| Author |
 Replies: 14 / Views: 2,509 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
772 Posts |
Here is an 1838 that I cannot find a denomination for. Can anyone tell me what it is, mintage, and prices? Thanks! Jordan   The coin still has quite a bit of shine to it, the scanner does not really show it though. Edited by jdheyne
01/04/2006 3:49 pm
|
|
|
|
Forum Mom
 United States
5877 Posts |
Can you give us the diameter of this coin? That would help in determining the denomination.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
772 Posts |
It is barely smaller than a US Quarter
20-22mm probably.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
230 Posts |
Guide for British minors
farthings - copper 22mm, bronze 20mm
halfpennies - copper 28mm, bronze 26mm
pennies - copper 34mm, bronze 31mm
The switch from copper to bronze occurred in 1860, at which time, the date was also moved to the reverse, under Britannia
|
|
Forum Mom
United States
5877 Posts |
I believe this coin is a Great Britain Farthing. According to Spink, this coin is worth $5 in Fine. I think yours is in VG condition. It's hard to tell with pics taken through 2x2s.
Krause lists this coin as a KM#725 and lists the value in Fine as $3. Mintage is around 591,000 and is composed of copper.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
772 Posts |
Thanks for the info.
The actual coin does look quite a bit better than what these scans show.
|
|
New Member
Australia
45 Posts |
It looks like a farthing.
The interesting thing about farthings (for me) is the way they had to deliberately blacken them to prevent confusion with sovereigns.
To give you an idea of just how similar they are in size, they actually used worn sovereign dies for striking the obverse of farthings.
|
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
438 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by jdheyne
Thanks for the info.
The actual coin does look quite a bit better than what these scans show.
I'm afraid the green stuff on the obverse (verdigris) would kill any value the coin has. That stuff is like rust, it spreads and eats the coin away. The value can only go down. Unfortunately verdigris is a quite common occurrence when copper is kept in damp places. It's basically Copper acetate compound formed from water vapour reacting with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Edited by Ętheling
01/23/2006 04:57 am
|
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
438 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by Cruzi
It looks like a farthing.
The interesting thing about farthings (for me) is the way they had to deliberately blacken them to prevent confusion with sovereigns.
To give you an idea of just how similar they are in size, they actually used worn sovereign dies for striking the obverse of farthings.
This is correct. I dunno if you've ever heard of the 1859 Ansell Sovereign... well I wonder if there are any Ansell Farthings out there? |
|
New Member
Australia
45 Posts |
Gawd, I would hate to imagine if an Ansell farthing turned up, except of course if I found it in some old bulk lot  |
|
New Member
Australia
45 Posts |
 quote:
In 1859 a consignment of gold arrived from the Australian gold fields, and was considered to brittle for use in coining because of the antimony,lead and arsenic it contained. A metallurgist employed by the mint, G.F. Ansell experimented with the gold and successfully worked it into sovereigns, these can be identified by the additional raised line on the lower part of the ribbon. Ansell was later dismissed for being critical of changes at the Mint and continued to be a vocal critic for some time.
http://users.bigpond.com/cruzi/Coins/sovs/sov2.htm |
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
438 Posts |
I hope to actually own one of those someday. As a former shield reverse sovereign collector the Ansell was the Key, along with 1858. I was conveniently ignoring the late 30s/early 40s stuff of course.  |
|
New Member
Australia
45 Posts |
Last one I saw was a US TGP AU-58 for around $4500 US. It was about the time I grabbed the 1839 proof so I had to pass due to lack of funds  |
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
438 Posts |
|
|
Valued Member
United Kingdom
104 Posts |
ah cool I have a few of them in different sizes but some of them are without the sheld and not as good quality as yours..
|
| |
Replies: 14 / Views: 2,509 |
|
Posted 01/05/2006 08:32 am
