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1863 Slender 3 F44 Well I just can't believe my luck on this one, I never thought I'd ever manage to get my hands on one of these 🤩

Hadrian Ӕ Tetradrachm of Alexandria Dated Year 20. AD 135-136 Obv: AYT KAIC TRAIA ADRIANOC CEB clockwise from top right, laureate head left. Rev: Date LK (year 20) to left of Nilus sitting left, holding reed and cornucopiae, crocodile beneath him. Emmett 1016

This was a recent pickup in a USA auction, I like the condition of the piece, it being much better than most farthings of that era - but I enjoy the additional cuds on Charles II's nose and Britannia's right arm from the die breaking down. Also it appears as though the numeral 1 in 1675 was repunched - almost appears to have been repunched over a numeral 5!

I just won 18 Postumus (A.D. 260- 269) coins from the Oliver's Orchard Hoard of 1983. The hoard was found while plowing a field and consisted of 1,559 coins, almost entirely of Postumus antoniniani except for 14 denarii of Septimius Severus.

I wonder what Linda would make of this one. Perhaps missing waves......and lighthouse!!

Its a rotated die clash which this overlayed picture shows quite well.

I'm afraid I will have to agree with the vendor here. It is problem free - because the coin is too flat to see them.

1862 2+G F38 Another rare slot in the collection filled

Quite an impressive first post, to say the least.

... and it turns out the lines were some kind of glue/varnish residue. Same coin after an acetone bath:

It suddenly occurred to me the other day I had put a bid in for a nice looking penny on eBay. I had to put the bid in early as I had a long drive when it was due to mature. By the time I got home the auction was over. Now here is my conundrum. I could check with the web site to see if I had been successful or not. But if I did I might have failed in my bid and had lost the coin. However, if I don’t check it out I could still hold the winning bid, but I won’t know until I looked at the listing. Therefor, I might have won that coin, or not, until I find out one way or the other. I( I have lost the bid then I would be disappointed, so am I in a better position by not looking? Unless I have won it.

Loddy Heck!!! errrmmmm... This George V 1911 2 pence Maundy is also in nice condition as well 😕 I don't no how has happed but its in nice condition all the same. 👍

The double plume 1887 crown represents about 5% of the population. It is recorded and mentioned in a paper submitted to BNS blog but not yet published. Several of them were in The Thorburn Collection sold by Sovereign Rarities 23rd. Sep. 2025. notably lot 81

Another possibility, given the stylised hands, which are very eastern/indian looking, is that it represents ‘fate,’ ‘meant to be,’ etc.? A word taken from Arabic/Turkish/Indian roots meaning ‘lot’ or unshakeable destiny. Here’s a clip I found on Google: ‘Historically (particularly in the Victorian era), people would smooth down one side of a circulating coin and hand-engrave it with names, initials, or symbolic words like Kismet. These were gifted to romantic partners as a physical representation of unshakeable destiny.’’ edit: and from Dictionary.com Kismet means fate or destiny. In Islam, kismet refers to the will of Allah. But it is popularly used to refer to something that one believes was “meant to be”— ...

It's not entirely bad, but there is certainly wear on the king's hair/beard/brow/cheek/tash/ear and on the lion's body/tail/feet and also on parts of the crown.

The other pick up today was this 1874 Penny. I think it is 8+G making it F77, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong. The lines in the fields, particularly on the reverse, are confusing. My original thought was die-clash, but I can' make out which parts of the design they could represent. The coin is currently taking an Acetone bath to make sure it is not some glue residue!

Retrospectively, only when you win. At the time it is useful to have a spare set of underwear to hand if a coin in demand has to be bought. Not so thrilling trying to explain that one.

just tacking on to this topic in regards to found in good condition,...... and theses six pence's dated 1911 George V and a young head Victoria 1887 fall into this category, I had these dates already paged however theses are in so much better condition, so need to show and switch them out... 👍

I had the good fortune to pick up a couple of these coins, recently, for a bargain £145 the pair. But when pawing over them, marvelling at how new they looked, in what appeared to be nearly full lustre, I noticed they were from the same pair of dies, and looking suspiciously similar. Further investigations revealed that all the other class VIs I could find out there were also looking lustred and from the same dies…beginning to feel suspicious at this point. UNTIL, that is, I discovered the 1969 Colchester Hoard was linked to a couple of the recent sales, leading me to explore that further. The hoard story is fascinating in that it was added to in at least two distinct lots, spanning at least 12 years, and is also thought to be linked to the 1902 hoard, found in the same street. The Edward I class VI coins, numbering nearly 2000, were ‘fresh from the Bury mint, and from the same pair of dies.’ There was previously only ONE known example of that type, so I can say with confidence that my own two coins will have made up a part of that hoard, explaining their fresh surfaces. The BNS article is well worth a read, as is a google search for the history and speculation surrounding the hoard itself. It has strong links with a Jewish family who were occupying the hoard location during that period. https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/pdfs/1974_BNJ_44_5.pdf

Not only the pennies were good. It was an all-round interesting sale given things like the unique 1847 6d and the Henry VI (restored) farthing. I picked up a couple things, so in a good mood today.

I don't think 1927 proof coins are unloved, I just think that a mintage of 15k for a proof coin is not low, and comfortably satisfies the demand of people who wants one. In addition the series also has a large number of circulating coins at UNC giving anyone an opportunity to get a type example. The 1887 proof crown on the other hand has a mintage of only about 1k (and there are far fewer circulating UNC examples).

Does seem a bit excessive. Many of them have the same 43.173. or 43.172 IP address range. I'll see what I can do.

Comparing it to my pair of 1844 crowns I'd say that's the top part of a cinqfoil. The star is larger and goes almost to trhe top of the N and I whereas the cinqfoil is smaller and goes about halfway up the letters.

That's the man. Splash out on literature. Spend 3 beers worth on a book instead of 1. As an aside and not referencing you as a subject, it never ceases to amaze me how many people consider spending as much as a lunchtime beer with a snack on literature is viewed as excessive and wasted money, when what they spend on coins has several zeros added to the same amount. It seems weird to me that people frequently won't buy the required tools to give them the knowledge required to increase their collection value, which is what they are trying to achieve. Bizarre. Not everything is on the internet, and that which is, is becoming increasingly untrustworthy. Everybody needs to tread more carefully than they used to with AI. A potentially useful tool that you can be guarantee to be abused.

I am confident enough that it is a recessed ear, and that is good enough as it is going into my own collection. @Martinminerva also expressed the opinion that it was right in a previous post in this topic. I already have an example with the broken tooth in only slightly worse condition, so I will keep both to cover my bases. Neither will be sold until I pop my clogs, by which time I won't care anyway!

I now have the coin in my possession. Seems pretty nice condition for one of these, despite the odd mark in front of the King's nose:

I like this one 😂🤣

My example of seems to measure about 33 mm.

It is a very nice design 😊. Consider being a type collector and then you won't need to have more than one example. (Obviously, gifts from family are supernumerary.)

Now you only need 27 other dates and about 35 different privy marks/ varieties

I think the 1927 florin (and also threepence?) are a target as these dates are not available in circulation coinage. For the date-run collectors they are appealing once the usual dates have been acquired. The 1927 proof Half crown would be far less appealing as the date can be ticked off with a circulation issue, even though the design is totally different.

Yes, I would go with repro too. The over-detailed eyebrows and moustache just don't seem to occur on genuine coins, even proofs.

Looks like a cud?

I used the word probably which is a guess that there probably more potential collectors than coins to satisfy the potential demand from that amount of collectors. 15000 is not a huge amount of coins for example a 1905 half crown has a published mintage of 166008 and you would require a lot of money to obtain a good example. It's called supply and demand. Maybe there are more collectors of half crowns than florins and as the 1905 half crown was issued for circulation less of the total would survive in good condition but even a worn example attracts a fairly high price. Recently I saw one for sale in fine condition for GBP 440.

I have found........., 4th bust 1673 KM# 438.1VICESIMO QVINTO 1673 KM# 438.2plume below bust 1673 KM# 438.3centre plume reverse I've not found references to stops, hopefully others will chip in with more information ... 👍

You're seeing things. Another classic case of pareidolia, methinks. On a genuine die 5, the die number is much larger than your "blob" and also slightly to the right of a border tooth. Your anomaly is to the left... See below:

Not much fun in Stalingrad, no. You need the A361, Barnstaple section....

Oh, cool. I'd never noticed the cinquefoil stops on my 1845 crown. Learn something new every day.

Yes, that one is definitely a Star stop.

Should be ok now. At least the liking works and I just liked all the posts above. Adding images also seems to work.

Always appreciate a good workaround, Pete ☺️ 👍

Or add images/screenshots.

Try logging in on a different browser (or using incognito mode in Chrome, others have in private browsing too). This should allow you to see if it's a site issue or not (and hopefully allow you to reply!).

Clearly not fully au fait when it comes to numismatic knowledge. Why point out a heart shaped pinprick hole, probably due to a bubble in the flan or a rust spot on the die, when there's a bleedin' obvious die flaw covering the first W on the truncation (or is it a naval cannon mint mark?). I think we should be told. Maybe somebody would like to suggest the mint mark to her and sit back to see what transpires.

That's supposed to be silver??

Could be double struck with another coin trapped in the dies, but equally could be another coin in a different metal in close contact with it in wet, acidic conditions leading to electrolysis (2 different metals in near contact under those conditions will generate a potential difference. Think in terms of a battery. Given the level of corrosion seen, either is possible.

Great. A few weeks ago another that I sent to the USA was returned to me, no reason given. So I'm now a bit nervous sending to the USA. I've emailed you a PDF of the Irish book.

Business as usual, then! I still reserve the right to think you unusual, though. Keep going.