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 Replies: 14 / Views: 3,307 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2111 Posts |
This is a 1797 Britannia Coin, it has King George III on the Obverse, Its been in my Wife's family for over a 100 years. Some knuckle head used an engraver on it. It weighs 55.4 grams. Not sure if its copper or bass. Can anyone tell me if its worth anything? Should I have it graded. Thank you for any help.   "LOVE THE HUNT!"
Edited by arby96
08/10/2013 3:11 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2892 Posts |
These are very impressive coins - so impressive that they only had a very limited lifespan as they were just too heavy to be really practical. One penny's worth of copper at the time to be exact.
It's probably worth in the region of £10 or so in this condition - maybe less. They are very common in these low and battered grades.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2111 Posts |
Thank you Bacchus2 one of my oldest coins I own.
"LOVE THE HUNT!"
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
At 55 grams, isn't that two ounces? So this is a cartwheel 2d, right? That's worth a bit more as far as I know.
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
18010 Posts |
You're right, nalaberong - the penny weighs 1 ounce and the twopence 2 ounces.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
127 Posts |
In fine condition a Cartwheel twopence is worth around £40-45. In the above condition not much really.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
55 Posts |
I have a well worn coin like this, so worn you could barely make out the words, head and Britannia, I ended you giving it to my nephew aha :p along with fake Chinese and roman coins. Never seen one before in a good condition though. I wonder if the scrap value of the copper in some of these old/well worn coins is better than the actual value? hmm. remember seeing an article about the old 2 New pence coins copper value being 3 pence. and they probably weighed a fraction compared to the old pennies and even this coin.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
These heavy coins were made out of pure copper, which is softer than bronze.
They are very sensitive to edge bruising, as this one shows.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
127 Posts |
Here is one of my Cartwheel Pennies, this is my best one, although as sel_691, says prone to edge bruising:   |
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Pillar of the Community
778 Posts |
Here's my one penny cartwheel reverse brockage -  Not in the best condition, I fear. (I broke it out of this slab 'cause I just don't like them)!  Bill
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
Quote:
Not in the best condition, I fear. (I broke it out of this slab 'cause I just don't like them)! Good on you Mate, I hate the bloody things as well  |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
127 Posts |
Wow cool coin Bill. Not keen on slabs either.
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Moderator
 Australia
16868 Posts |
Sorry I missed this when it was first posted. Quote:
Its been in my Wife's family for over a 100 years. Some knuckle head used an engraver on it. If it's been a family heirloom for that long, it's entirely possible that the "knuckle head" in question was one of her ancestors. One of the engravings is a date, "1844"; from the timing, it could easily have been in the family since that date. It was common practise back then to use coins as "love tokens" and have their initials and other sentiments engraved upon them. This one is somewhat amateurishly applied; presumably the person attempted the engraving themselves. More professional-looking jobs were done by jewellers or specialist love-token-makers. While the engravings render the coin "damaged" as far as a typical coin collector is concerned and "ungradable" as far as the slabbing companies are concerned, it is now no longer a coin - it's a love token. As such, it's value has been decoupled from it's theoretical value as a coin. Its value to the family is immensely more, of course, if it is indeed still being held by the family of the person it was engraved for. By far the majority of love tokens have now been stripped of their provenance and their stories have been lost. It could be worth your while if you could try to find out whether anyone in your wife's family knows the story behind the piece, or if not, then if your wife had an ancestor with the initials "WBS", presumably in Britain and presumably sometime around 1844. Even if no-one in the family still wants to keep it, its purchaser would likely pay more to know the provenance and the actual story behind the item, if it can be tracked down. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2111 Posts |
Sap, I never knew it could be that, Thanks for the info, I will have to do some research. Thanks again
"LOVE THE HUNT!"
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2111 Posts |
Come to think about it Sap, my wife's family is from England, so it is possible we might be able to track someone down, In her family tree is Thomas Jefferson and Benedict Arnold. Too bad its not one of them. lol
"LOVE THE HUNT!"
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Replies: 14 / Views: 3,307 |
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Posted 08/10/2013 3:34 pm
