Rob

You can buy one in perfect condition from a dealer for £1 or a little bit more at the most. If it is not in perfect condition then it has no real value. According to Freeman there were an estimated 75-100 million pieces in existence.

Geordie - I think you will find we are all bidding against each other. Sorry about Sunday's halfpenny

Prices are going higher because more people are buying at the main auctions which is where many pieces, and certainly the quality ones are purchased by dealers. They have to make a turn which increases the cost to those who don't attend auctions and buy from dealers. With attending in person, even if you normally ask someone to bid on commission at say 5%, the cost of going to London for the day is typically paid for by the commssion saved on little more than a £1K purchase and you can check the whole of your want's list under a glass. This is far better than relying on a photo and someone else's judgement. The only down side is that you may be tempted to overbid to get that piece.

A 1673 1/2d with A/R in CAROLVS, this is not a modified CRAOLVS die. Thanks to Teg for the heads up.

Colin had 2 of these. One in gEF sold for £520, one in similar grade to that above sold for £50.

Practically mint state with almost full lustre, a couple of very light toning spots to both sides and a trace of cabinet friction to the 3 or 4 highest points of both sides. A quality 5/3 by any standard, all over 2 a bonus. No overstruck 1672 examples to my knowledge are known.

and reverse

The obverse

It sounds like a three-halfpence issued for colonial use and should look as in thislink. They were first issued in 1834 and last issued in 1862 for general use, though there was a proof issue in 1870. 1840 is the rarest and thus the highest priced year for the Victorian pieces. Spink gives 2006 prices of £8-fine, £22-VF, £75-EF and £150-UNC.

You will need to register in order to post a picture so that an idea of value can be given. Fair is a grade and not very good so an 1860 bronze farthing in fair would not be worth much. If you mean fair as in pretty good nick it would be worth more.

Unlikely, but does anyone have or know of anyone who has a copy of Montagu sales 4 & 5 catalogues that they would be willing to sell.

According to ESC in the note at the bottom of page 184 the ordinary 3d's have a duller surface than the maundy money which is more prooflike with highly polished fields. The latter tone more easily and are often bluish or quite dark. Davies says the same thing.

Must be common, even I've got one.

Yes I am saying that. It is accepted that the rarity of the 1933 is a Freeman R18 based on those 7 examples known, and there is leeway to find more without this changing. The number available to collectors is much lower at 2, so to deface one would merely result in a loss to that person as the other coin would still be very collectable. Given that pieces such as these are often sold privately, it is more a case of right place, right time than the coin having a rational value. Every buyer and seller has an incentive to keep the price moving gently upwards. The 1935 crown rated R6 is the silver proof and the edge error. The basic model is as common as muck. Rayner quotes 714,769 pieces struck. As an aside, Rayner's rarity figures are quite suspect in places and I have heard in passing that he was influenced by a few collectors who doubtless had their own pieces in mind when it came to rarity assignation. e.g. ESC 1067A. I've got one, Colin Cooke had one, Spink are currently listing one on their website, the one pictured in ESC and a few others that I won't bother are more than the R6 rating given by Rayner, and interestingly Peck gave an R rating. Roman 1 1825 1/- is not R7, 1723 C/SS 1/- is not R5, the list is endless. Freeman also makes errors in both directions, so all of these rarity ratings must be treated with a pinch of salt.

An unrecorded variety of beaded border reverse. Peck and Freeman both list only one type of reverse i.e. A. There are however at least 2, one with short hair (rare) and one with long hair (common). It is not just a case of die filling or weakness because the field is continuous underneath the hairline at the back of the head. A comparison of the two shows it clearly. Apologies for the toned reverse on the common variety.

Oh well I'll go and get the brasso then, that will make it glint. Just a hypothetical question. The 1933 penny is worth £30-40,000. The owner likes to keep his coins nice and shiny. As there is only one know in private hands would a drop of brasso actually make much difference in its value. Discuss. Gary £45K actually based on Mark Rasmussens list. The collector who bought it would not be interested in cleaning it and would leave that decision to the next owner, so the problem is purely hypothetical. Coins are only polished by those who know nothing about collecting. Should such a lunatic use Brasso, its desirability would diminish and be replaced by another rare coin and therefore I would expect its value to drop.

Anyone interested? And he polishes them normally, so you get even more for your money

Unfortunately, that is not going to be worth anything. They are a very common coin, especially in this condition as many hundreds of tons of coins were produced. Sorry if I disappoint you. For it to be valuable, you would be looking at something like this or approaching this grade with minimal wear.

From what you have written they sound in poor condition. The legend and date on 1797 pennies as struck is actually quite deep, so they are likely to be worth very little if the date is not clear. eBay has many examples listed starting at 99p which is more than they are worth, but is the best place to sell them. A dealer is unlikely to be interested. Post a picture of the best one and it would be possible to give a clearer idea of their value.

Has anyone out there got a Charles 2nd halfpenny that they can match to this reverse die? If so, please post it on this thread. Thanks.

Could someone let me know what the Spink and/or any other reference is for this coin. Thanks.

Thanks Tom. I didn't realise there are 2 types so the next obvious question. Is this wide or narrow date?

Ah, but I think it's from 1675. I just have to convince people. And it will be done.

Thanks Teg. There are some glaring inconsistencies comparing the value of copper coined with observed date distribution so I will have to count up the number of different dates and their incidence that I can find in catalogues and on lists. In the words of Captain Oates, "I may be a while". However, the immediate reaction is that 1675 is a much rarer date for pieces that have an unambiguous 5 than the value of copper would suggest, even if your assumptions are wildly inaccurate. Although not backed up by any statistics (a situation I am now going to rectify), I would say that 1675 pieces where the 5 is indisputable are found in an approximate ratio of 2:1ish, maybe slightly more, compared to 1672 which is accepted as rare due to the limited production period. Against this it has to be considered that 1672 pieces are always touted as rare and this may result in more people trying to cash in based on that knowledge. I would say that 1673 is the given date in fully 80% of Charles II halfpennies sold and possibly more, which sits rather uncomfortably with the figures given by Challis. Again I will attempt to produce a more accurate figure rather than rely on guesswork. Whilst doing this, I will also note the number of farthings for each year from the same sources. This hopefully will generate some meaningful ratio for the two denominations. I don't have any idea for the numbers of readily identifiable dies for each year. The problem is one of quality and finance. Halfpennies are so much rarer than farthings and anything in reasonable grade costs a three figure sum, so I don't tend to buy them as I would the weekly shopping. Whilst this sheds no light on whether the CRAOLVS die survived until 1675, your postulated figures suggest to me that there are a good number of 1675/3 dies.

It sounds like a Charles 2nd 3d. and should look like this.