Colin G.

Okay devil's advocate time....I do agree with much of your sentiment, but Lustre can be subdued, so I can have two coins that are both uncirculated with full lustre, but one will look different to the other. I will always try and highlight this as subdued lustre, but it is still technically a BUNC coin in my opinion. I do however try and keep the classification BUNC for only those coins that I feel have true full lustre, otherwise I will indicate as UNC with 90% lustre or similar. This is the only product I can find in my stock which is described as ABU, and this is due to the fact that this coin is BUNC to the eye, but when scanned/photgraphed, a slight patch of lustre is missing to Victoria's hair, so I do not feel it should be classed as BUNC. Do I now describe this as UNC with 99.9% lustre? I can see the issue being raised but have never personally seen it as a major issue. If this annoys collectors, then I might be willing to change this to UNC with "almost full lustre" or similar. The last thing I want to do is rub you lot up the wrong way Do you honestly see this example as a major issue, I really do value your opinions guys? http://aboutfarthings.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=550 As I say, I do the best I can and also would gladly accept returns if buyers are unsatisfied, but it does not just seem that big an issue to me. I know there are those who take this a step too far, but we will never get concensus on this so I think it will always be a case of if you don't like the dealer's way of listing stock, and are not happy with their grading then do not use them, and let them know the reason why the coin is being returned (because mistakes do happen ). That is exactly what I do and would not expect anything less from anyone buying from me. Now I will hide behind my monitor and wait for the backlash

Tried that route before without joy It is not urgent I will wait for Paul or Bente to return

Does anyone have any links to Tim Everson, I am trying to contact him regarding a Richmond farthing. If you can help, PM me. Thanks

Yes I forgot the obvious information - He wrote the Galata Guide on the Farthing Tokens of James I and Charles I

Red, I heard the same that the planchets had the edge lettering struck before the Obverse & Reverse being struck, so it was an entirely random outcome.

I think there may be a logical explanation for some of this. Two pound coins seem to get collected by non-collectors as curiosity pieces ( I know my mom has quite a few) due to the commemorative designs, and as times become harder, they end up getting churned back into circulation. This may also explain why quite a few of them end up in surprisingly good condition.

I use Adobe Dreamweaver to create my website, it is nice and simple to use, once you get into it, and web hosting depends on how reliable you want the site to be and what traffic you are intending to get. You can grab a domain name for about £5 a year, hosting can be anything from free (if you have advertising banners from other companies) up to a pretty penny for a major hosting account. For something personal you should be able to get a decent set up fairly reasonably. I use siteground and can give you a link which will entitle you to a years hosting for $9.95 (I think you also get a free domain name), which is their usual monthly price for a good hosting account. You can try it for a year and renew, pack it in, or move elsewhere. I have to admit I would also get a months free hosting out of it They do tutorials and the support has always been excellent!! You can either upload your own site from any web design package, or use their own creation templates, but I have never tried this so do not know how good it is. Have a look and see what you think, the most important thing to remember is it can be quite time consuming, but great fun!! The same offer applies to anyone else who wants to have a dabble!!

If the prices on pennies are too high -- there are always farthings and halfpennies. Oi!! don't encourage them all to collect farthings you will push the prices up and give me more competition for purchases

You are correct it is Obverse 5, the easiest way to distinguish between Obverse 3 and 5 is that Obverse 3 has a full brooch, whereas Obverse 5 only has a partial brooch visible. It is also Reverse C

I am in the die flaw camp. I think it is the early stages of a die crack

I could give you the relevant numbers and letters, but to assist I have a page which highlights the Obverse varieties if you pick out the right Obverse, I will tell you the reverse!! Victorian Obverses

I think it is just the way the photo is lit, it is surprising how many freaky things can appear when a coin is lit from different angles. Even if it does resemble a 1 it is more likely to be a missing serif off the I rather than a 1 in the legend and proving otherwise would be extremely difficult.

Yep they definitely had some problems with quality this time around, got to love that moustache

The Obverse

Yes there are very few people who ever end up making money out of it. I have found a few bits over the past few years, and managed my first Roman denarius (Emperor Trajan)recently, but it had a nice chunk missing

It seems to resemble a George II Irish halfpenny to me

It turns out my latest acquisition is actually the same die as the 1843/2 sovereign. As shown in Marsh. Which leaves my previous example requiring further examination, oh well at least I get to keep both

All, I have within my collection an 1843/2 farthing which can be seen magnified here Magnified View I have now acquired another 1843/2, but it is definitely a different die (I will upload images when I can get my microscope working!!). The 2 is in a completely different location. I am trying to figure out which one matches the 1843/2 sovereign so that I can determine which one has been struck from the sovereign dies. The trouble is both coins are very rare, so it is difficult to get images to do a comparison. This means that the other one is either from a different sovereign die, which may suggest another 1843/2 sovereign variety may be out there, or this is an 1842 sovereign/farthing die which has later been recut with a 3. Does Marsh have any magnified images? If so I might grab a copy. Help!!!

On a separate issue, there is a really good detecting forum, which is detectorist.co.uk, they make everyone welcome, and being a member I can recommend it. It is a fantastic hobby, I only wish one of my two were in the slightest bit interested in detecting....but hey ho thats the way it goes!!

You can copy and paste the number into the search bar on Ebay and it will bring the item up.

Russ, I think you would do well getting £20 for them. Worth having a look at the Obverse of the 1875h and 1880 just to check for Freeman 530 or 1880 3 berries, but the chances will be very slim!!

1949 are you casting aspersions on my website!! Farmer Palmer, the link you have provided is from my website. They are a very much unknown item, but I genuinely believe that the information on the site is as accurate as you will find at present. They are collectible, but not as much as you would think. They generally fetch about £3 - 15 on Ebay, but will go higher for a nice grade. They are very scarce in higher grades. If you need any more info let me know

I knew the hammered god would come along soon

That sounds just like me!! I think that is one of the reasons for the die comparisons and variety chasing because the project will inevitably always be endless.

I would never have stopped at it anyway, never got the cupronickel/silver bug Oh apart from the hammered farthings But in response to the principle of the question.....if for example I had an amount to spend on coins, I would always look for a single coin to fit in my collection for that price rather than a handful of more modern ones, my reasoning has always been that I can always fill the later gaps in at a later date, because they are plentiful, but finding the right looking earlier farthing is not so easy. I have recently obtained a small farthing collection and compare the later BU dates with my own to see of they are that bit better/stronger strike, because each collection obtained tends to have the later dates in better grades, it always seemed mad to me to actively purchase a 1956 farthing, when I know I will come across many over time, and will just keep replacing them with the best one I come across......does that make sense?