Lead chunky thick 1982 20p pattern.

[Chris Perkins 228]

This one has to be worth a new topic. I'm back from England recently after doing a coin fair and buying some stuff. The highlight of the things purchased is this thick 1982 20p trial in lead. It comes with 2 latex impressions and a letter dated 1981 from the Royal Mint to William Gardner who was the designer of the 20p (and numerous other British/Commonwealth coins).

Mr Gardner sadly passed away a few years ago and this was purchased from his son.

[Red Riley 2]

This one has to be worth a new topic. I'm back from England recently after doing a coin fair and buying some stuff. The highlight of the things purchased is this thick 1982 20p trial in lead. It comes with 2 latex impressions and a letter dated 1981 from the Royal Mint to William Gardner who was the designer of the 20p (and numerous other British/Commonwealth coins).

Mr Gardner sadly passed away a few years ago and this was purchased from his son.

Hi Chris,

This is clearly an item which transcends mere coin collecting and moves into the area of memorabilia. Could go well at an auction but even they might have trouble deciding what to catalogue it under!

[Peter 615]

Which fair did you do?..The Midland has a closed shop.

Its like a car boot for the 1st 1/2hr with dealers swarming everywhere whilst wives and partners stay at their tables.

PS I can't expand your thumbnails.

[Peter 615]

Chris

OK NOW

[Chris Perkins 228]

Technically it's a uniface lead 20p struck on very thick blank with no collar and with writen RM verification!

Probably unique. I didn't get it for face value! I think I'll just hang onto it for the moment. I can picture and feature it in the next Check Your Change, although, like you say Del it is not really a coin as such but is certainly a pattern of sorts - part of the design process and an interesting insight into early 1980s coin production.

[Chris Perkins 228]

Which fair did you do?

The London Coin fair (Holiday Inn, Coram Street). I share a table with a friend, have done for 5+ years. And also within 5 mins I'd sold 66% of the days takings to 3 quite well known dealers. That's the way it always goes.

[1949threepence 3,367]

Which fair did you do?..The Midland has a closed shop.

Its like a car boot for the 1st 1/2hr with dealers swarming everywhere whilst wives and partners stay at their tables.

PS I can't expand your thumbnails.

The Midland is not a million miles from where I live, and I know they do the major fairs, quarterly. So I might well go to the next big one in March.

"Closed shop" ? ~ hopefully, it will be worth attending.

[Peckris 579]

Which fair did you do?..The Midland has a closed shop.

Its like a car boot for the 1st 1/2hr with dealers swarming everywhere whilst wives and partners stay at their tables.

PS I can't expand your thumbnails.

The Midland is not a million miles from where I live, and I know they do the major fairs, quarterly. So I might well go to the next big one in March.

"Closed shop" ? ~ hopefully, it will be worth attending.

in the days when I still dealt, that was a major buying stop. But back in those days Stephen Lockett, Dan Daley, Dave Craddock, Wayne Nicholls, Dorset Coins, Windsor Coins, et al were all there. Don't know how many of those still do it. Probably Wayne and Dave still show up?

[Hussulo 6]

I really like that Chris!

[TomGoodheart 402]

Very cool Chris! An interesting item in itself, but with the additional bits giving the background and provenance, all the more so.

I'm never sure how one values such paranumismatica but for me the financial side of such a thing would be irrelevant anyway.

I'm kinda surprised the Mint itself doesn't hang on to more of these types of things (or maybe they do) to pop in a museum or something.

But I suppose they have their hands full considering how to manufacture a one kilo coin for all those who've been demanding one for years.

Edited February 12, 2011 by TomGoodheart

[Chris Perkins 228]

A kilo coin will give the RM plenty of space to show off another cheap and nasty loosly Olympic related design to go with the other 84! I can hardly wait.

I also have (also originating from William Gardner) a trial design NZ Dollar electrotype shield back reverse....that is 18.5cm in diameter. The design was actually used but I don't know exactly at which stage or for what purpose this plate sized 'coin' was used.

Pleased you like the 20p!

[TomGoodheart 402]

A kilo coin will give the RM plenty of space to show off another cheap and nasty loosly Olympic related design to go with the other 84! I can hardly wait.

I also have (also originating from William Gardner) a trial design NZ Dollar electrotype shield back reverse....that is 18.5cm in diameter. The design was actually used but I don't know exactly at which stage or for what purpose this plate sized 'coin' was used.

Pleased you like the 20p!

Interesting. My understanding is that the original designs were sculpted on a larger scale (in clay?) and then mechanically scaled down using something like a pantograph. However I've never heard of an electrotype being made of the larger design.

As for the 1kg coin, I was amused that David Nuthall said the coins would leave a lasting legacy. 'It is one item I can see being left in people's wills to future generations for perhaps centuries to come,' Really? Because I know my immediate inclination would be to take the thing down to my local Tescos to see how much chaos I could cause when I try to pay for a packet of biscuits with one!! Given the bemusement I met when I used a Queen's 80th £5 coin it should be good for a few laughs! Aren't I wicked?

[Chris Perkins 228]

For centuries to come! It's a bloody piss take really isn't it. The monster coins will trade around the bullion value for centuries to come. Maybe one day the intrinsic value might actually be more than what they are charging for them.

I'll create another thread for my shield back NZ dollar and perhaps the members can speculate on why it was made etc. It could just be a keep sake for the designer.

[Colin G. 147]

For centuries to come! It's a bloody piss take really isn't it. The monster coins will trade around the bullion value for centuries to come. Maybe one day the intrinsic value might actually be more than what they are charging for them.

I'll create another thread for my shield back NZ dollar and perhaps the members can speculate on why it was made etc. It could just be a keep sake for the designer.

That certainly seems a logical explanation, fascinating piece of numismatic history there

[TomGoodheart 402]

For centuries to come! It's a bloody piss take really isn't it. The monster coins will trade around the bullion value for centuries to come. Maybe one day the intrinsic value might actually be more than what they are charging for them.

I think the plan is to have a £500 coin made from 1kg silver. Bullion price would be, what, £18.75 / troy ounce? Isn't that around £600/kg? Which is a loss on face value straight off (so maybe I won't spend one in Tesco!)

Silver values are pretty decent right now but Chard are selling 1kg Kookaburras for around £820. How high would bullion need to go before you recoup the cost?!?!

I suspect they will prove to be another white elephant, people will naively buy the things expecting to make a fortune only to find they can't offload them for anywhere near what they paid. Trust me. In five or ten years you'll get people on here asking 'how much' and going away (very) disappointed. Bloody ripoff IMHO.