Rob

The wiki page on Sir John Yorke might hint at why the mark changed from y to tun. 'In 1552 York was pardoned 'for all treasons and offences concerning making and issuing of the king's money', on the condition that he settle his mint accounts for over £9500 'due to the king'. So presumably 1551 was not such a good time for Yorke. Any such impropriety would surely result in loss of privileges, such as making the coinage.

The jury is out. It's possible that Southwark didn't fully close. Stewartby only covered the period up to the end of the base coinage, and so the July closure might refer only to the cessation of striking debased coins. I say this because Edward's Chronicle on the 24th September 1551 says amongst other things, 'Also that York's mint and Throckmorton's mint in the Tower, should go and work the fine standard'. To me that implies that Southwark was still considered operational - at least by Edward, but doesn't eliminate the possibility that Yorke moved across the river and set up shop alongside Throckmorton or in Tower mint 2, which we know existed from the debased coins. Given y coins are only for 1551 and subsequently superseded by Tun at the end of the year, it may be that Throckmorton was initially indisposed and Yorke operated at the Tower before Throckmorton took over, but the wording in the Chronicle suggests to me that both mints could have been involved. C can be eliminated because the dies for the fine were new. A y/Tun mule would more likely place things at the Tower, but I'm not aware of anything for any denomination. Further edited to say that stocks of fine silver were more likely to have been held at the Tower.

The font and layout is almost like it used to be when computers used DOS - say the early noughties, before windows appeared.

1966

If Peck knew that Bressett had written about it and reiterated this in a letter dated 1966, it only leaves 2 options. Either it is included in the 1966-7 edition of Bressett, or whenever the next edition was published depending on whether he knew before the 5th edition went to print. I'm assuming the advice was by letter or telephone given the letter is dated 1966. There is a fifth edition listed on ebay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325963803688?hash=item4be4f4ec28:g:3XsAAOSwelpgwTTb&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4CXC1kcT8Pgn1wofpXIBaezimKqcb6r7OGnowqU63xVmOPug4KwnR%2BB2ThsmfVuWW4c%2B%2FUKYvKV9MgUg8LLPt4su2pT8a7u%2Fvtj9FOHdW%2FkrbQNiZyTnz7Z15qR95dLHdyWtYkHlIipAtdgOmvmEG%2BOHQoyr1opQUqeT01UpEauZPvPTfETWUus5OK7oluY3Kbu2W4XFEdFGuigXLF%2BkS4AYhK7HGwVhoYnqWLM0oKKjPL8bHUf5Jo3iPmYMgJk4EUFSGzQ7uJtv1vftp68aRv2wLuMwm1%2FBOmqjLjbzNj6d|tkp%3ABFBMsobV-aFj

Different dies surely, the N is further away from the cross end on yours

Here's another one I had

Bresset doesn't list it in the 1965 (4th ed.) book, so I suspect the following year is your best bet, unless conveyed verbally/letter.

'Meanwhile on planet Russia'

Yes he is. He has the table across from me in the small room or 2 down in the big one.

Why on earth would people do this? The melting point of copper is 20 degrees higher than gold, so there's a real danger of melting the gold. The copper salts will also have a higher melting point. The best you can hope for is to alloy the copper and gold, which are chemically miscible.

I had assumed they took the vendor's description verbatim, as they would never arrive at that by checking any reference book. It isn't as if Geo. V pennies are difficult to locate correctly described. Lavrillier patterns are another matter

I've got the NC on a CD, but Sod's law saw my computer with a CD drive die soon after I got it. Now I need to find someone with a CD drive to get it onto a memo stick or something I can use to download and print things off before the drives no longer exist.

BNS blogs will be subject to the same issues. You can save it digitally, but also print it out at your convenience. There is no guaranteed permanent repository of research data, but you can scan in printed articles ad infinitum.

Build your own databases and get a proper library. Even just copying and pasting the info into your own reference file negates the inherent issues with sites dedicated to a narrow focus. All these nerd sites have one thing in common. When the person responsible loses interest in a field they have researched, so does their interest in keeping the site going.

Selig collection of coins sold at Spink on 2nd March 1999. That coin was lot 1305 - see attached image from catalogue. And thanks for asking the question as I discovered my chimney has a leak, soaking the edge of the catalogues for sales 127 to 133. It's been wet recently.

In the case of the two coins pictured above, the photo has been done so as to maximise the reflectivity of the field and produce as much of a cameo effect as possible. That doesn't help to show the colour as in hand. Lighting angle, picture angle, surface reflectivity all combine to give a multitude of options. This pattern halfpenny is really dark in hand, but lit from a certain angle is like an oil painting.

There is quite a lot of variation in the colour of bronzed proofs. Soho and Royal Mint bronzing is normally darker than Taylor's restrikes, which can be a bit blotchy in nature.

Looks copper to me. Bronzed pieces tend to have much more uniform colour. e.g. this less than perfect bronzed proof penny is still obviously monochromatic underneath the imperfections.

Happy New Year

George III coppers are divided into 4 discrete types by design. 1st issue comprises the halfpennies and farthings 1770-5 (no pennies) not struck in a collar; 2nd issue is the 1797 pennies and twopences (no currency halfpennies or farthings) - the 'Cartwheel' issues; 3rd issue is the 1799 halfpennies and farthings (no pennies) and 4th issue is the 1806-7 pennies, halfpennies and farthings (both with different portraits and reduced weights due to the copper price increase during the Napoleonic Wars).

Impossible,. You only get 7 tiles in scrabble. You're having a laugh.

At that point you keep your mouth shut and bid strong. They do have staff - just the wrong sort.

A very Merry Christmas to all.

I'd say Richard II York early style type 1 with London dies. This based on the obverse having a lis on the breast and wide hair, with the reverse having a saltire before CIVI and the pellets in angles not being joined to make trefoils. Spink 1690.