Guildford Halfpenny Conder

Ibought one of these (worn and cleaned) for the bargain price of £16 but it went missing in the post...so I went for this, much nicer piece. I have overpaid (£33), but they arent very common (Listed in Dalton & Hamer as common) and this is the only one I've ever seen on ebay.

The reverse shows Bishop Blaze with a wool comb above a woolsack - Guildford was famous for its wool industry and produced a dye called Guildford Blue which was exported all over the place. The other side shows some of the town crest - the lion, looking rather stupid here - and the castle, which looks nothing like that at all.

A much rarer 1d exists which shows the castle true to life and in 3D. Thats worth a few hundred though. I'm going to make a custom holder for this (perhaps put it into an airtight and then mount the airtight).




Id best go and try and get my money back for the missing one, whilst I'm at it. I know someone on the forum has one of these with some red left (relatively common on these pieces, especially the uncommon coins - Coins like mine herewere taken,perhaps from circulation, and placed into the period's coin collections, which explains why so many thousands exist in high grades - a BU coin from thisperiod can be had for well undr £100).