideration a 1892. Victorian and Ganga Singh 1 Rupee, It was minted by the princely state of Bikanir under the British Rule. .917 Silver, Weight 11.45 g

I only have one these days. 20 years ago I bought a whole collection of Indian silver including several dozen assorted Rupees, but sadly I sold them all. This is William IV, 1835:

Just thought I'd share this image of a pattern five shilling piece in gold from 1853 which I handled in the RMM. Keep in mind, contemporary records show that there was discussion in parliament around this time that the half sovereign should be abolished for being too small a denomination to be made of gold, and of course the Royal Mint decided to make a smaller gold coin in response!

I may have jumped the gun, labelling this an imitation sterling! I’ve since discovered there’s actually a known class 9a coin with an ANL error and pellet on the breast, which is footnoted as extremely rare. I’d need to get a look at it in-hand…I’d be hoping that the S is top-tilted (it currently looks like it could be a mix of serifs)! We’ll see

Never a dull moment on here. Always some drama 😆

Bargain alert! It's been reduced by £56.10. Now only £409.60.

Vespasian Denarius. Reverse Jupiter standing. 69-79 AD Obverse: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Reverse: OVIS CVSTOS Is it genuine? I know next to nothing about Roman coins, but it looks very good compared to other examples at reputable dealers. Maybe a little too good? The weight looks about right.

Hi. Sharing a Henry II Tealby Penny from Canterbury. Can the moneyer's name be attributed from the little that is on-flan?

The mint signature is certainly CANTO at the top of the rev. picture because there is no sign of a termination. Where it would be is flat, and it doesn't matter whether it is a colon or initial cross, it ain't visible. RAVL is a distinct possibility given the width of the A. I'll bear that in mind. If the curl inside the C is an R tail, we are halfway there. The following A would be super-imposed on the A of the moneyer name, so possible slightly different profile given the possibility of made up letters from lines, crescents and wedges. The mint signature looks to cover about 150 degrees of the legend

With Rob’s proposition for a shorter name, I wonder whether it might be RAVL? There’s certainly a hint of the V My only other thought is, if the city was CANT, with the O being a G instead (the 2nd curve of the ‘O’ looks straighter, so a possibility I guess?), then GOLDHAVOC could also work? A die-match will be the only sure way of answering the question.

I think Alferg is only known for Bust A and this is Bust E with the hair curl, drapery joined at the left shoulder and a single row of pellets with pellet below. It doesn't look like E1 as there is no obvious triangle of pellets below the collar, so probably E2 or E3. All with the caveat that it is clearly double struck. Mint reading is CANTO, which should mean a shorter name. I'll try to dig out Allen to see if there is a die match when I clear the crap off the floor. The key will be the relative positions of the sceptre, + and hEN if there is a die match to be made, and a lot of reverse dies can be eliminated with the long mint signature.

Not 100 % sure but i think the last letter before the colons and ON is a G. So Alferg ? Perhaps. There is only two listed on the fitzwilliam corpus to compare with. Sadly one has no image and the other is just not that detailed due to wear.

Only halfpennies as it is a legacy collection. Basically I couldn't bring myself to do too much pruning as they were (mostly) too nice to throw out. And I couldn't see much point in getting rid of the unique dogs, such as the attached. An R24 in Aluminium - one that should have existed based on Peck's groupings, but he failed to locate an example. I suspect this was with a group of related aluminium die pairs at Spink when their building was bombed during WW2 and the corrosion is from water/electrolysis, as others within this group and struck in aluminium are similarly affected by water damage, albeit not as badly. See the Glens sale in the 60's or Selig's collection for other group examples. I picked it up on ebay in 2009 from the US - surprisingly nobody wanted it given its id but thankfully the condition eliminated the number chasers, so cheap as chips. . Happy days. Pennies, farthings and twopences are satisfied by an example of each type of style, rather than the nuclear option. Funds are too limited to go ballistic on all fronts.

I used to collect halfpennies and shillings as denominations, so the accumulation of Soho patterns was inevitable. I have however tempered my habits and now only 'need' an example of each Peck die pairing in whatever metal, as opposed to all die pairings in all metals.

So, I can confirm that all the S’s are serpentine and belonging to 9b with no star on breast. There is no perforation of the flan, and the rust on the reverse was not part of the coin, and has for the most part flicked off. North did not identify any ANL errors for Class 9, though Wither’s, as Coys pointed out, has recorded a London 9a piece, but also a 9b1 (which this coin is) for York (but not London). Therefore, to the best of my knowledge, this is an unrecorded obverse for London. Interestingly it arrived with a Spink ticket with 9b on it, but no mention of the legend error! Only a phone image for now!

Hi all, I’m hoping to get some opinions on an 1873 Queen Victoria shilling with die number 32 that I recently found metal detecting in Victoria, Australia. The coin was recovered about 4 inches deep in soil in bushland on the outskirts of Bendigo. It weighs approximately 5.57 g and has a normal-looking milled edge. I’ve attached photos of the obverse, reverse, die number and edge. What has made me particularly interested is that I have been unable to find die 32 listed among the known genuine 1873 shillings in the published and collector die-number lists I’ve checked. The sequence seems to include 30, 31, then 34, 35, with 32 absent. However, Gary Oddie’s BNS paper on Victorian shilling counterfeits specifically records 1873 die 32 among the known contemporary counterfeits. That raises an interesting question: was the counterfeit copied from a genuine Royal Mint die-32 shilling, or was 32 only present on a counterfeit die? The coin appears struck rather than obviously cast, and at approximately 5.57 g it is close to the normal weight for a genuine shilling. The edge milling also looks regular, with no obvious casting seam, although I appreciate none of this is enough to establish authenticity. I’d be very interested to know: Has anyone here seen or recorded a genuine 1873 die 32? Does anyone have a photograph or record of the 1873/32 contemporary counterfeit referred to by Gary Oddie? Do the die number, date position, wreath and other reverse details on this coin look consistent with normal Royal Mint production? If it proves genuine, could this potentially be the first recorded surviving example of 1873 reverse die 32? Any thoughts or references would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, David Victoria, Australia

Nothing super special about this piece, but I like how my camera caught it. Some good details for a circulation coin no doubt. Unfortunate small scratch on the beard, but barely noticeable admist the texture. This was my first good quality Edward VII that I bought, since then I've gotten a lovely 1904 Sovereign and a gorgeous 1902 matte proof shilling (alongside the long-set case, which I will complete in due course)

Yes, the Galata Guide has a 9a2 with the ANL error. I'm not 100% sure that is a pellet on the breast though, rather than just a slightly outsized pellet in the beading. The S on the reverse is badly worn, but the one on the obverse does look top-tilted to me. My opinion is that it's a 9a2 rather than an imitation sterling, but I have to admit that I'm not an expert on either series. Surprisingly (to me) though I've just counted 45 long cross in my collection. Only one sterling though.

It has a bit but its only a minuscule hole i think. It's looking promising for that rare one though Fingers crossed 🤞 Stu.

DrLarry has voluntarily left the forum, only his last comment above remains visible. Absence of Uniformity, it's not the first time you've rubbed someone up the wrong way. 👀 ___________________________________________________________ < line drawn under it.

You’ve finally got some scales 😃 Taking your weight, and using the criterion from the North article below, I’d say yours is an early issue (1280-1284?) Dublin farthing - Open Es & Cs and the clear wedge-tailed R of Rex. Whilst the reverse legend is weak, it does appear to me that there are both a D and an I starting in each quarter, making it Dublin (CIVI TAS DVBL INIE). I believe the only other mint for these farthings is Waterford (CIVI TAS VATE RFOR), so you can probably rule that out in this case…I’ll let you to decide what letters you see, it’ll be so much easier for you to confirm in-hand. https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/pdfs/1997_BNJ_67_4.pdf

Definitely just post mint damage as Chris says. I think someone back in the late 1800s actually suspected it might have been a forgery (it's not, but many were at the time) and has cut or chopped the flan to test. The metal displacement can be seen along the entire length of the cut on the top side of it (so chopped at an angle upwards from SW to NE) and subsequent circulation wear has smoothed it out a bit including blending it into the beads, and separating off the bottom serif of the I to make a big blob. Not a mint fault, I'm afraid. You're actually not far wrong when you say hit with an axe! More likely a chisel.

In theory it's supposed to be the equivalent of GEF in the UK system. https://mycoinage.co.uk/grading-guide It usually closer to lower EF in my experience.

I'm still finding interesting Empire coinage as I sift through..... these I had but not ventured near in over 35 years, now I have a page that covers different monarchs, dates and country's.... I do like the colonial use coins as well, 👍

I love these…great designs!

Lovely! I've been getting 1 rupees whenever I can. I have a Hyderabad one in my watch list too. I'll continue to look for one per year of the Imperial ones and then one from each Princely state that minted them.

Yes. I have full sympathy with Commodore Perry, who seemed to attach his tickets to coins like this .. less chance of them being misplaced I suppose.

I've experienced both sides of a "lost ticket". In 2014 bought an ex-JP Mass collection (#1275) short-cross penny from eBay and it was delivered with the wrong ticket. The seller said he'd send me the correct ticket so I returned it to him, at which point he told me he couldn't find the original ticket. I do have Mass 574 & 1241 with their original tickets though.

Heh. I just stick to one per year of my shillings and florins. That's enough to keep me poor 🤣

I 100% understand your point, though I have to say the fine ‘lines’ on the right-hand example look very different, and very suspect to me. Commendable that you’re embracing numismatics at this level, especially for someone of your age. Excellent stuff 🙏

Very unfortunate. It would be fascinating to put the face to the name. Joseph Edgar Boehm, however, was photographed quite a lot at least! And by the looks of it he may have been a model at heart 😂

Well, if you can find it on Amazon, I would highly recommend it! It’s looked at impartially, investigating both its positives AND downsides, with some unexpected discoveries/findings!

I don't know who the merchant W&P was, but here's another one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135147031137?_trksid=p4375194.c102726.m162918 I found another one, but then couldn't find it again two minutes later...

Thanks @Paddy I did see that forum when looking around yesterday after I posted already and thought the same. I'll re post later on and try my luck on there. Appreciate the quick reply :-)

On my own 1887 penny, her left hand index finger is also hideously deformed !

Crikey, that escalated. I'm used to seeing that kind of stuff on football forums, but never expected to see it on a coin forum. Nor hope to again.

I'm no expert on halfpennies - I created the site in lockdown for something to do and would never suggest that it's an exhaustive source of info on halfpennies. I will add something about these colons once the position is clear.

Looks like a (post mint) scratch to me. The blob above the C is displaced metal moved aside from the rim, caused by the scratch.

Get a room, you two...

And what about the Gothic Crowns? A$84000+ commission = £58,000 phew. I was happy to get three lots including one piece, I believe unique, from the collection.