Leaderboard

During the first week of May I spotted a 'Silver Hammered Penny King Edward I' for sale as a Buy-it-now' on Ebay, £38 total including Ebay insurance and 48hr Royal Mail Tracked delivery. As the coin was in fact an Edward III florin coinage penny of Canterbury, and quite scarce, I bought it and tracking showed that the vendor posted it on 10th May. Over the next 48hrs or so it tracked to the Birmingham MC sorting office - where it stayed. After a fortnight I spoke to the vendor who contacted RM and received an unhelpful reply and no coin. After 3 weeks Ebay gave me my money back within 24hrs of my claim as suggested by the vendor and I wrote the coin off mentally with much regret. It is noteworthy that with the refund Ebay actually state that if the purchase is subsequently found it can be kept and they do not have to be informed. Well, it was delivered out of the blue by postie on Thursday! Only 8 weeks in transit! The vendor and I have exchanged several cheerful emails and I get to keep the coin for nothing! As far as I can tell the coin is S1547, N1122 (VR) and DIG Obv 1 rev Ai. Jerry

Then a decent 1863 'open 3' , £30 at Midland Coin Fair.

I am impressed that so many of your Whisky bottles still have contents! Mine always seem to spring a leak...

Here are some close ups of the ships I took sometime ago. First is a 5 Incuse, although an older version than my current, then plain then 7 rellief.

Whilst the interest in collecting from change may fade away, the interest in rarities, especially nice ones, is likely to be subsumed into the general collector desire for quality rarities seen across all spheres. Otherwise, how do you explain the prices paid for hammered coins, none of which circulated in living memory. Their desirability stems from the history and all coins are part of that same history. Not all denominations have a large following, but one day their turn will come when relative rarities are fully appreciated. Take halfpennies. Much rarer than pennies in top grade because alongside farthings, they were the mainstay of the working class cash economy. That means a high grade example is always a good long term bet given they weren't normally set aside and collected per se. It is a common thread throughout history. Look at Roman sestertii as an example. These were the circulating base coinage of the Roman era, and again, not something the rich and famous would set aside. However, the Bolsena Hoard found in the late 19th century in northern Italy provides ample evidence that even 1700 years ago someone thought them collectable. As the hoard contained a large number of top grade sestertii spanning a few centuries, it beggars belief that they were collected from circulation. The hoard only makes sense as a collection. i.e. we are just the latest in a long history of people who collect from interest, rather than as an investment. As I wrote in my testimony to Cope part 2. We 'met' on ebay. He, as my regular nemesis, eventually asking if I was a copper collector. Silly and obvious really. When we had both bid over twice book on a lustrous 1718 halfpenny that came back in the sale as a 65RB, it was clear that we both appreciated the relative quality of the coin, and how infrequently they turn up. High grade modern pennies will also fall into that same collectable category once enough have been melted and are no longer readily available, and this might happen sooner than you think. In the past 20 years, I estimate that I have consigned somewhere near a ton of bronze to be melted of all denominations. Why? Because nobody wanted them, so you melt to free up cash. The odd rare piece will have gone through undetected, but the vast majority will have been worth scrap value. I am not alone in having done this. This will increase the relative abundance of the rarities over time. Every dog has its day, and as far as I can see, always will do so on a recurring basis.

I now have my own New model crown and a total beauty it is to I got it for less than three figures so am really happy its in about EF grade

One of the fundamental rules of collecting is that it is entirely down to individual taste, with no right or wrong. A person unable to see alternative views is too blinkered or has an unhealthy personal interest in the outcome. It is also a given that if someone writes down their research on paper, some people will collect said identified differences. One or more of the latter group will then see anomalies and try to rationalise them, and so the research continues. The logical conclusion therefore is that eventually, we will able to identify nearly all of the coin dies that were ever made. Not 100%, but pretty damn close. As a reference point - great. As a collecting aim - get a life if you want everything, and ask to carry any brownie points into the afterlife, because you will need all the time you have 10x over I can't explain why, but whenever I hear the passionate debates about what is right and wrong and the refusal to back down on a view, I am always reminded of the late Eric Heffer's speech in the Commons concerning the Labour left's hounding of Princess Michael of Kent regarding her father being in the SS during WW2. The basics were along the lines of: I think it important that someone from this side says this. I've never met the woman, have no desire to meet her and I am unlikely to ever do so, but in a democracy, nobody can be held accountable for the actions of their forefathers. So if those trying to make political capital from this would kindly sit down and shut up, we can get on with the business for which we were duly elected. He may have been left wing, but living in a democracy topped his political views By extrapolation, a tolerance of conflicting views ensures that life can continue peacefully, with the only likely damage in numismatics being data overload. I can live with that. The views will always be diverse, only the tolerance varies.

Fully functional teapots hollow spouts and removable lids.

🤔 yeah I get it..I have a 1930's Nickle 5 Cents the native (Liberty) Indian, it was in a poor way, I polished down the other side until blank, I'm having "Non Mortuus Tamen" added. its going to be a zip pull tag inside my Bike Jacket.🤘🏻 👊🏻

All beer is like that Rob. I personally prefer "afters":

...and as you can see, this part of the garden is a place of quiet contemplation.....

I like that there are variations with the 1799. I have 3 - 5 incuse gunports (which seems to be the most common), 7 relief gunports and plain hull. The best is probably this 5 incuse:

I have been giving my unwanted pennies to a charity shop (animal not human they are too greedy) and when I go in to see how they fared they are always sold out, apparently its youngsters going in to buy them, so maybe its an upward trend, hopefully

The problem with spurious Mint emissions is that a deliberate anomalous product commands a much higher price than a random blank picked up and thrown in the bucket for use. i.e. if you could prove it was a striking specifically tied to a certain mint action, such as trying out a regular mix on a different thickness blank, or a test for a new currency contract from a foreign country, you will do better than the unintended oddball. Wrong flans occur regularly, which is not surprising given the billions of blanks cut every year. Clearly even a hundred wrong'uns would be extremely rare, but in the context of mint operations would only amount to a rounding error if checked for weight. So to consider the above point, it is definitely not common, certainly excessively rare (in the context of a currency issue) and maybe even unique. The problem lies in documentation, because errors are by definition, not struck for the records.

I've just formed an end-of-season football harmony group, called Manhattan Transfer Window. You're welcome.

Thanks both, that is helpful. I will report back... P

Why don't you do that and find out as it is a cheap option? The cameras of the new phones are constantly getting better and you could very well be happy with the results.

Not absolutely everyone then! 😂 Still very happy with my acquisition 🖖

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/127945382130?_skw=1696&itmmeta=01KWV68AKFNDSWCKKGPY94SJ64&hash=item1dca2398f2:g:iPYAAeSw35RqQGXn&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAAwGfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDovThOToFz2ZFPxugPA9XSFNn8ZGWTRKC3MuiLJB2vvvikM48JUeNQ5533R99qzPdpkTJiede8k08e1bKo7QPHnPdYirkor3VFy0FOX2Qdv22cpy62ndLBOphkklDDLEyhg7Dorvm0zathn1pNWUCTsodDHQA6DNvLqugFfUYUWRm5YRDRZiZddbZrVpucvMHW9MCW66Ze6LEzfoQ8w6lGoPt4ne1QgIBCoh6HWU%2FLyw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR6aqoebmZw

On the plus side, a lot of the flan issues were ironed out during the decimal patterns by using various metal mixes and flan thicknesses. The presence of almost consistent flan lamination for certain varieties suggests an attempt to standardise minting conditions, more importantly on a series which didn't circulate. The engraving wasn't particularly divergent from the normal currency issues, but the minor fiddling with mixes and also presumably striking forces for the mixes will have helped immensely in arriving at the ideal.

Your picture is too blurred for comment but here are my own pictures from my website: Single exergue with waves almost touching the line and double exergue with waves clear of the line.

Just to add a bit more: the first few years of the changeover to bronze saw a helluva lot of repunching of date digits and legend letters. Bronze is a harder metal than copper, and the coins were thinner in size, so dies got worn relatively quickly. As well as that, the Mint is reported to have experienced a lot of problems caused by the change of metal, which the huge number of varieties (major, minor, and micro) in the first few years can attest to.

Just an oddball. Letters and digits on worn/filled dies were often repaired by re-punching, and not surprisingly these were often slightly misplaced. Of little extra interest unless the wrong punch has been used or the misplacement is extreme. As for the ‘4’ it may just be a die flaw. Jerry

Here is a pair of 1/12 queen Anne flintlock pistols I made. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JRH-9o-P6sg

Here is all the dies I made with the different collars.

An 1889 F127 narrow date,13.5 teeth £200 on Ebay.

An 1874H F69, £17.10 on Ebay.

Finally, after a month of challenge getting BT/Open Reach to repair my landline I at last have acceptable broadband and can post some recent acquisitions. First an example F10 new obverse 2*, £20 at Ebay auction.

Yes, most certainly a worn die. And a truly shocking price which would be way too high even for a good strike UNC example. Here's a much better example at a reasonable price: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/157378763239?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338946167&toolid=20006&loc=&customid=4581527531114051_710033490_o.9beeaa501cf11ef92efac014f4958c05&msclkid=9beeaa501cf11ef92efac014f4958c05

It's expensive to ship in- you pay exide duty on it. See what I did there?

No he didn’t Specialist edition is just 1860-1901. The Binder for sale The British Bronze Penny, you can ask what you want but £40-£50 ish and Richard Bee wanted one recently I think in here.

I think he has already explored that option, but if he tried to enact it, all hell would let loose and would result in massive internal upheaval of the violent kind. As ever, he says something and waits for the reaction before pursuing whatever he is trying to implement. The military swears an oath of allegiance to the Constitution, not Trump, so you have an instant division of the armed forces, and as much as he thinks he is popular, that would be a step too far in the view of most Americans, whatever side they are on. Only him and his buddies would benefit in the short term at the expense of the rest of the population who will of necessity have a hard time. But in time he will turn on his friends too, as all dictators end up doing this eventually when someone disagrees with them. IMO It won't fly - thankfully.

I missed it when listed as a BIN which was a pity, Good luck 😀👍.

To me thats what will keep these few and far between and the premium up. @RChris I have had another look tonight trying to find a country the RM has struck coins of a similar weigt and size without any luck.

What size is it?

Were they the band that had a big hit with Carabao D'Amour?

Here are a couple of pennies from the Minster Auction Stu references elsewhere. The first I think is a class 2, though I am unsure which. It has particularly long side fleurs, wedge shaped contraction marks and reversed ‘N’s and I think that the ‘N’ in ‘DNS’ is double barred.

"Your coin will be carefully packaged in protective materials". WHY???

Thanks guys, very informative 🙂

Rev

We’re just getting ready to fly out to Germany for a wedding, so can’t comment at this point. Interestingly, I hadn’t noticed the DIG Galata guide until your post, another book to buy!

I dont own a dollshouse myself but in my spare time I make objects for collectors (I'm amateur jeweller), here is 1/12 scale fully functional padlock.

Last year my wife and I, daughter and grandson drove Route 66 from Vegas to Chicago. While in Vegas I went to an antique store in the Art District.. On looking around among the sporting memorabilia and vintage coke bottles I found a British proof 1950 crown complete with its presentation box for $US30. I was surprised to find such an item. Just goes to show how the unexpected sometimes happens.

Amongst the copper and bronze I am sorting through, as mentioned in another thread, is this one little silver piece. Any thoughts? About 15mm diameter at the longest, 1.5mm thick and weighs 3.1g.

Possibly eastern European or a little further east. It should be straightforward though with the rider's hat, which is probably the best indicator of the area being distinctive in style. Say Persia or Turkey. Sorry, it's too hot and can't be ar**d at the moment, but guarantee someone will be into hat detail, given it must be a nerdy topic.

I try to avoid "slabbed" coins as made by the third party grading services like NGC however this time it's worth it for the verification that it is a genuine coin, even if harshly cleaned. In this case, there is a bit of historical significance to the coin. On the reverse is a small trident to the side of the mint mark of A. "A" signifies the Paris Mint and the trident was the privy mark of Zéphyrin Camélinat, who was the treasurer of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune">Paris Commune of 18 March to 28 May of 1871</a>. Despite the foot dragging of the bankers and the approaching troops of the conservative republican government, he managed to produce, it is believed, about 75,000 5 Franc silver coins, 30,600 of which were in two wagon loads that were taken to the front lines directly from the Paris mint so that the doomed soldiers fighting for the Commune could receive their back pay on May 20 as the final battles began. <a href="The Coins of the Commune">The Coins of the Commune</a> (the term sou survived from pre-revolutionary France as a slang word for 1⁄20 of a franc - thus 100 sou = 5 francs) One in nearly perfect condition recently sold for $9,000 and fakes are all too common. This one, with the damage from the heavy cleaning - the scratches are quite visible even through the slab - was "only" $295 and moves into 5th place in my "you spent how much on a single coin???" list. It is still a classic example of being reminded to grab the best you can afford because that's better than none. Nevertheless this will be the gem of my French coin collection.

A 9mm across half penny. How on earth were these used as currency. It was a real pain to find in the mud! I can really understand how someone would have lost this.