Accumulator

Thanks for that background info Rob! I'd noticed a couple of halfpennies myself so assume the complementary pennies must be around somewhere. Interesting to note that Norweb had neither though.

I've acquired a 1966 penny in brass, which appears to have seen some circulation. I've heard mention of coins in various metals for 1966/67 but can't find any literature or references for this. Anyone have more information? Apologies for the quality of pics, but the coin is slabbed so these are library photos from the TPG.

Here's my new 1935 VIP proof penny (photographed through the slightly scratched NGC slab). The seller was US-based, so the coin has come home - the downside of which is I had to pay import duty, but never mind! I've still been unable to find another one, though no doubt they exist somewhere.

Nobody in the whole wide world would pay money themselves to slab the coins you can actually see available slabbed by CGS, I think they slabbed a whole load of low-value coinage for some other grand plan (numbers slabbed possibly etc???). There are endless coins slabbed well under the cost of slabbing! I agree that cgs should know these things, but I've even had a coin returned with a so-called CGS variety (no serif on 1 of date) dated incorrectly, by 4 years...1 and 5, not an excusable 3 and 8, or 8 and 9 etc. I know what you mean. When viewing pennies at the Dec 2011 London Coins auction I noted a CGS slabbing error (incorrectly identified variety for 1908). I emailed CGS and received a 'we will look into it' reply, but never heard a thing afterwards. In my opinion a certification company should have a strict process for handling errors as part of their QC system. I would have expected more from them. Anyway, back to the coin.... any views on these strikes in other metals?

I have looked up the relative densities of brass v bronze and, as Rob predicts, they are very similar. I think Peter is right, I'll have to rely on the visual check, backed up by CGS. Any thoughts on the how such a coin came to exist and how common they are?

It looks brass in colour and certainly isn't bronze. I don't know whether it's been tested though. My verdict is taken from the TPG label on the slab (by CGS). Shame it's been slabbed - the weight would be a clincher. Good point. I checked the CGS record for the slab but no weight is recorded.

It looks brass in colour and certainly isn't bronze. I don't know whether it's been tested though. My verdict is taken from the TPG label on the slab (by CGS).

I'm no expert on these SOHO coins but something surprises me about this one. Although the wear is fairly minimal in some areas (the berries and eyes on the obverse, for instance) there is a very marked lack of detail in others (the hair, the leaves, the background in the shield, the SOHO lettering). I presume this must just be due to a very worn die? It certainly doesn't appear to be due to circulation wear.

This shows how news headlines heavily influence our opinions. Based on the last sentence, it could have read: Pennies plunge 300% in a year! Coin collectors around the world are left staring into a black hole as a rare penny barely reached a third of the value made in a similar sale just a year ago.....

One of only 14! So not close to being unique. That's one hello of a price to pay for a coin with that many examples floating around, even if not all of them are in collector's hands.

Happy birthday for yesterday!

I agree, it does sound reasonable to suppose there must have been 10 or so full sets minted and this is what Freeman based his R18 on. However, for 1935, I've been completely unable to find either an individual penny, or a full set containing a penny, having been offered or sold. I checked all the usual on-line sources and only found crowns (lots of them), a couple of halfpennies, a florin and a half-crown. I guess the RM could confirm.

Best wishes for William from me too, Dave! At least Summer is on it's way.

I do have a 1940 BU Single Extregue Line Is it better than the one one my website Dave?

Kick a man when he's down, why don't you

Ok, a bit provocative I know but in two days there's been only one post in the main topic area of the most active coin forum in the UK. Surely there must be at least a thousand active coin collectors in the UK. Are we really all that introverted that we prefer to pursue our hobby with virtually no outside contact? As mentioned before, I own a classic car. I'm fairly confident that there are less owners of my particular car marque than coin collectors, but the forum for these vehicles is far more lively than this one. I just checked and in only the main forum area there are 17 threads that have received responses in the last 48 hours! It's hard not to conclude that the overwhelming majority of coin collectors are an antisocial bunch, who gain no pleasure from sharing their passion with others. Discuss...

In my defence I would say that the 'window event' happened a good many years ago when I was not actually collecting, so that may itself say that since I've become a coin collector again I am no longer interested in teenage girls sunbathing topless. And this in turn may all be used as evidence that the coin collector is in fact nerdy and whoever posted the original heading to this thread had actually hit the nail on the head by saying we are all in fact anti-social creeps! Remembering my own teenage years, when my coin collecting interests and teenage girl interests were both at their most obsessive, I'd say that thesis isn't necessarily reliable! On the other hand, you could say that coins were a kind of compensation for lack of success in the other arena... Those were the days.... and probably why my coin collection is so poor

I'm about to collect my two teenage daughters from school... All I can say is, thank God my neighbours don't collect coins!!!

Dave, I'm interested in any pennies which would add to my collection. I know you have a few good examples... I'm only interested in 20th century pennies, any rarities there? Anything you're particularly looking for Gary?

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the whole of the right side of the eight appears to have sustained damage. The resulting impact has squashed and spread the metal to give the impression of something more interesting than just a whack. That's all I think it is though.

The Lumix camera forum? They're probably all too busy answering those 'glamour shot' ads in the back of Amateur Pornographer (sorry, Photographer) As for vintage car forums, you make a fair point Derek. Car owners are more likely to seek help or try to assist each other than coin collectors who, in one sense, are actually competing with each other. Also cars are, by their very nature, more complex and demanding of advice from fellow enthusiasts. My original comments were a little tongue in cheek in respect of the regular contributors here (who now seem to have returned from Easter anyway!). However, there was an underlying serious point in relation to all the other coin collectors in the country. Most must have access to the internet. Even a cursory Google search will bring up this forum again and again so they must know of our existence. Yet the vast majority never choose to take part in our community. Why? I'm still none the wiser.

Dave, I'm interested in any pennies which would add to my collection. I know you have a few good examples...

I'll leave further explanation to one of the silver collectors but I can vouch for the seller, having dealt with them before and been very happy.

Or for the oldies on here 22/7 These are approximations. You could always calculate it more accurately from: e^iπ + 1 = 0

Yes, Colin, the 'Arabic' digit one (if that is what it is) is entirely raised on all four sides. I.e. it is formed by a recess in the die. Michael suggests sending it to the Mint, which would be an interesting option. I may well contact them in due course.