custard1966

I'm no expert on these things, but I'd grade the first as EF and the second as Fine.

Custard, Great hearing from you again, and obtaining your opinion. Regards, Bob Hi Bob, Glad to be of assistance

It's hard to be sure without seeing the coin in hand, but I assume that the 'raised lines' refers to the way the wreath leaf veins are rendered. That would make it obverse 8, reverse J (Freeman 96, Peck 1714), not as rare as the small date (obv 9, rev K), but rarer than the incuse-lined leaves (obv 9, rev J). Nice coin

I'd say it's just about EF. There's a noticeable loss of fine detail in Victoria's hair. Perhaps about EF would be fairer, but it's definitely better than GVF. It's really all about a dealer's consistency when considering these fairly fine distinctions. A nice, problem-free coin though.

and if so, they will resemble this coin http://www.predecimal.com/forum/index.php?...ry&cmd=si&img=2

Would it be possible/a good idea to show the latest gallery addition on the main forum page somewhere (maybe topleft or topright) ?

I found the ideal piece of software for this. Irfanview - it's free for personal use (you can get it at download.com) and it has a panorama feature which lets you pick one or more existing images to stick together. Works beautifully

If you are using a scanner, take an image of more than twice the area required with the coin positioned to one side of the rectangle. If you repeat this for the other side you can copy and paste the image and move it around within the first box so that they are adjacent. Thanks Rob. I've got quite a lot scanned already and need a way to join them together. I've not got any software that seems able to do it. I'm using Thumbs+ to scan and catalogue and it doesn't seem to support it, neither does Paint. I was just wondering if anyone knew of anything they were already using that does it. I'm sure it's a fairly common feature of photo/graphics packages so I'll hunt around for a freebie or some of the stuff that came with the scanner, that I've never used.

I like the fact that the images don't get resized - like omnicoin - and it seems much quicker to go through the process of adding them. All my coins are UK pennies and I got fed up with having to choose lots of pointless options every time I added a new coin. And the tab order on their add page is all wrong which makes it doubly annoying. I'm gradually scanning all my collection so I'll post the best ones. (Just need some software to combine the obverses & reverses into a single image - if anyone knows of anything free I can get hold of that would be very helpful).

Me too.

The upgrade looks very smart indeed. Can't wait for the gallery feature. One minor gripe is that I found that with the old format it was easier to spot forums with new threads. Is it possible to change the colours to indicate that rather than have all the main forum folders in blue ?

The end of top 'arm' of the underlying letter is clearly different to that of the G, so it can't be a G. The G has a bigger and more concave serif

Can't type - should be F39

Looks like they've started an 'urban myth' http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rare-1908-Penny-only...1QQcmdZViewItem

Very hard to tell from those pics. Suggest you look here http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/penny.html scroll down and there's a description with pictures to help identify the genuine no-H I can't see the tuft of hair that's referred to in there, but it's hard to be sure. With the coin in hand and a good magnifier you can probably look for the crucial points referred to in the link.

According to this page http://www.spinkandson.com/news/news_archive/3011.asp# (scroll down a bit) you can get it from Spink Otherwise John's address is P.O. Box 63 Stockport Cheshire Sk4 5BU UK Hope this helps.

Hi Kaba, As to cost, I paid about £6 for mine I seem to recall. And I think I bought it on E-bay - though I've not seen one on there for ages. When I get home tonight I'll look out John's contact details - he'll probably know where you can get one.

Another option is to have a look through the Colin Adams collection http://www.spink.com/asp/search.asp?st=U to see if he had one.

Perhaps the estimates here http://www.londoncoins.co.uk/english_coins...ns_single_6.htm though there's no exact match will give you a ballpark figure ?

Someone trying to sell an 1889 bun penny with the date 'clipped' as an 1839 proof http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1839-PENNY-VERY-RARE...1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for the update. The H is sometimes poorly struck or worn or deliberately removed. Hopefully, you didn't pay too much for it

It is indeed extremely rare You could go to this site http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/penny.html#bronze under bronze pence - you'll find the following which may help: The 1882 penny without mintmark is particularly rare (and not in Peck), but watch for worn coins where the mintmark has been worn away. A variety with the bar missing from the H is known. The following is a description of how to tell a genuine 1882 no H from an 1882H penny, as kindly related by the Penny specialist Bernie: The identifiable features of the genuine non "H" 1882 penny are a flat shield on the reverse, NOT convex. Victoria has an apparent hooked nose, caused by a weak die strike in the area of the eyeball. The "R" and the "I" in "BRITT" should not be joined; a very small space should be visible with a magnifier. There is a tuft of hair protruding from the back of the neck, left of the ribbon knot. This tuft of hair is always visible on very worn specimens. The "H" variety can be clarified by examining the space encapsulated by the inner ribbon, as if the uppermost section forms a point in this triangulated section, then it is the common variety. The rare non "H" does not terminate in a point because of the tuft of hair mentioned above. I should add that there are two types of obverse and reverse for 1882H pennies, and that the 1882 No H penny has the less common types - having these characteristics does not ensure that it is a No H, but having the characteristics of the other types confirms that there was an H even if worn away. if you follow the link to the site there are pictures which will help further You could post a picture here and we'll take a look

A search for scottish dealers reveals this list http://www.numis.co.uk/scotland.html just one in Edinburgh

The key is to find out as much as you can about the possibilities and the pitfalls. There's nothing wrong with buying coins for sentimental reasons or because you like the look of them - provided you don't pay over the odds. These are often the main reasons why people collect. Once you decide what to collect find a helpful dealer or two who can guide you.

It's a bit hard to see the obverse and I'm not an expert on these, but it looks a solid VF to me.