Poll: Which British Coin is the most overrated "rarity?"

wybrit

I'm willing to add 2-3 more. These are my favorite candidates...

JCMhouston

I went with the Gothic Crown from your list, but I would be willing to add any year Gothic Florin, they seem priced way above what their rarity warrents.

coinkat

Rarity is a very difficult term to apply because many people may want it.

I believe the 1847 Gothic Crown and the Godless Florin would be my choices... I still believe the 1869 Penny is very tough as I have only owned 2. The 1951 Penny is overrated, but it is a 100 dollar coin at best so there is not a big down side with that coin.

There was a Gothic Crown that auctioned for a huge sum afew years ago and if I recall correctly it was 32k. Sorry, but that strikes me as being alittlr high

SaorAlba

'51 penny, most of them never circulated - but seriously I did find one in a bag of English pennies several years ago.

Aethelred

I had to vote for the 1951 Penny, I have owned a slew of them.

farthing

I also voted for the 1951 penny. Heck, I gave one to DBSTrader2 for his Whitman folders. I think I also gave another one away to someone else on these boards.

MacCrimmon

For sheer overratedness, the 1951 1d is laughable. <<< See, I'm laughing.


Where money is involved, the Gothic crown is a cousin to the 1909-S VDB. Those wiped and near-gem Gothics are a dime a dozen, and as CK alluded, the true gems are not "worth" over $8-10k, much less $32k+.

As to truly gem Gothic florins, I'll gladly pay 20% back of the current market for any rock solid PCGS MS65 standard, or better. And, any later date Victoria young head half crown in true MS64+++ or better are near impossible to obtain. There are a lot of MS63 dipped and stripped 'wannabees', but very, very few 64+ 1/2 crowns which are legit, IMHO.

Gem Vic copper is also stupid cheap, especially sans spots, stains, fingerprints, etal.

7Jaguars

Well, the 1951 penny is not a rarity and so could not vote for it. Especially since those doggoned Gothic Crowns go for money in excess of their value in my opinion, no matter the fact that they still sell. I really really like nice Victoria silver and still do not have one, nor probably will I.

1849 Gothic florin has never really been touted as a rarity so do not think it overhyped.
1869 penny is not as rare (IMO) in ANY grade as some of the other Vicky copper but is still is a fairly rare bit in GEF and nicer.
1918 H/KN pennies ARE fairly scarce to rare in the higher grades respectively.

The 1934 Wreath is fairly scarce but has variously been a bit overrated. Still, what can you say about a coin with a stated 932 mintage? BTW, I seriously doubt many of the Wreaths of this date and others listed and even TPG graded as "Proof" (save for the 1927).

1937 5 Pounds gold overrated.
1887 and 1893 2 pounds and 5 pounds in proof - why do these go for such money, even though there were few minted I don't think there are many collectors...

Overall, IMO, the scarce to rare GB bits are NOT overrated or priced, but confess to being biassed. Choice Vicky Gothic florins as per Mac are NOT less rare or overrated. I might have to fight him over a few....Psych! Maybe on an upgrade or two though...

ajaan

'51 1d. Over hyped as being rare when it isn't.

lordmarcovan

I too went with the 1951 penny, which is the only item from the list I've owned. There were three UNC examples in a bulk lot I bought once. Granted, it wasn't your everyday bulk lot, and is one of the ones that sticks in the memory, but...

wybrit

I'd have to agree with the majority on the '51 penny - you can find them in BUFL even in stores that have little or no other world coin stock.

I'm surprised no one voted for the 1869 penny. It's certainly tricky but I know there are several folks out there who are holding multiple examples of these in top grade. I also see a lot of midgrade pieces for sale at alsmost any given time, making me wonder why 1868, 1870 and 1871 aren't considered even more difficult to get. BTW, Freeman rarities are as follows:

The pennies at and around 1869:
1867 R7
1868 R8
1869 R11
1870 R6
1871 R8

The H and KN pennies of George V:
1912H C8 (claims of scarcity/rarity are way overrated!!)
1918H C
1918 KN N
1919 H C2
1919 KN R2

1951 R4

Unfortunately, these figures are based on populations in all readable date grades, so are not representative of rarity in high grade.

7Jaguars

Yes, that would be true and especially with a coin like the 1919H penny - try finding a really nice and well struck specimen. I still think most collectors of more recent vintage (and nothing against the rest of us geezers) don't really think of the 1951 penny as a rarity and don't really care about it at all & think the notion of perceived rarity is from many years previously (i.e. 1950s -1970s). This is why I did not vote for it, besides the fact that it does not bring any kind of price.

I want to vote for Gothic Crown again.

Gazza

And of course we shouldn't forget about the most overrated rarity of modern times the undated 20p

wybrit

And of course we shouldn't forget about the most overrated rarity of modern times the undated 20p

MacCrimmon

Oh yeah, you left out Una.

Minted to order for 48 years; not rare........just pricey.


Consider this my second vote for the Gothic Crown.

coinkat

I went back and voted for the 1951 1d- even though I do not consider it a rarity- in red UNC, it remains a $100 coin if it is nice

Bjorn

The Gothic Crown - beautiful coin, but you can always get a nice example for enough cash. A lot of the supposedly rare twentieth century pennies and silver threepences show up pretty often in junk boxes.

bidask

@ajaan said:
'51 1d. Over hyped as being rare when it isn't.

I gots one 🤓

cladking

I once had a couple hundred of these. They ranged from VF+ to AU with most being XF/ AU. There wasn't much luster in the whole bunch though.

Rexford

Old thread, but Una and the Lion is the easy answer in the current market. How many other coins can be said to have 100+ straight graded examples certified yet a base value over $200k in the lowest possible straight grade? None, I think. Aside from that, they all look pretty much the same - they're pretty, but there are only so many ways a deep cameo proof gold coin can present. And they were restruck for over 50 years and not really rare at all.

Gothic Crowns would be a close second. Over 1200 straight-graded examples of just the UNDECIMO variety between the two services, and still over $10k in a 61 grade. It doesn't help that they're typically dark and wipey.

7Jaguars

Doesn't seem like the overrated bits have changed in fifteen years. On the other side of the coin, many 20th century copper and silver that would be considered "better" have been languishing. These are I suppose not glamour coins and are possibly on the wane...

robp2

Gothic crown all the way.

On the question of 1951 pennies, this is an anomaly. The mintage of 120000 was sent to Bermuda, which is probably why they are relatively common in the US. They still crop up rarely in the UK if sifting through a jar of pennies accumulated during the 1960s. I was asked for one on three separate occasions at the fair on Sunday. Didn't have one, but did have 4 1950s, which with a mintage of only twice that of the 51 you would assume is nearly as difficult, but the key is they went to Northern Ireland, so circulated internally and therefore crop up more frequently.