secret santa

Nothing wrong with that - all I ask is that these individuals state that it is their opinion, and not issue proclamations as if they're proven undeniable facts.

Like London buses, you wait ages for one and then two come along at once.

Guilty !

White, female and stale - I don't think so.............................

I have emailed them to correct this description and also the F24 missing leaf described as reverse D. Lot 497 also looks deeply suspicious - 1841 no colon proof ???

Thank you, I've uploaded them.

No, it is obverse 4 with LC WYON below the bust and obverse 4 coins tend to have quite a narrow rim with short teeth that can appear rounded like beads but true beaded obverses have the circular beads well clear of the rim. Take a look at: https://rarestpennies.wordpress.com/1860-f8-mule/

Thank you very much - that's really appreciated, and so useful.

Thanks Rob. I bought a 1552 crown myself many years ago (Lord knows why) and have only just noticed the variation in different examples. Spink just pictures a single design and the various examples that I've seen in auction never seem to differentiate between obverse or reverse designs. Are they all more or less as common as each other, to the best of your knowledge ? And is the Lingford catalogue accessible online ?

Can someone please explain the difference in the legend at the lower left between these 2 coins. also, one has a dot after the date,

But you have to have a lot of time and patience to trawl through them !

My website states quite clearly that F103 has obverse M with 5 teeth from R to I and so your "suspension" is incorrect.

Does this sum up the world in 2023 ?

Photos please.

Well done - I spotted that in a Spink auction recently.

It is obverse 4 (Gouby F) and the pictured coins are F24 - Freeman 4+F (Gouby F+f), but the same missing leaf has been seen on (2) specimens of F22 (Freeman 4+D; Gouby F+d). (no-one uses roman numerals to identify obverse types)

On a different subject, I have been studying the obverse 4 missing leaf types where all the examples that I've seen bear slight traces of the "missing" leaf and a weakened linear circle above the missing leaf. The example in Michael Gouby's book, however, shows a complete linear circle: However, close examination suggests that these 2 pictures are of the same coin - compare the shading and the dark spot on the right hand side. Perhaps the 2nd picture was doctored (definitely not by Michael) to illustrate what the missing leaf might look like. Michael agrees with me and intends to include a different picture in any future updates to his book. I therefore think that the genuine missing leaf types look like this, with weakened linear circle: Which is probably what would be expected from a partially filled die in that area of the coin.

I fear we shall never know.

Further to the above, I have a couple of 1861 pennies (F29 & F33) where the G of D:G: has been badly repaired (rotated) with both a "curved" and a "straighter" G punch so either of these could have been used to produce the VIGTORIA error.