Bernie

Standard 1922 penny Obverse 3 with Reverse B, but struck on Ferrous Planchet.

Standard 1922 but with Dot in trident. Obverse 3 with reverse B.

Standard 1922 penny Obverse 3 with Reverse B

Mr T has mentioned all of the varieties that I know of, The F192C that was questioned in the final paragraph is the 1922 4+C. The links appear to be all there to view the different varieties. I can only guess what was going on. Probably experimenting with different die designs to get rid of ghosting. It is most likely that no penny dies were produced in 1923 or 1924 because of the two 1922 proof pennies that were issued in the 1924 proof sets that were given to South Africa. The two rare examples found of 1926 pennies, obverse 4 with pattern reverse and 4+experimental C were probably struck in 1925. There are probably records of the die production available. Another reader of this forum may comment more on these Royal Mint records, hopefully. I believe that the last sale of the 1926 obverse 4 with pattern reverse was sold by auction at London Coins, although it was advertised as a standard Modified effigy 4+B. There is more to this story of the sales of this pattern reverse, maybe the present owner, who follows this forum may like to elaborate.

Reverse D with Curved line rising to side of shield.

There were two slightly different reverse D die designs. From what I have seen, most 1861 3+D pennies were struck with the one of the two reverse D die designs that have no curved line rising up from the exergual line to the shield. The D Dies without this line tended to give a weaker looking strike. This applies to 1860 pennies also. One of the best 1861 3+D reverse pictures that I have has the curved line, I will try to attach. I will also try to attach a picture of the reverse D without the curved line. Your coin appears to be the type without the curved line.

I had a feeling that you featured the wrong picture, that is why I said "the penny pictured" indicated it was a Freeman 29. Very nice coin... Well done !

The 1867 penny was a brilliant Buy, but the 1861 penny pictured is a Freeman 29, dies obverse 6 with reverse D, not Freeman 21.

Absolute Beauty !!

Many of Michael's rarity estimates were questioned in the 1980's and 90's. Amazingly, time has shown that many of the questioned rarity estimates have proved most accurate. Well done Michael !! This is proof that your work was revolutionary and timeless. Your books and information were compiled before the internet, so with all of the many millions of bronze coins struck it was inevitable that you did not come across 100% of the varieties now known. Your number one fan, I think that the reader that knocked your work would definitely be rated at R20 !!

This I over I in Britt is similar to the 1861, variety obverse of Freeman 33A, that is 6+G with 8 over 6 in the date. Has yours got an 8 over 6 ??? (it is possible that this was the same obverse die used on the 1861 F33A's)

I'm surprised that know one has bought the BB/TB, they're like hens teeth. Nice coin Bob!

1860 mule penny on Ebay.com. Not an excessive price.

That is brilliant information, all new to me. Thank you for sharing your knowledge ! It really does pay to watch this forum.

I believe that the Royal Mint produced these sets to show the South African government the quality of coins that the UK can produce. Probably for gaining contracts for striking SA coinage.

Yes, I have the one that was from the split set. I believe that the other penny remains in a complete set somewhere in mainland Europe. Other coins in proof set are dated 1924. The Freeman catalogue dies of these pennies are precisely obverse 3 with reverse C. The two original sets were said to have come from South Africa, probably sold by the South African government (or mint, if they have one). The coins sets were disposed of in the UK by Spink & Son.

The reason for the question mark for 1881 9+M was because the only one recorded at that time was very worn and it was at that time not known whether there was or was not originally an "H" below the date. It was probably known at that time that a proof example 9+M existed without an "H" below the date. For those readers who may not know... The currency 9+M does in fact have an "H" below the date. The 1882 pennies without "H" were probably struck to test the dies in 1881.

You wish !!!! Richard

If you think obverse 5,6 and 7 are difficult to differentiate, try establishing difference between obverse 11 and 12. I have tested out this difficulty with leading halfpenny collectors. Including Iain, No agreement could be reached whether coin was 11 or 12. My conclusion is that if the differences are that unclear, there is no justification for 11 and 12 to be considered separate varieties!

I used to buy coins and sets from the Royal Mint for many years. I do not recall exactly of which year, (~1979) but I decided to buy a proof sovereign from them. I ordered the coin and had to wait for them to start minting. That month the price of gold rocketed. I had a letter from the mint saying that due to huge demand the coins minted were going to have to go into some sort of lottery and therefore I may not necessarily get one. A month or so went buy and a friend at work managed to get one from the mint. He was not a coin collector and had never bought a coin before. He applied to buy a coin from the mint because the price of the coins were fixed at the original offer price. This brilliant investment price was mentioned in national newspapers after the gold price rise. I did not get one of the sovereigns. I complained to the mint by letter, saying that they should have looked after their regular customers first. I realised that the RM was just a money making machine . I have not bought a coin from them since and never will. I wouldn't buy a coin from them at half of it's spending value. (that's a lie ! I would buy a hundred thousand pound of pound coins for £50,000 !)

I've seen a lot worse. I expect it will sell.

I have now had a chance to examine the 1953 BB/TB penny from the Spink 2014 auction. I now believe the coin is a currency striking and not a sandblasted coin/die (definitely not a proof)

Definitely a Freeman 6, dies 1+B (Gouby 1860E dies C+

I do not believe that the 1860 missing colon dot pennies were due to the die being clogged by the bronze, but deliberate filling of the working die or more likely the erasing of the dots on the working hub. At lease two different die pairs have been used for producing the known examples of these missing colon dot pennies. There are quite a few variations of colon spacing and colon positioning of these Obverse 4 pennies, probably due to the missing colon working dies being punched by hand with colon dots.

Never heard of a 1922 filled die penny. Any picture available ?? I know of 1920 penny with filled die.