Peckris 2

Sadly, it's not even Fine - I'd say Fair, as you can see the main outline and all of the legend. Here's a VF one I found on the internet: Don't make the classic mistake of saying "for its age" - wear is assessd the same whether a coin is from Charles II or Elizabeth II. It's only when you go further back to hammered coins that different criteria come into play. But keep going - the best way is to learn from mistakes, just don't make expensive ones! And enjoy the coins you've got, no matter what the grade they are. Talking of grading, Derek Allen's book on grading British Coins (see banner ad above) is priceless for learning. Even most of us 'old hands' have it.

Interesting that. I remember at school I switched from pennies to 3d's on a particular day ... and in the first bag I looked through there was a 1949! Never found a 46 but did get a fair sprinkling of 50 and 51.

Did you hear the one about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who stayed awake all night pondering the existence of Dog?

He can't possibly determine whether the wastage was due to carelessness or collectors. I'd guess that once a low mintage was known about, many collectors/investors would put examples aside in the hope of higher values in times to come? Add that to the 2% normal wastage and there's your higher %.

Almost gives me nostalgia for the era of Azda's dinner plates...

Seems possible that after the bottom fell out of the modern market post-D Day, few really cared?

Gorgeous. Just one puzzle - how did they know in 1794 that the picture would be enlarged when posted in a forum in 2020?

I could be wrong but I had the feeling Coin News was first published in the 80s?

I remember a childhood holiday in Ireland. We were camping near Galway Bay and were given some freshly caught mackerel - great supper that day!

True, but a lot of people - me included - are still meat eaters but have cut down their consumption. I like to eat fish where possible and there are some great vegetarian dishes out there.

Farmers Markets are still popoular

I go into town once a week, to a restaurant and M&S. Often I go to Hotel Chocolat, sometimes to Superdrug and Waterstones and Boots, less often Smiths. And that's about it.

I feel sorry for them. 😮

Yes. Ironic that there is nothing scarce about 1902LT or 1912H pennies.

I think it's down to crown collectors. Quite possibly a large number didn't get into circulation. As for the unpopularity of the design, that would have mattered less to collectors than to the spending public whose views on the currency carried more weight. The 1968 booklet barely mentions ANY varieties. As to 1913 pennies, I'd think there are still plenty of dealers who don't make a distinction?

I've seen Edward farthings with "lustre" - the right colour but totally the wrong texture. Almost certainly artificial.

One factor I neglected to include in my list is the number of dealers who "invested" in RM mint bags, which may still be partly around, but only of 60s dates. Penny varieties are an intriguing story; though many of them were described in Peck most collectors didn't have access to that expensive resource, and Freeman was only published not long before decimalisation. My theory is that these got melted in direct proportion to the mintage.

Ah, got you - the 3rd example.

Not like genuine lustre at all - it's been artificially gilded, probably to pass off as a half sov> You can always tell these - the gilding is matt and completely the wromg colour.

Project Fear! Unicorns!

Can I recommend the book Zucked which tells just how much Facebook manipulates its users?

There are quite a lot of complicating factors: most but not all coins containing silver were hoarded or withdrawn much earlier the craze for 'modern' began in 1966 with the government announcement of impending decimalisation and the 1967 date freeze : obvious rarities / scarcities were taken out by collectors, though many scarce varieties didn't come to light until after the event, and this applies to all denominations halfcrowns and halfpennies were demonetised in 1969; most 1925 and 1930 halfcrowns had long gone, the scarcity of many Unc 1950s halfcrowns only emerged quite late, there would have been few around. Apart from those, they are both denominations notably lacking in rarities florins, shillings, and sixpences carried on in circulation until 1992, 1990, and 1980 respectively; probably nearly all still in circulation got withdrawn - higher % than for 1971 I would say as there would have been little interest (and 'of interest') by then only pennies and 3d bits were withdrawn in 1971; probably the majority of 3d's were withdrawn as the scarce dates would have been collected. This leaves pennies which as always leave more questions than answers finally an unknowable but probably quite substantial (judging from the many rubbish lots at W&W in the 90s) quantity of postwar predecimals was saved in tins, pots, jars, Whitman folders, cheap albums, boxes, and god knows what else, as keepsakes by non-collectors.

A gift to a non-collector, I'd imagine.

I found that through a search for '1953 penny' and it was the first item. But no mention that there were two earlier patterns - where did you get that information from?