Richard2

Can anyone help me with this hammered found last week. I know it’s in very poor condition, but what caught my attention was the size of the shield on the reverse. It’s looks unusually large for a threepence. Mint Mark is Pheon, and date I think is1561, although the one isn’t clear. Spink list two types ,large flan,(inner circle 15mm) and small flan (inner circle 14mm). I’ve measured this one and the reverse inner circle is 15mm and the obverse 14mm. As yet I haven’t been able to track another threepence down like it thanks in advance Richard i

It was a really interesting evening, Chris Comber gave a talk on Elizabeth pattern shillings as I said. He bought along several coins that were handed around for all to have a look at, none were in protective sleeves or anything. He trusted us all to handle them safely. There were even some gold coins of Elizabeth, amazing.I wish I had taken some pictures, will probably never have that opportunity to hold so many rare and beautiful coins again.

Hi Coinery, Yes I did get to speak with him and showed him the coin . But from what I can remember he disregarded it as anything than just a ordinary 3d . It was quite dark in the room and it was just a quick look without a loupe so not really what I was hoping for as an answer. It didn’t feel right to tell him he was wrong and that he should take a better look, I’m not that brave😁.

Found this the other day, had a couple of his pennies but not a halfpenny, are they rarer? And can you tell me what mint is it , its approx 15mm in diameter. Thanks in advance Richard.

I was speaking with Rob Davis yesterday on the phone about buying replacement felt discs for a cabinet of mine and he mentioned that he is making the cabinets for the Royal Mint.

Hi, I found this coin a couple of weeks back but have only just recently spotted that it reads Henrics and not Henricus. So far I haven’t been able to find any parallels and was hoping you guys might be able to help, thanks. Richard

Thanks Rob

Couple of hours out detecting this morning until it started to rain really heavy, on the way back to the car a quiet signal had me digging my last hole. Out pops a little hammered covered in sticky mud. Thought I should just put it in my tin and wait till I’m home to see who it was. Henry IV halfpenny I’m pretty sure, withers type 4. Can anyone confirm, many thanks

Thanks Dave, I was going on the fact that it ends ANGLIE , I can clearly see the E. Withers only shows Henry IV types 3a and 4 ending so . All Henry vi halfpennys in withers end ANGL.. What do you think?

Hi , a metal detecting find that has me confused, pretty sure it’s Henry VI cross/pellet issue with a saltare on breast , maybe pellets next to hair but hard to be sure because of condition. The thing that has me puzzled is it reads EBO RACI on the reverse . I can’t find any mention of a Henry VI with saltare on breast coming from the York mint , only London. Any ideas anyone.

Coin sold for £160, I think my mate, who’s coin it was, is well pleased. The other coin I had in the sale,a Edward IV halfgroat Dublin mint sold for a very healthy £1600

Afternoon all, just an update on the Henry VI penny . its up for auction in this months DNW sale on 15th Nov . Lot 934. No picture of it in the printed catalogue but think its on line. As davetmoneyer said an unknown die pairing. "the exact variety apparently unpublished and presumably extremely rare" is their words. £80-£100 Fingers crossed

A couple more

Some months back I bought a stamp album from my local coin and collectors club on one of their bring and buy nights, I’m not into stamps anymore but it was what was inside that persuaded me to part with £3 to buy it . Somebody in the past had used it to collect together a load of newspaper cuttings and stick them inside. Many were about coins or hoards found by farmers ,workmen and joe public. The one I like most is the farmer who found the Mildenhall treasure

Afternoon guys, can anyone throw some light on this penny I dug at the weekend. I think I can make out a rose on the Kings breast, does anyone else see a rose or something else? The obverse at the crown area seems to be double struck and there appears to be something to the right of his head, which I suppose could be a result of the double strike. Also the mm looks vaugley like a rose. With these marks I can’t pin it down to a specific type. Can you help. Thanks Richard

Just googled it and yes your right , thanks mate. Don’t know how I missed it

Thanks Stu , haven’t got my book handy at the mo but did they mint penny’s at York with rose on breast? I seem to recall when looking yesterday I couldnt find one, could be totally wrong though

This coin was folded completely over like the Edward penny in my previous post. Rather foolishly forgot to take a photo of it in that condition and started the process of unfolding it.the first picture is about halfway through the job At this point I could see it looked to be in very good condition . It was pretty easy to continue annealing and quenching the coin till it was flat. The annealing process did discolour the coin quite a lot so I had to re- tone it. And the result I think is amazing . Moneyer RICARD ON LV class 5a2 I believe

Thanks

Very nice and rare coin, doesn’t look to have much wavy ness but personally I wouldn’t attempt to flatten it

No way would I attempt to straighten an Offa penny if I ever lucky enough to find one. These early broad flan Saxon coins are renowned to be very brittle . And just heating it is liable to crack it or shatter it. I have two Cnut penny’s that are bent but have so far resisted the urge to try and straighten them. It would be good to see a picture of your Offa

Thanks Stuart, I went up to DNW on Friday to drop a coin off to them, and showed Chris Finch the John coin, told him what I had done to it and he was well impressed, lots of eye appeal ,which is selling well at the moment. Its gone from a bent coin worth a few quid to something well over a hundred he reckons. Result.

Yes ,thanks for reminding me. I should have mentioned that.Heating to cherry red again and allowing to cool naturally leaves the coin in the same metallurgical state it was before you started annealing it. The other thing of course is the coin can/will discolour during the process of annealing. So after you have flattened it to your liking it’s then time to retone to a desirable state. At the moment I’m none too sure of why it discolours , probably due to impurities in the metal or on the surface, mud etc. At the moment, the method I used on the two coins shown in this thread is very simply to put the coin in a small amount of household bleach, just enough to cover it and wait till the coin darkens to a desired colour, usually a minute or two. Wash thoroughly in water and pat dry. Have a look at the coin and decide if your happy with it . Next I wet the coin again and put between two small pieces of flattened tin foil.( shiny side on coin). Hold between finger and thumb for a bit, you should smell rotten eggs(sulphur). Then gently rub the coin, in between the foil still ,in a circular motion. Check the coin to see if the desired effect has been reached and stop. I then put coin in distilled water and using a cotton bud , gently go over the coin to further clean it. Then dry. Now I know a lot of you may be cringing at my method of straightening and re-toning coins this way and I don’t blame you. The bleach and tin foil method is very basic, and I’ve read it can be/ is very damaging to the coin. There are other methods out there ,and I’m willing to learn. So if you know of another method let me know. PLEASE DONT DO THIS ON COINS THAT MAY BE RARE OR VALUABLE TO YOU. please read the disclaimer in the terms and conditions 😉 Here endeth the second lesson. Richard

I find it difficult identifying stuff when I’m half cut😂

As I said Craigy it’can be hit and miss , I got lucky with those two I think