Sylvester

no they were having fun at my expense, they know i don't know much about bronze/copper so they show me up frequently.

I knew about the 1954 penny. The 1952 had escaped my notice.

Wow all mine in my faves taskbar are the explorer variant! Hmmm XP... good luck!

Why what's special about a 1952 penny?

Right finally got therer. Firstly that's supposed to be a Spanish 8 reale me thinks of Charles III, not George III. It looks fake anyhow. Some real 8 reales were counterstamped during the latter 18th century in England to fill in for the lack of Crowns. These usually have a very tiny portrait of George III (Kinda like hallmarking on Silver) stamped somewhere on the 'host' coin.

There were no crowns issued in George III's reign until about 1818. (the link ain't working for me).

Yeah coins sometimes look very different on photos than they do in person! I've seen copper ones look almost silver on photos and silver ones look almost gold!

Sorry i couldn't be any more help here.

Looks more silver to me... Anyhow that looks much more Spanish in origin than English. GD would know more about this than myself... My feeling is it's Spanish (the cross makes me think that), if it's real, or whatever. I'm afraid i've never one before.

Truer words were never spoken. I agree with that 100%.

It sounds more like the gold halfcrown to me. Is there any way you could get a picture up so that i could firstly see if it is genuine (in the condition you describe it sounds very likely that it is, why make a repro in that low quality?), and secondly to see if i can identify it to a type. Now from the description you give it does sound pretty worn if you can't make out the legends. If it does read HENRIC 8 D G (and there's nothing between the D and the G, like an I), then is probably of the third coinage or the Posthumous Coinage [struck during Edward VI's reign but in Henry VIII's name]. All of the larger Crowns have different lettering, all are HENRIC 8 RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA (With the DEI GRA on the other side). Half crowns are HENRIC 8 DI G, or HENRIC 8 D G. It should be between 18 and 20mm in diametre to be the halfcrown. If it is the halfcrown then you're looking at about £100 at the least really. (I'll have more info later if i can see a picture).

I shouldn't have quoted your post there Jon!

No that's not the one my grandfather claimed to have had, i meant to other version, the one with the date at either side and the inner circle (well circle ain't really the word i'm looking for).

I think you'll find 1801-1837 a very interesting period actually, it was the period that saw the Napoleonic Wars, Waterloo (no i don't mean the station), Trafalgar, the furthering of the Industrial Revolution (not the boring stuff from the 1750s and 1780s that we all got bored to tears with at school or still are getting bored with like farming and that rubbish), but he growing of industry, furthering the canal network. The biggest thing to come out of that period was the railways which for the first time enabled people to travel from one side of the country to the other in but a day or two rather than a week or two on the coaches. It also witnessed the first rail fatality too which was interesting it was non other than an MP by the name of Huskisson who copped it, a Tory nonetheless [it would be, the Tories have hated railways ever since] anyhow he had something to do with the 1816 currency reform, well he was an economist that wrote a phamphlet on the state of the currency in 1810 so i suppose he did have something to do with it. Anyhow on the fatal day in 1830 which was the opening day of the Manchester-Liverpool Railway line, Huskisson was there, William IV was absent on that day but the Prime Minister Arthur Wellsey was there instead [that's the Duke of Wellington to everyone else]. Anyhow Huskisson got run over by the 'Rocket', George Stephenson who was also present was not impressed that day either. I've also read stories of William IV riding around London in his open topped coach shaking hands with people as he went along and asking everyone if they were having a nice day, this being in between him spitting and using strong language, but being in the Navy most of his life is that a surprise? Lets put it this way it was a refreshing change from Geo IV in many people's eyes. An interesting story about Geo IV was that people viewed him as odd for many reasons, one of these was the fact that he took baths quite often, usually once a week or more, so he was considered a bit effeminate. His wife naturally didn't take baths and was considered normal that is also one reason why he couldn't wait to get rid of her.

Exactly JMD! Here here, unless it's 1693 or 4 then i want high grade ones! Are you going for the tin ones too then JMD?

It's not the same i want coins that have been carried in people's pockets, changed hands at taverns, possibly nded up in the money bags of a highwayman etc. I dunno why but everytime i see guineas i keep imagining Dick Turpin with those old guns pulling up coaches and robbing people blind. Which leads me on to wonder if he painted a white line across his face and did he really say Stand and Deliver?

Entirely my feelings on the subject. I've yet to find a decent picture of one of those on the internet though...

Look at the bulging eyes for a start on the Geo III ones nothing like the Geo IV ones.

Funny cos my grandfather claims to have done just the same. Bearing in my mind my grandfather had to my knowledge not seen a coin book until the 1990s (he's probably never read a book come to think of it cos he can only just read and he cared little for anything but cars). He told me a story back before i showed him the picture in the coin book. He told me he'd once seen a funny threepence coin when he was young, it was brass like the George VI ones but it had Edward on one side instead of George and the plant on the back looked different, and the date was in a different place. His father had sent him to the shop with it to buy a box of matches. Which i though was odd. Now i'd have no problems believing that. But i wonder about the creditbility when he claims to have had a 1933 penny which was kept back for him cos his birthyear was 1933, but i figure that was probably a halfpenny or something and he's just confused the details. But the threepence has got me wondering.

I used the have a Geo IV penny like that but they'd scratched a pipe on, it amused me heartily when i first saw it, infact that's why i bought it in the first place! (nothing like a good political statement!) I sold it Chris i think...

I tend to grade much the same as Andy, i've done business with him on several occasions before... i agree with AF. One thing to watch for though is cleaning, sometimes he doesn't state it as being cleaned when it has (usually he does), perhaps he thought that 1750 sixer i bought from him had cabinet rub rather than cleaning, i disagreed. The price was right though for a cleaned specimen so no qualms there. I kept it and then resold it when a better one came along, but i wasn't exactly happy about it.

Yes have fun! Happy B/d.

I think Master JMD is being pulled towrds Early Milled...

Personally if you want a good collection and you want quality then i'd say you should aim to have all you coins in UNC. My own preferences though are slightly different, but not all that much. I like coins with a bit of toning (not on modern UNC coins though as a rule), but more than that i find most coins grading around EF to be suitable for my wants and needs, they still have exceptional detail but you also know they've been out there in circulation not just sat in a drawer for 200 years. So i like high grade circulated coins anything GVF to GEF and i'm happy. Anything lower than VF and i shun it. (Usually unless i can't afford to do otherwise). I generally follow these rules; 17th century = GVF-GEF (These always look better circulated, lightly circ'ed EFs are the nicest) 18th century = GVF-UNC (as above) 19th century = AEF-UNC/BU (Victoria onwards UNC) 20th century to 1920 = GEF-UNC/BU (UNC preferred) Post 1920 = UNC/BU only. I like GVF/AEF the most though, but in the crazy world of high grade Early milled they are the grades you see most of. UNC coins just don't exist for some of the years, sometimes the highest grade is that elusive good Extremely Fine possibly sliding to Almost UNC.

I'm the other way with the books... Silver Coins of England; 1841 Spinks; 1985 Collectors' Coins; 1992-3 Seaby; 1993 Coincraft; 2000 English Hammered Coinage; 2000 Collectors' Coins; 2004 (Thanks for sending me that Chris! Well i had to know what i was working on didn't i?) The Redbook; 2004 (English Hammered by North was the last one i bought for £90, i also splashed out on a Redbook). But generally i only buy a new price catalogue every 7 years.