Paddy

I believe it was still a capital offence in the UK, where most of the contemporary counterfeits were produced, although the punishment was usually commuted to transportation. The USA was responsible for more of the Evasions, and after independence the laws all changed.

Yes, looks to be a contemporary counterfeit. Weight should be more 9 to 11g. Having said that, it is one of the better made counterfeits. Most are much cruder and often produced ready worn. Note you are correct to say contemporary counterfeit rather than Evasion. The latter are deliberately varied from the original so as not to be classed as an illegal forgery. (Production of counterfeits was a capital offence!) Here is my regal issue 1772 for comparison. I have lots of 1775, all contemporary counterfeits!

Already in progress!

Interesting you mention A R Alexander. I don't believe he published any books and we worked out a while ago that he was "Father Andrew Alexander" - a priest at the school I was at! I knew when I was there that he collected coins and his interest and advice on my measly collection helped me get started. I had no idea he was such an authority on pennies at the time. He passed away only a few years ago at the school. I have no idea what happened to his collection - it may have passed to relatives or still be in possession of the school.

Well done! Will we see pictures? By the way, you have resurrected a very old thread and the last poster, back in January 2019, @1949threepence, has since passed away and is a much missed member of the forum.

Welcome to the forum! Difficult to say what that is from the picture you have posted. I think I see an owl, which might take us to ancient Greece, but I may be seeing things. Can you get better close up pictures of both sides? An accurate weight would also be useful

As no one else has responded, I will do my best. Gold, particularly modern gold, is not my speciality. First of all, welcome to the forum. I hope you stick around once this particular query is resolved. I am not surprised the dealer company you spoke to offered only gold spot price. That is the default solution for most coin dealers and jewellery outlets as that way they are covered if the goods prove unsaleable at a premium. If you want to sell them as one lot, a dealer is the most likely option, unless you can locate a collector with deep pockets who wants all of them. You will get better value by breaking the collection up and selling pieces individually. There are two main ways of doing this: 1. The easy way is to use an auction house specialising in coin sales, who will list it as multiple lots. You will, of course, lose out to the commission, both buyers and sellers, that they will charge, but at least the market will dictate the hammer price. If you go down this route, give us some idea of where in the country you are so we can suggest a convenient auction house. 2. The most profitable way is to effectively become a dealer yourself for a while, selling through online platforms such as Facebook or Ebay, or even taking a market stall somewhere. You will get a much higher price for the items, but have the hassle and expense of the process. You will also have to handle the occasional dodgy buyer, particularly when selling online. If you go this way, you will need to do your research to know what price to ask, using published online auctions and/or Ebay as a guide. (Remember with Ebay that it is the actual sale price that counts, not the often ridiculous asking price!) I hope that helps.

Come back Dr Larry, all is forgiven!

Yes, much better now.

We seem to be on dead slow again?

Nice coin. I think your initial assessment of an attempted holing is more likely correct. I think the bulge in the wreath beneath the 8 on the reverse is the other end of that. I don't think a die fault would allow so much proud metal. I like the threehalfpence coins - a short run intended for the colonies but legal in the UK and listed in all the GB books. It took me some years to complete the date run, the 1837 William IV proving the most elusive - a lot scarcer than the books indicate.

Hi @Citizen H, for non-British coins you might want to try the World coin section of Cointalk.com.

I am no expert on these but by comparing with @secret santa's site I would agree, this is not High tide. I see there is a link on the PCGS page to report errors - is that worth a try?

Incidentally, when you did your initial experiment - 100 minutes at 90C - how did you achieve this temperature control?

The 1887 shilling is the commonest of the Jubilee head shillings as it was the first year of issue and many were put aside as souvenirs. The lower one is in much better condition than the other. There are variations to watch out for, which I am not up on, so I would leave it to others to identify if you have any there. Value is better than silver value (0.925), but I have not watched these dates at auction for some years, so hopefully someone else can chip in.

These are fairly standard low grade GV florins. I don't see anything scarce in there. Value is basically the silver value - they are 50% silver so around £65 total for the 7 on todays silver price.

Welcome @D.Urra, Unlike your lovely EVII half crowns, these Victoria pennies are almost worthless. Even in great condition they are only worth a little, and those 3 have pretty much had it.

I see no reason not to start with just warm soapy water. Most sticky labels use water based glue. If that does not work, my next try would be alcohol - rubbing alcohol I believe it is called in the US, surgical spirit in the UK. Only if both those failed would I move on to Acetone.

Welcome @SJo! That looks like post mint damage (PMD) to me. Someone messing around in a workshop.

Although I do not collect them, I have found the British colonial coinage fascinating over the years. Here are a couple that I still have the pics for:

When you posted your query, I did not even notice the lack of H! Very well done for finding one of those. How long have you had it? £6 is a stunning bargain. As to grading - I am not probably the best person to quote as I tend to be old-fashioned and grade harsher than most modern dealers. For example, I would not agree with the London Coins grading of the other example. I would give that only F on the obverse and a nVF on the reverse. On that basis, yours would grade aF or F both sides, with the scratches noted as details. But what the heck, I would forgive any grade to have an example in my collection! I prefer to grade on Rob's basis - "Acceptable" or "Not Acceptable".

Ah now that shows great promise!

I have seen plenty of both 2023 and 2025 £1 coins, though less recently, so maybe the Ebay hype is getting to people. Now if you found a 2024 £1, or indeed any 2024 GB coins in circulation, that would be well worth reporting!

If any plastic is still adhering to the coin, then Acetone will probably clear it and you can then review progress. It won't do any harm.

I have seen quite a few GV fake florins and half crown before, but not many GVI. Made of base metal and too soft, they were contemporary forgeries to fool the general public rather than fakes to fool the collectors.