A few British bits (Poor Pics but GREAT COINS)

JCMhouston

A friend happened to be in town today so we met for dinner. He brought a few pieces from his junque box for me to ogle over a very tasty grilled salmon. The pics are horrible as I was taking them between mouthfuls and trying my best not to get any drool marks on the coins. Some are PCGS, some NGC, and some raw, I did not get images of the 1951 and 1953 Matte Proof Crowns because, well,... I just got distracted actually. He also brought the 1893 Jubilee Head 6d but the pictures are so bad I won't bother with them.

1882 Penny - London mint, a very tough bit of copper:





1920 Halfpenny, now this should have been bronze, but is in fact nickel, with a big N stamped in it by the mint:





1925 Shilling reverse model in proof:





1926 Wood pattern 3d:





1937 Crown model reverse, matte proof finish:





1946 Copper Nickel Shilling, probably a trial strike for the CN shillings issued beginning in 1947:



1951 Copper Nickel Farthing, should be bronze of course, no idea why one was minted in CN:



And a jolly nice time was had by all, now back to my poor little halfpennies and shillings.

edited to correct some errors, it was late.

InforaPenny

Interesting lot! However, I would be remiss in not pointing out that the 1882 penny without apparent mintmark has Freeman obverse 12, the wrong obverse die if it is to be the 1882 no H penny, which is only known with obverse 11. This suggests the mintmark may have either been removed or obscured by a filled die.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...
InforaPenny

7Jaguars

i think that1882 penny may in fact be a london mint example despite possible obverse issues - would hate to attribute a coin for a reverse type & mint mark on obverse characteristics when so few are known, especially any preserved to any degree of acceptability. they did have some ragged planchets for the few that are known. The reverse would need to be criticized for obvious faults and I see none.
that crown model is a 1937 & I think the latter matte proofs would have to be 1951 and 1953 as none known to my knowledge of '50 and '52 and no known jubilee shilling of 1893 known - 3d or 6d likely.

wybrit

I've never heard of an 1893 JH shilling either. The sixpence is a rare find though. The 3d is quite a bit easier to find.

JCMhouston

Updated original post, it was late, I was tired, made some mistakes.

7Jaguars

That looks to be the Norweb specimen of the 1951 farthing in copper nickel. I do believe that to be a pattern or other mint purpose struck piece, and not an off-metal strike. The 1946 shilling in cuni is extraordinarily rare and have not seen this or the companion 6d and florin (plus maybe also halfcrown), good to have a picture of this one and maybe somebody can provide pictures of the other three.

Hussulo

Some fantastic rarities in that group!

JCMhouston

Huss, it is quite difficult to maintain my usual disinterested demeanor when he keeps pulling rarity after rarity out of the little plastic ziplock baggy he carries them around in. I only wish I could collect items like these.

Inforapenny, i looked quite closely with a 5 power glass I have with a white led light that shines at an angle. Usually I can pick up traces that a filled die would leave but in this case I saw no signs of a mintmark. I know Spink only lists Die 11 for the 1882 but I really wonder about that, we would really need to use a good binocular microscope to tell for sure but it looks right to me.

7Jaguars

I wish I could have some coins like these in my zip lock collection at home...I think this point about the 1882 penny is worth pursuing as I am not sure this piece can not be accepted as a genuine London mint coin despite the possible obv. differences.

RobP

<< <i>i think that1882 penny may in fact be a london mint example despite possible obverse issues - would hate to attribute a coin for a reverse type & mint mark on obverse characteristics when so few are known, especially any preserved to any degree of acceptability. >>


Stick it in an SEM. The local university will have one in the engineering/materials science depts and most such institutions will run external samples for a relatively small fee - certainly a lot less than the value of a verified 1882 no H penny. That would establish once and for all if the H has been removed or the die filled as there will be tell-tale signs in the structure of the metal at the appropriate place.