British coins since 1930... anything rare/better to look for?

DennisH

A friend is coming over in a few hours to have me look at a bag of coins assembled by his deceased elderly father-in-law back in England. I'm a U.S. coin guy and I'm assuming this is going to be the pocket change sort of "collection" -- maybe some silver, no gold, and a bunch of copper and nickel. Most of them would have been gathered during the 1950s and '60s, so I don't expect there will be anything very old. My question is, are there any MUCH better dates/denominations I should look for?

Thanks for any and all help!

laurentyvan

Check those 50's pennies.

DennisH

Check for what? I have zero knowledge of British coins.

laurentyvan

Check those 50's pennies

1950, 1950 matte proof, same for 1951., large pennies.

DennisH

Thanks for the tip, but this will likely be pocket change stuff I'll be looking at... pretty much no chance of proofs in there.

shirohniichan

How about a 1945 silver 3 pence?

1946 and 1949 3 pence are good finds, but they're not rare.

DennisH

How about a 1945 silver 3 pence?

Thanks for the tip!

drjules

Do you have a hoard to go through then?

Dr J

wybrit

None of these are rare, but here are the more desireable dates:

Farhings: none really, but 1956 is a decent date
Halfpennies: none really, but look for 1957s with "calm sea" reverse
Pennies: 1950, 1951, 1953
Silver threepence: 1942-44
12-sided threepences: 1946, 1949, 1950 and 1951
Sixpences: 1952
Shillings: 1930, 1957 (both types), 1958 English, 1959 Scottish ===>How to tell English from Scottish
Florins: 1932, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960 (UNC only)
Halfcrowns: 1930, 1954, 1958, 1959
I assume you have no crowns in the pile, since they really didn't circulate much in the 20th century.

I doubt you will find any of the ones listed below, but if you do, you are rich:
1933 penny
1952 penny
1954 penny
1945 silver threepence
1952 shillling (English reverse)
1952 halfcrown
Anything dated 1937 with Edward VIII portrait (not George VI).

7Jaguars

Coins dating back to Victoria were still in circulation in the '50s & '60s.

Good coins:


Pennies:1912 with H mint mark to left of date
1918 & 1919 with H or KN min marks to left of date
1922, 1926, 1950, 1951

3d silver: 1928, 19301942-'45
3d bronze: 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951
6d: all silver
shilling: all silver
florin/two shilling: all silver
halfcrown: all silver
crown: all silver

silver: 0.925 are coins minted through 1919
0.500 are coins minted 1920-1946

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Most of them would have been gathered during the 1950s and '60s, so I don't expect there will be anything very old. >>

You might be surprised.



<< <i>Coins dating back to Victoria were still in circulation in the '50s & '60s. >>

What 7jaguars said. You'll probably find some "slick Vicks" (worn-out, nearly-slick Victoria pennies and halfpennies). The nice thing about slick Vicks is, the date was one of the last things to go, so even the really slick ones are often datable. They aren't worth a whole lot when slick, but it's nice to know the date, anyway.

That sounds like a truly fun lot to paw through. I wish you good cherrypicking.

If you don't feel like going out and buying 19th and 20th century Krause catalog volumes, a subscription to Numismaster is $9.95 per volume. Ridiculously expensive for a one-month subscription, but convenient- right there on your computer.

Or, I suppose you could go to the library and check out a copy of the Krause catalog. "Free" is even better.

IstilllikeZARcoins

Let us know how you got on.