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I picked up this interesting piece of information from a local historian. He is a buff on the Fortescue family of Castle Hill North Devon, and when he heard I was into coins he was keen to tell me that one of the Fortescue family was used as the model for Britannia on the Edward VII Florins and British Trade Dollars. He has now provided me with a copy of a talk he gave on the subject. I attach a screen shot of the relevant paragraph, but if anyone wants the full talk, PM me and I can send it in .pdf format. Of course I only have his word for it! If anyone knows any different, please let me know.

"So what's King Kenny all about???" For some obscure reason my friends called me that when I was at Chippenham College in the early 1970's. My first name is Kenneth but I prefer Ken. Not very interesting but hope this helps.

Here is my best example of the later Vic florins - 1852 - for comparison. Shame about the scratches due some previous owner's over zealous cleaning. As is so often the case, they are far less visible in hand - the camera seems to pick them up.

My favourite coin in my collection would be the Gothic Crown, but I have posted that many times before. Second favourite is much more difficult as there are many candidates, but this one is high on the list - 1723 SSC Crown. You see the shillings all the time, but the Crowns are much scarcer.

That could be a good shout. My 1723 shilling has damage just at the critical point, but here is the 3 from my much better half crown. I can see that the sixpence 3 appearance could be due to a chunk missing.

I can assure you I was not being patronising and was definitely not accusing you of being evil, stupid or trying to avoid tax; I was genuinely curious about your question regarding CGT and wondered if you belived (or knew) of a legal workaround that could be beneficial to others. If you look at my posting record I have always been welcoming to newcomers and have tried to help them with their questions. I have never been rude to anyone and don't intend to start now. But whatever, I'll refrain from replying to this thread again.

I recognise the problem and try to be as straightforward as possible when responding to newbie queries. I try to think back to when I was the newbie and how daft some of my questions must have seemed to the old and bold here! It is easy, when you know a lot about a subject, to be patronising to the less well informed, but unless the new collectors are encouraged, the hobby will just die out. Bear in mind that for every patronising comment made, there are many more here who are supportive and encouraging. As to your query on legal tender - if I knew the answer I would be happy to give it!

aha... Another interesting find amongst the Hammered coins, a 1 Groschen (1 Grosz) 1624 its Polish–Lithuanian King Sigismund III Vasa silver , 👍

Not entirely. If the coin is sufficiently rare, they will fake an apparently well worn/used coin with patina to fool the collectors. Classic example is the 1850 Shilling, which is mega rare. A few years back a Chinese seller was touting a load of them at £10 each. All appeared well worn and convincing, each substantially different. This seller made it clear they were copies, but the unscrupulous could buy one and pass it off as genuine. On Ebay, the history of the seller is the most important factor, as you have pointed out before. In other auctions, for rare coins ask the auction house for provenance, and view even that with a jaundiced eye. There are now many coins in private collections that are fake because the collector was conned when he/she bought it. As they all say: "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is".

By way of introducing myself let me tell you about my favorite coin in my collection. I had been collecting bronze penny coins since I was a young boy. Then, in 1975 I rode my brand new motorbike the nine miles to the Somerset town of Frome. In a junk shop on Catherine’s Hill I saw two coins displayed in the window. I thought that the smaller one looked like an old penny. I did not know what the larger coin was as I had never seen the like before. They were offered as two Victoria copper coins from 1858. They were priced at £6.50 and £7.50 respectively, a lot of money in those days. I decided to buy the smaller, cheaper penny sized coin. When I got home I looked it up in my 'Check Your Change’ book and found that at 28.4 mm in diameter the coin was in fact a half penny. I got straight back on my bike and returned to Frome for the other coin which proved to be a penny at 34mm diameter. On closer inspection I realised that the number 8 was struck over a number 7. At the time I thought that I had discovered something special. It turns out that I had not. They were very nice coins though, and kindled my interest in copper pennies, halfpennies and farthings.

Not moved far have you LOL

The typos keep coming! I think you mean 1696, not 1996! I knew what you meant the first time, so I didn't comment.

Looks like the next major new version will include a night theme by default. For this version it can be done with an add-on. I'll look into it.

Circulation damage I would say.

The 'test' thing has been there for a while. It was something I did and tried to undo. I thought it was only visible to me! It would seem that my host is probably having issues, as my other websites are also slow. I'll get them to check things.

Cannot comment on predecimal UK silver coins as they have all changed size. However Australian silver coins florin, shilling and sixpence still remain in the same format as the old imperial coins. With the florin now 20 cent, shilling 10 cent and sixpence 5 cent. However sovereigns and half-sovereigns are deemed to not be legal tender for some reason although sovereigns etc. were minted in Australia at Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. because of this they attract a 10% GST (VAT). Pure gold coins do not attract GST.

There is a part of me that thinks that buying a fake - from someone selling them as reproductions - for space fillers for something like, say the 1798 Dorrien Magers shilling that only 20 still exist - is fine. Pay $5 since I'll never probably even see a real one and concentrate on spending good money for the real ones like the 1787 I got recently. But no sympathy for anyone trying to pass a fake as real.

Hello Jackie, I’m afraid I have to disagree with AI, this doesn’t appear to be a deliberate design and I doubt that it is a coin. As a detectorist, as well as obsessive collector, I have over the years found similar items, some are welding spatter and others the result of molten metal spill. A couple look like silver and are certainly white metal. The pitted surface is the side that landed on the ground, the other is the result of solidification, possibly with some crystallisation . My thoughts anyway. Welcome to the forum, don’t be afraid to post your queries. Jerry

Susan Hicks Beach was also the model for the Britannia on the trade dollar. There was an article in Coin News in July 2024. Pages from CN JULY 2024_opt.pdf

Cool! She has a wiki page too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Susan_Hicks_Beach

I know this is an old post, but, as a new member I am on catchup. I to have just started collecting Two Pence coins. I have been collecting Copper and bronze Pennies, Halfpennies and Farthings for years. Then I realised that my only two pence coin comes from 1797. I just had to start with the decimal two penny coins.

I was just comparing my various 1723 silver coins when I noticed something odd about the 3 in the sixpence date. I checked ESC, which mentions a 3 over 0, but this doesn't look anything like that. Any thoughts?

a early Florin minted only for 1848-1849... unfortunately its not in the best of condition, rubbed with a gash 😟 I did read some of these have smaller numbers... I take it this is the large numbers ?

This is an example currently on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286858256262?_ul=GB&rb_itemId=286858256262&rb_pgeo=GB&ff=11&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339059258&toolid=10044&customid=EAIaIQobChMIw4mbmJKCkwMVNZFQBh1XmwlQEAQYASABEgJPmfD_BwE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw4mbmJKCkwMVNZFQBh1XmwlQEAQYASABEgJPmfD_BwE&wbraid=CkEKCQiA5I_NBhCCARIwAMgyZG8xxosq4BPX_CPxcGrxjS_UTjJ9HmTKiqjU2kNd9LefuQ78iABAQGBdF3BnGgLBPw&gbraid=0AAAAADA7Q_KTN7L5aJF6e68c0HDcbcgrU&adtype=pla&loc_physical_ms=9045836&loc_interest_ms=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20511325147&gbraid=0AAAAADA7Q_KTN7L5aJF6e68c0HDcbcgrU

No. All have the same size font digits. What you might be getting confused about is that some 1849 specimens (not yours above) have the small WW initials next to the date obliterated by the linear circle. These ones are taken from an 184(8) pattern matrix which has had the linear circle re-engraved (and the 9 added), thus obscuring the original WW initials. Or possibly a confusion with 1849 halfcrowns, which are indeed known with both normal and smaller date digits (latter is rarer).

Heres my 1799 a lovely example bought recently at least EF with lustre and no problems only £20 I wish i had a 1806 and 1807 is similar grade

It is rough but i think there is enough information to identify it. I can read VND + PIE i think. Which would make it Pieres at London Mint. Spink guide shows Pieres & Pieres M minting at London during class 1 under Henry II. Stu.

I can't think of a specific reason why I decided upon 2p's, probably because of their size and colour, and similarity to the predecimal penny. I think they're just a nice humble coin. I also collect £2 in a similar fashion, and I think the reason for those is simpler. I remember when the current bimetallic was introduced, me and my mum would hoard them in a piggybank.

Not likely to show up in the UK, but just in case... I have an acquaintance who's father was awarded this medal for his work in creating the Clad Metal system used to replace Silver in US Coins (dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar). It went missing from a drawer in his apartment shortly before he died in December. If by any chance you see it, please let me know. Thank you.