help, coin identification

[Guest goldendog]

Ihave a penny. One side shows britania dated 1871 and the other side shows a sailing shipwith sails furled and 3 seagulls and script saying victoria & alfred waterfront. Also i have another same as a penny in size, but the obverse is a portrait of a young victoria with the script: victoria- dg -brit - reg-fd. The reverse shows a sailing ship with sails furled and 3 seagulls with script saying victoria & alfred waterfront.

Can anyone identify these coins for me? is there any value to them? They are in uncirculated condition with lustre.

Yours gratfeully

goldendog.

[mint_mark 10]

OK, a quick web search suggests that Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is in Cape Town in South Africa.

Normal South African pennies did feature a three masted sailing ship in full sail (not furled) but only from 1923 onwards. There were no normal South African coins from queen Victoria, just a few patterns (prototypes) for cape province.

Parts of South Africa were certainly under British control for a long time before having their own coins, so I expect that ordinary British coins were in use (similar situation in Australia and New Zealand), including Victorian pennies.

My guess is that there was a machine on the waterfront where you put in a penny and it stamped one side with the ship and seagulls design to make a souvenir. That explains how you can have two pennies with the design on different sides. I have no idea when that might have been though... it looks like there's something there called the "Penny ferry", so maybe the souvenir pennies come from there?

[Guest Goldedog]

Hi, thanks Mint Mark for the information you gave, it certainly helps,sorry i have been so long in thanking you.

Regards Goldendog.