secret santa

Today's auction is still not open and highly likely not to, I'd imagine.

Pete, I don't think that it's the Workman specimen; definitely the Crocker one but your point is well made. It appears to me that the collecting of pennies by Freeman (and Peck) variety is dying on its feet. My own collection will soon be worthless....................

No, the website says it now starts on the 17th.

Lo and behold - it's been postponed; bit like Brexit - maybe we'll never see it !

An interesting excerpt regarding the 1882 no H penny: When studying the Victorian bronze series it is essential to work rigidly to the principle that no new variety is acceptable unless it is entirely beyond question. Details in the designs of this series cannot be satisfactorily studied from worn coins, though, unfortunately, this is attempted by some collectors. The fact that only two really fine, undoubted examples of this penny have turned up during the nine years since this catalogue was first published is ample evidence of the scarcity of these pieces. Any worn pieces, seemingly without H, can now be re-examined in a much more favourable light. Craig tells us (The Mint, p. 335) that 'the Mint stopped work on 1 February 1882 for ten months'—for reconstruction. During this period the coining of bronze was undertaken by Heaton and it is extremely unlikely that the Mint would be in a position to strike any bronze during the January preceding this upheaval. This leaves December as the period during which these pennies without H were almost certainly struck —doubtless a small issue to tide over

Well, it starts today and still no access.

Thanks Mike

I've just looked at BNJ 1967 and there's no page 196-8 unless I'm doing it wrong - are you sure it's 1967 ?

Freeman did miss some genuine goodies......................

There was a previous e-auction that never appeared and was never heard of again.

Starts tomorrow and still not there..............

The original picture posted for this item was a pair of spectacles and not an 1854 penny !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got mine from Michael Gouby in 2001 for £125. Seems quite a bargain now.

The lovely one at DNW sold at £2728 a while ago.

Do you know if one can view/bid from a desktop PC ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-1854-British-One-Penny-Coin/113771080190?hash=item1a7d48e9fe:g:AGQAAOSwJJZc9ZMb Should have gone to SpecSavers - oops, they did !

I've tried to look at these auctions before with no success - another un-user-friendly cock-up.

Yes, Ian, I think that the font differences are infinitely more interesting than the different widths. In my own collection, whenever I obtained a better specimen of a particular variety, I would sometimes find a small difference in the date positions and use it as an excuse to keep both specimens ! It's the hoarder in me !!!

Excellent. Thanks Ian for corroborating, and adding to, my observations with empirical evidence. Really useful.

Damian, I've added the details to my website - if you'd like to be credited with the pictures, let me know (with your full name or a pseudonym) R

Thanks - that's a cracking coin !!!!

I have just realised/discovered that 1856 PT pennies have large dates and 1856 OT pennies have small dates - how strange !

I'll add this to my varieties website - does it only occur on 1848 (without overdate) ?

yes, indeed - there are many other variations associated with these copper penny dates but there does seem to be genuine confusion over the large and small date. You only have to look through LCA archives, for example, to find large date coins described as small date because the numbers are slightly closer together, for example. My earlier comments about the style of the 5 seems to be a reliable guide.

Yes - which is why I raised a topic on 1858 large & small date pennies - I was finding it hard to tell the difference when looking at a single coin in hand. You are not alone....................