Sword

The manuscript of the poem he wrote was sold at Noonans. https://www.noonans.co.uk/archive/lot-archive/results/131481/

Found it

That's amazing! Superb engraving too. It would have taken some thought to work out what wordings would fit neatly around the edge.

Really? Can you post a link to the thread? Mind you, monarchs do give Maundy money in red purses each year.

That's fascinating. Well done for finding it out and keeping the story alive. This is the sort of item I would buy; but for the story and history rather than as a coin.

I brought mine for £63; 8 years ago.

What people can ask for and what you are prepared to pay are two entirely separate issues. You can control the later and not the former. I personally don't worry about things like that.

I rather like the Princess Anne portrait myself. It's quite a good likeness and she is 75 years young after all. Here is a photo of her taken this year.

Try balancing the coin on your forefinger and then tap with another coin to hear how it sounds. Silver sounds very differently than base metal.

If the coin is not high grade and is very dirty, then cleaning it is OK. But you need to be very careful with high grade examples. For high grades, dabbing with a cotton bud soaked in acetone should be fine, but don't rub, as this will cause hairlines.

https://new.coinsweekly.com/people-and-markets/the-worlds-smallest-coin/#:~:text=The 1-kuna Hum coin,as the world's smallest coin.&text=The representative of Guinness World,Photo%3A Croatian Mint. The smallest "coin" is just 1.9mm. But I am not sure modern gimmicks count.

The issue next to the ear looks like a flan lamination flaw: a layer on the surface on the coin has flaked off.

Note the broken B in "BRITT". This is due to a broken punch or blocked die and is not a true error. However, some people would call it the RRITT error and they really shouldn't. You can make out the letters WWP next to HONI on the reverse. WWP are the initials of the master of the mint, William Wesley Pole. There is the letter W by the letter N of PENSE for Thomas Wyon the Younger, the chief engraver. I don't have a 1817 shilling, but have brought a nice sixpence of the same design some time ago.

Some of those chop marks are definitely Chinese characters. These circulated widely in China alongside other foreign silver dollars. 8 Reales is still on my list of things to get. Great history! I wasn't aware of that. I think the original ones are still very affordable if one is not gunning for a top grade example.

I don't think there is any problem with washing really dirty low grade coins gently if necessary.