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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:

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.

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.

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.

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!

aha, yes theres this one as well that I found awhile ago,

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.

Variation on a theme here. One lot I had won in the Hulett sales came with a ticket that was for Brooker 613 (6d mule with the obverse mark Crown over Bell over Portcullis) and to my knowledge is the only one known. I had marked that as a buy when it appeared, but the ticket (613) was for a different coin to the one I bought, so dutifully sent it back to be reunited with the right coin. However, the coin I really wanted didn't appear in any sale as far as I could see, so where is it? I know John had Brooker 613 because I saw it when visiting on one occasion, hence the interest. Humpf.

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.

I wonder whether Gundry relates to the "Bridport Gundry" rope and netting company? I visited them with my father, when he was on business there, in the early 70s, but I believe they are no longer in operation. It was fascinating to see the rope making process and the number of different uses rope and netting could be put to!

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

WOW that is a gorgeous one!! I love Soho Mint pieces. And... a tray of patterns you say? 👀

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!

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)

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.