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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.

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…

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....!!

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.

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.

I think any coin person would have recognised it instantly and been able to find the exact type based on the details that can just about be made out. I'm pleased that I was better at it than millions of dollars of silicon valley AI power. I must admit though, I did use google lens to identify something the other day. 😉 I haven't been that active on the forum for quite a while, and do you know what, it's good to be back!

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.

Whilst sorting through others I found these mixed in as well, worth showing today, Rose & XII value mm. y & tun ( several bust varieties ) any comments or information greatly welcome. all the very best "H"

I agree, it’s either die wear or very possibly the power of the strike, a reduced impact affecting the metal flow into the recesses of the die. Other detail such as the rocks and the lines on Britannia’s shield also seems reduced. I really don’t know who’s given her the finger though. Jerry

Yes, as Paddy has narrowed it down to, the Bristol coin is class 3cd, and it looks to me that the London coin is a class 10/11 mule, on account of the angle-backed C on the reverse. This is an excellent resource if you haven’t any books on the series. https://www.rodblunt.com/edwardian-pennies

Well done on your sorting! I hope you didn't give away the Crown Jewels to the charity shop! The Gothic Florins are a lovely design. Yours is pretty well worn, but you can still just make out the date as 1871. A nice souvenir.

Some small coins that I've been checking this afternoon 🙂 we have an 1817 sixpence, an 1843 fourpence, a 1912 threepence and an 1876 third farthing. I think they're all pretty decent grade wise; the photos are okay but not amazing 😅.

It's a 'wound star' - I guess the equivalent of the Purple Heart. He got shrapnel in his eye at Monte Cassino and had to be operated on in the field. (Later went to an optician in London who turned out to have been his surgeon).

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/

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!

There are advantages to having good old-fashioned reference books!

Hello 🙂 sadly this coin is suffering from some bright green patches but they don't show up particularly in the photo! I think it's an Edward III groat / London but that's all I can work out at the moment. I think that cross is just hidden by a shadow at the bottom of the first photo, but am I roughly looking at the right part of the coin for this type of mark? Thank you 🙂

These almost always appear at 12 O'clock on the obverse, before the monarch's name. 🙂 Without literature to hand, looks like a Treaty period groat without French titles. Dating to between 1361-9.

A recent discovery that some of my florins... below the bust you can see the Die No, makes it that much more interesting for me. 👍

Interesting one, as looks to have an error in the mint reading where the LON and DON have been swapped: DON LON IEN SIS instead of LON DON IEN SIS. Looks to be Edward I, class 3d.

For those that had not spotted it before (like me), there is now an option to contribute to the running of this forum. On the main forum page, down the right hand side, if you click on the amount raised so far, underneath "Current Donation Goals", you can make a donation. All you require is a Paypal account - and funds of course!

Eighteen years and I've found my third one in change today. Not a great looker though.

In case you come across anymore of these, the date is in Roman Numerals just behind Victoria's shoulder. You can just make out the lxxi at the end and can assume the rest. Worth knowing how to date them as some dates are much scarcer and more valuable than others.

Another possible missing waves, this time 1963

Well done, Chris. Thanks for all your efforts to get the site back on track.

I have constant problems with gas bubbles. 🤔

Those books are interesting but only really scratch the surface. They are more for general interest than reference. For GB pre-decimal coins you really need "Coins of England and the United Kingdom", which comes out each year. (No need to get every year as most of the detail remains fairly static.) Here it is on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coins-England-United-Kingdom-2025/dp/1917269005/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BP3BH96G6F8E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.n4edWGlfb0yBRNDiHCBke5TXqasrBgeyFMD1Mxlg1X5FyKMNS5_w0cPGFQTteufUMLUWKZQ7NLwDhuQMSDq7W3yvSt0Vdhzl0QEvg4PFWCnEE7LZYMHuEVoJFPhxn7PS9HyQwSy6F_D1wm6gvN3uLAtRISHccMe9iyK-1czDV-RR0j-8iokTk-Q6lfvgwfyEQbJh_tgEGJ57pCTeIEBxnpMKzvtXBQPNSFJcrPZj5ek.RLeA8d0awh9bFG9pAjuAGOTGTPi2U6cRY13R1oddGLw&dib_tag=se&keywords=spink+coins+of+england+2025&qid=1761917519&s=books&sprefix=coins+%2Cstripbooks%2C218&sr=1-1 For World coins, the main reference books are the Krause World Coins series, but these are telephone directory tomes, one for each century, and I am not sure if they are even still printed. Best is to use the online website https://en.numista.com/ unless you need to get very specialised.

Paddy is correct - it's also an annulet issue. This is denoted by the small rings by the neck and between two of the trefoils in the centre of the reverse.

To add more - the 1900 Crown is quite common and not rare. On the edge you will see the words ANNO REGNI followed by Roman numerals - for 1900 these will be either LXIII or LXIV for the 63rd or 64th year of her reign. They are of equal scarcity but interesting. In that condition probably £40 to £50 in the current market. The Florin 1887 is the most common year for Jubilee head florins as it was the first year of this design and a great many were put aside. Condition is better but probably £20 to £25. The shilling 1897 is probably the nicest coin and the most collectable grade - the same value as the florin. All in my humble opinion - others may say different.

It's some kind of 'Conder' regional token, almost certainly a halfpenny. Date appears to be 1791. That's probably a sheep fleece in the coat of arms and it's probably a bishop on the other side - someone will know what town that makes it! Unless you can read anything off it.

I bought an F33 with I over I in BRITT at Noonan's last week. It's my second example, but with a different overstrike: And the previous one:

I tried to post this just after we'd retained the Ryder Cup but it wouldn't let me. It seems less amusing now...........

In the interest of trying to keep some coins showing on the forum , I'll try to post this 1962 penny with missing waves and horizon left of lighthouse . listed by David Groom , [ but not pictured ]