Pennies and half pennies

Hedger

Is it worth the effort to assemble a complete set of earlier British pennies and half pennies? Will pennies gain value or should I collect them because they look good? I receved a partial circulated set of pennies and half pennies from the 1900's and was wondering how popular they are to collect.

wybrit

What do you mean by "earlier?" Is it a time frame before 1970 or early, such as 17th century?

High grade (EF and UNC) pennies 1838-1936 are hot, hot hot - and very expensive now. Lower grades do not attract much attention but are fun to collect.

Halfpennies, in spite of a lot of hype from across the pond and the recent sale of the Dr. Nicholson collection, have not had a similar valuation climb just yet, but they are improving. The key is to collect them in gEF to UNC. Collecting in lower grades is more of a "just for fun" activity.

spinaker2000

wybrit

Me too! For example, explain why the 1902 low tide halfpenny, much scarcer than the low tide penny, is valued LOWER.

spinaker2000

you're the Brit here, you got some splainin' to do!!

MacCrimmon

I'd love a complete set of EddiePennies like this one.....

PuddlePirate

I started collecting them because of their historical interest and variations. Personally I believe that by buying the best I can afford, I will build a nice set and when (not if) they become popular as collectible items on this side of the pond I will be that much farther ahead of the curve for valuation increases in the future.
I used that same reasoning when I started aquiring my Morgan and Peace Dollars 24 years ago. I now have a very nice collection that my kids and grandkids can appreciate when I am gone. Financially my Morgan and Peace collection and increased overall in value at least 300% and in a few issues over 1000% in the last 24 years.
I see no reason why the English Pennies and Half Pennies are going to be any different. Buy the best you can afford, build as complete and comprehensive set as you can and enjoy it as a work well done. The future valuation increases of high grade material is always going to be there, it may not come as quickly as you would like but it will come.
Besides, the Half Pennies have ships on them and I am at heart a ship collector and always enjoy adding ships to "my fleet"

wybrit

you're the Brit here, you got some splainin' to do!!

Demand. There are more serious penny collectors right now.

Some other data: at least twice the number of people are opening my ebay auctions for pennies compared to those who recently looked at the very nice halfpennies I had for sale.

Other than the Dr. Nicholson collection pieces and a very few other anomalies, I still find that halfpennies (1838-1936) in high grade, which are just as hard to find as pennies, are relatively inexpensive here in the US.