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 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,521 |
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
These are Belgium 1950s-1990s half frank coins. The book says there are "large" and "small" heads. How do you tell the difference? (The same coins on both pictures) Image:  Clipboard01.jpg74.72 KB Image: Clipboard011.jpg96.31 KB --moved to the World Variety & Error forum because it represents an interesting variety--moderator |
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Valued Member
United States
230 Posts |
the collar is much closer to the rim on the large heads.
according to my old 2002 Krause, the large heads were only issued 1952-54, after that, the design was modified to the smaller heads from 1955 on. unless something has been discovered since then, it should be easy to distinguish the lg head from the sm head simply by the date.
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Pillar of the Community
 Poland
3201 Posts |
Exactly. My source says the same. But I pick two coins of the same date - and they are different. The lower end of the head is closer or farther from the rim..
The catalog excludes the possiblity of both large and small head in the same year. So I'm at a loss - what am I doing wrong? ...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
I see that...the difference is pretty dramatic to me.
Perhaps a photo of just two of the same date with the biggest difference?
You might also post on KOTCT, because a collector there is Belgian.
Edited by KurtS
10/17/2008 4:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
All right, I'll post them tomorrow then. I hope the photo won't be as bad as the ones above.
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1238 Posts |
Quote:
The catalog excludes the possiblity of both large and small head in the same year. So I'm at a loss - what am I doing wrong? ... Seems it's not you who is "wrong" here but that catalog. According to the Muntslag website, both varieties were used in certain years: http://www.muntslag.eu/Click on "enter", then (on the left) click on "Boudewijn", then click on "50 centiem". Have not figured out how to post a direct link, but the information on that page is very comprehensive. Christian Edited by chrisild
10/18/2008 06:28 am
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
So here it is!  It's the same year - 1955 - are the heads different (in my opinion they are) or am I seeing things  ? chrisild, thanks for the link - the website does say there were 2 varieties that year! So are the coins above different? |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1238 Posts |
In my opinion they are different. If you drag (in some graphics application) the coin on the right over to the left, you can see that the head on the right is smaller: Compare the lower ends (of the neck) and the upper ends (of the helmet) ... Christian Image: grkl1.jpg76.11 KB |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
I think it's a dramatic difference--and Christian's overlay shows that.  Judging by muntslag.eu, 1955 appears to be a transitional year between "big head" and "small head" I wonder which is more common that year?  |
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
651 Posts |
Small head is much more common. Catalog values in the Morin catalog for Belgian coins gives the following figures (in euro):
Small head:VF: 0.10/XF:1.00/Unc:1.50€
Large head:F:0.10/VF:1.00/XF:5.00/Unc:7.50
The catalog gives a mintage for 1955 of 29,160,000 , but no differentiation of this mintage between small and large head varieties.
Also: as you can see on the Muntslag website: in 1980, 1981 and 1982 the 2 varieties were minted, and from 1983 until 1993 only the large head variety was minted. This is not reflected in the Krause catalog.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Thanks Bart--very helpful info! |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 2,521 |
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Clipboard01.jpg
Clipboard011.jpg
Posted 10/17/2008 08:15 am
grkl1.jpg
