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This is what my garden looks like in the cold and damp!! Cycad, Musa, Echium, Canna, Hedychium all wrapped up. Soil heaters in the pots if it gets very cold. I fit a translucent tarp across the veranda, and we get a small room full of plants to play cards in in the winter! Lemon/lime cross full of fruit this year- gonna do some lime pickle....!!

I thought it worth reviving this one to show another 1698 halfpenny recently acquired. As has been previously mentioned here, these are very difficult to find, particularly in decent grades, having been struck for three months only. It pays to keep one's eyes peeled…

I think all these alterations add to the history. A plug means someone thought it interesting enough to use as a medallion or touch piece, then someone later felt it was interesting enough to repair. Engravings are often love tokens or claims to ownership. A split or fragment means it has been in the ground for some time. I think that is why I find perfect proof coins a bit dull.

I brought mine for £63; 8 years ago.

Not particularly flattering, is it? Having said that, my all time low is probably the 2002 Queen Mother £5 portrait. The first time I saw one of those, I had to do a quick check that it was a Royal Mint product and not some private enterprise output. Give Anne her dues. She is probably the hardest working royal of the 4, and I suspect has a greater sense of duty than the others.

A good crop this year. Pollinating the vanilla orchid flowers is a tricky business.

Hi all! I’ve been collecting on and off for a few years but only recently decided to try and take it up seriously. Came across this Henry VII plugged groat at a fair which after some deliberation I decided to buy as apart from the plug I thought was a really nice example but just wondering what people’s views are on plugged coins generally - do other collectors avoid them altogether and do they hold any value? I thought the price was reasonable given the plug but wonder what others views are. Would others buy a plugged coin to fill a gap or go for a lower grade, non-damaged, coin instead? Thanks!

I guess most "serious" collectors would avoid plugged coins, or any other damage. But if that is the only way you can fill a gap within budget, then go for it! I have a number of damaged coins in my collection - some with engravings in the field, some ex-mount, some hammered even missing fragments, but they will fill the gaps until and unless I can afford to replace them with something better. Here, for example, is my William I penny. I would love to have one without the missing chunk, but until one comes along at a price I am happy with, it will stay with me. Your Henry VII, by the way, is a lovely example apart from the plug.

Here's another relatively recent 1701 find I'm rather pleased with. As for Vs on the obverse, large zero reverse.

And my 1694 upgrade. Quite chuffed. . Thankfully people focussed on the description which said pitted flan, which is due to it being cast rather than rolled as per spec, but as that accounts for half the halfpennies or more of this period, should not be something to worry about.

Here's one I found last year, GV over B on the obverse. Extremely rare in any grade.

Maybe it's me, but it's only a short time ago that members were talking of the lack of activity on the forum, as if it was stagnating, and now we have a pile of new members turn up recently.....good to see....

This was found lurking in with some worn Hammered coins....... Silver 6 Pfennings 1734. Prince Louis Rudolph (Ludwig Rudolf) (1731-1735) Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (German States) apparently quite a rarity 👍

Welcome to the forum. I am no expert on the Gun Money, but it would seem likely that there are many die faults and die fill variations around as they were struck largely on campaign. Even the regal coinage from the 1690s has a huge number of variations.

I took this pic- got a T adapter so my telescope became my cheap camera's lens. No tracking, quick snap, no stacking software to build up the image. Even though it's not up to the standards you see a lot, I'm chuffed I caught the fact that Jupiter is striped! No moons visible- had to stop it right down...

From the other direction Turmeric, Delonix regia ( from old seeds from John), delicate hibiscus etc. I got fed up with my dark garden so I've done something about it!!

I think this is one too. This one in Hong Kong and taken in 1986. The building is the Officer's mess of the Queens Gurkha Engineers - I suspect long since demolished by the new Chinese regime.

No sorry but they are just scrap. The best thing to do with any Bronze coins post 1901 is to buy the David Groom book " British 20th Century Bronze Coin Varieties ". Its only about £10-£15 posted on Amazon and will help you get familiar with any varieties for Bronze Pennies, Halfpennies and Farthings. There is a seperate one for silver coins also, should you be interested in those.

It was the basis of the updates, subject to his future decisions. He later removed the milled penny (that I recently sold) from the catalog after receiving an assessment from the Royal Mint that it was a post mint alteration. Just as his 1970 edition was an extension of his several updated versions of his penny studies expanded to include half pennies, farthings, patterns, trials, etc. There are ALWAYS corrections, updates, modifications, etc to a work of this magnitude. There have been many new discoveries to add to Peck, Braman, Freeman, etc. No guide/catalog is a final authority, it merely contains information known at the time. They grow, mature, learn, make adjustments and corrections, expand as a living being.

Dont know if this is any interest to anyone. Although i have posted in pennies, it also covers other bronze. These were amendments freeman made after his first bronze book, showing some that he had estimated to be less rare than he originally thought or at the time of print didnt know existed, such as the 1860 Halfpenny mule, 1870 Dot penny etc.

I suspect so, and while close I don’t think it’s an actual die match with H’s. Potentially a very rare coin, especially as the one illustrated is the best Dave Greenhalgh could find! Jerry

Hi Stu, here is the pic. Very similar crown. Jerry

That very distinctive ‘stalked’ central fleur looks pretty much identical to the illustration of the ‘Edward III Pre Treaty Series E York Episcopal’ Penny on page 70 of ‘The Galata Guide to Mediaeval Pennies Part 1’ though I cannot see a quatrefoil after ‘ANGLIE’ on H’s specimen. It is an interesting coin, and I think Dave Greenhalgh is the man to give an opinion here, if anyone is a contact. Jerry

wow, the penny has been Identified to be .......😲👍 Edward III, York. Quatrefoil in centre of reverse, CIVI TAS EBO RACI

Poinciania time. Trees just coming into bloom and an eastern water dragon a common harmless lizard in SE Queensland. Grows to about 2 ft in length.

If anyone is after some 2024 coins best get in now before prices go crazy (as usual when a coin or set of coins is confirmed NIFC): https://www.royalmint.com/corporate/circulating-coin/uk-currency/mintages/

The article mentions "Norman" and "dates to just after the Battle of Hastings" so I'd have thought more likely William I. The few I can read seem to bear the legend +PILLEM, which would indicate that to be the case.

That's not a bad price to be honest. All the Charles III sets seem to be expensive. I'm not sure there's much better available in the UK to be honest. I picked up one for £46 last month, that's the cheapest I could find.

You can view Dalton & Hamer's book online: https://www.scribd.com/document/206664745/The-provincial-token-coinage-of-the-18th-century-illustrated-by-R-Dalton-and-S-H-Hamer

I was going to reply to all these but too many to do - I'll give you the task of finding a D&H. Life is so much simpler with one as all the varieties are illustrated. Punctuation, present or missing is important, as is the position of the legend relative to itself or other features as this will determine the die(s) used and hence the variety. For this piece: Milled edge will be D&H 351 - common. 351a edge reads 'AN ASYLUM .......NATIONS' - Rare 351b edge 'BIRMINGHAM OR SWANSEA' - Very Rare. 351c edge 'PAYABLE AT LONDON LIVERPOOL OR BRISTOL.' - Rare. And for any 19th century tokens you might acquire, a good reference you will find is 19the Century Token Coinage, by W J Davis. Sorry, I will lose the will to live if I do many more. I don't have any copies of either in stock, but do have the references in an emergency and if all else fails will help. Every collector added to the list of known people in a certain field helps.

Somehow I don't think I'll even leave a space in my "Shillings from 1702 - 1970" binder for that one! 🤣

I need to spend a penny!!!!!!!!! 🤣

I still think there is only one die for these, as that was the 4th I'm aware of, and they are definitely the same obverses. There are 2 different reverse dies however, which is probably to be expected (see alignment of 17 and final A). My current example is the third coin, which I picked up in DNW 76, lot 287. My first one came from ebay in 2004 and both cost a tenner. Excuse the GV/B 1694 which was added to keep things neat. That was the discovery piece by Colin Cooke in 2004. I have since upgraded that with the superb example in London Coins 168, lot 1407. I saw it, GV/B not mentioned in the description, compared with mine and promptly put a very large 'must buy' label in my shopping list. Those are the only two I have recorded, but there must more out there.

oh no it wasn't dont you remember that Dianna coin - i have one here i bought in a bulk lot and it makes me ill looking at it

Or the Queen Mum down at the dogs cheering on hers while necking a bottle of Worthington....

Maybe their should have been a princess Margaret coin should have had a fag in her mouth and be doing a Hilda ogden

I suppose then, that you finally got it in the end.........

I am no longer allowed to "Edit" a post - is this intentional ? Ah, it's hidden behind the 3 dots !!!!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/406401131122?itmmeta=01KAERC51PCV21AAX0JS88BEF2&hash=item5e9f652272:g:xt8AAeSwfFdpHfm3&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cOxyiQubdP6q4BPu%2FxdIXUFNvE9awpV1y%2FtN8jQOjKa6EqNCZRWJO67CdDE38lpIX2PYoe%2FIN2xTD62T0c1biKnXN2BGPDocT6Sqe4hzdEDDO1Cx9ih4MLBEHMXESsCrf4pZDakLlDrHymsvpAIDJ5axfF3QFb0p4hH777kQa%2FiDL%2Fk1kwHmZJknr95kBXJWt%2B9tSzi2fYWleqXNz%2Fd%2FSo1dfWLX3BskJpN2ebLpaw9S4VCQXCGg%2BIyjlBM63Iv7%2BwQESo%2F34yLYokoq6KfxJk|tkp%3ABk9SR5rRsNjTZg An interesting coin, presumably minted whilst Victoria was in rented accommodation trying to hide her facial hair from the nation ?

I am not sure. I have just been looking at all my Ed VII halfcrowns, and all bar 1910 have the orb very slightly offset to the right. I am more concerned by the irregularity of the "SOI QUI", but that could be PMD or poor focus.

Good morning everyone! Haven't posted in a while! I was able to get in touch with Mr. Dyer back in September. Although I am still waiting for some additional clarification here is his initial take on the issues at hand. Firstly, concerning the existence of a silver crown: Secondly, concerning the whole VIP vs Proof vs whatnot debate: I shall update the thread in case I receive more details!

Yes - 1920 was the last year they only used the deep cut obverse portrait, which 'sucked' metal away from Britannia, and caused a 'ghost' of the portrait outline which you can see clearly in the top example; it's more common to see between 1911 and 1920 than fully struck up reverses. In 1921 about half the pennies use a shallower portrait which partly alleviated the problem, but it wasn't until the Modified Effigy from 1926 that they reduced the effect to small enough not to worry about.

Another randomly found lurking at the bottom of a cardboard box... "Ivan The Terrible" Horseman brandishing sabre on galloping horse to right Silver (.960) Lettering: КНSЬ ВЕЛIКI IВАН Translation: Grand Duke Ivan interesting find for me 👍

There is a lot to unpick there! First to cover off the non-tokens - the halfpennies and farthings - these are all covered adequately in the usual "Coins of England and the United Kingdom" reference book. Nothing listed in your selection looks massively scarce and value will depend largely on condition. The Gaming tokens generally have very little value. They were made mostly during Victoria's reign as nostalgic mementoes. The regional tokens are the interesting pieces. D&H refers to the Dalton and Hamer "Provincial Token Coinage of the 18th Century" series of books and reference numbers printed in the early 20th century. These numbers were repeated in "The Token Book" printed by Galata in 2010, which is probably the easiest reference to get hold of now. I have not the time to go through and check the rarity of all the tokens listed, and value will vary enormously depending on condition. Looks like the good basis for starting a collection, and you probably need to acquire or borrow the reference book to progress.

Is this an error or is it just a die fill ? Reads RFX instead of REX. I can't find it in the Spinks guide or much about it online. I think the month may be the September variant with the stop after Sept and after XII but not 100 % sure of that.

Yes, not helped by the fact most survive in terrible condition and most were not even properly struck in the first place.

One of the oldest axioms for life: "Don't eat yellow snow"!

Well.............! starting off it amazes me that I have accumulated such a diverse range of coins...... without really trying Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth coin from 1621...who would believed it Silver (.813) oh well its old and hammered so its staying with others ...... 🙄

Just back from WA, the jacarandas are absolutely spectacular this time of year!