Peckris2

And the price? You can inbox me if you like Roberto Or even better, say it loud and proud - there may be more than one taker!

"mass kintage"? Surely, you meant "kass mintage"? :D

Fascinating, Jim. Though it could be speculated (and that's all it is) that in order to test a small run of a new set of dies for bronze, only one small corner of the Mint premises would have been needed, especially if all that was produced was a handful of coins. The only comparison would be the time that the Mint was entirely rebuilt for the Great Recoinage of 1816, but then of course, there was no need to 'Suspend' operations, as Boulton's Soho mint was handling the copper, and an ungodly mix of silver coins was in circulation, ranging from the great production runs of 1758 and 1787, the counter-marked dollars and Spanish reales, the Bank of England token issues, etc etc. The next great imterruption was the move to Llantrisant and even as recently as that, we are not sure exactly what the London Mint retained, and what Llantrisant took over, between 1967 and 1971. So clarifying the position in 1882 - no chance!

Testing would be my guess. Wasn't it around that year that they introduced electronic equipment to the Mint? Certainly from 1883 onwards there is a great consistency to the Mint output with very little variation in dies used and virtually none at all in the relative position of date numerals. To achieve that it would suggest they used a new technology. Quite possibly they farmed out the production of 1882 pennies to Heatons while they installed new machinery at the Mint, and tested the new equipment with a small run of pennies.

I was about to suggest so they could be piled on a vertical hook for temporary storage. But I see the actual answer is there anyway. Incidentally, why a square hole instead of a round one ? @Peckris2 ~ what happened to Peckris1 ? Bring back the old Peckris, I say LOL. Better the devil you know, eh? Well, hopefully when my Mac gets repaired and I get my cookies back!

Spink says merely "coloured with 22 carat gold", which implies that is only gold leaf and hence could well look "rough". By the way, it's your right to collect what you want, but if youre returning to the hobby after a time away, you may not be aware of certain trends. One concerns modern issues which are all listed in the Spink catalogue but only very rarely fetch those catalogue values when sold or auctioned. The 'secondary market' for what are in effect only commemoratives, is not robust and such pieces can be picked up at auction for a fraction of their catalogue values. The predecimal coin market is pretty robust however, as can be seen on eBay. As I say, it's your affair what you collect, and good luck to you, but be very careful about paying at or near catalogue values for modern issues.

You're giving your age away Mr P. I'm sure I must have done that long ago.

LOL. Highly unlikely - impossible in fact! Heaton were supplied with their dies by the Mint, which was by far the most efficient way of doing it.

I think it's because a prescient old Chinaman just knew that someday holes would be rated very highly on eBay and decided to make some high quality examples. Well thats not quite correct Peckris2..............Bring back auld Peckris I can reliably inform you that auld Peckris also hasnt a clue! Is it anything to do with stringing theem on a ... string?

It's not a gold proof is it? This is the bit I like best Clearly a well-circulated coin, the higher points of its design are noticeably and predictably worn/smoothed though much more on the front than on the “young headed†- or “bun-headed†- rear which consequently still features considerable fine detail. However both sides are clearly enhanced by a substantial, and distinctly appealing, lustre. Well, as in "Brasso - impart an 'as new' lustre to your jaded bronze"

I think it's because a prescient old Chinaman just knew that someday holes would be rated very highly on eBay and decided to make some high quality examples.

I would have said "no", but it would be interesting to see what others say.

Absolutely. A decent pic of the entire collection(both sides of the coins)would be good, so that we knew exactly what Adam was looking for to complete the collection. And when I read in "near mint condition" then I just have to see pictures :-)