1863 British Penny

Hello, and welcome to the forum. I hope we can help.

Sadly, 1863 is not a scarce date. My catalogue lists it at only $2 in "Fine", the lowest condition listed. Even if you're living in one of the drier parts of South Africa, being buried for over 100 years in the ground isn't going to preserve a bronze coin very well.

So it's more a personal keepsake than a treasure, I'm afraid. 1863 is still 90 years older than the oldest coin I've found in my garden here in Australia.

A 1950 Australian penny. At least, I'm pretty sure it was 1950; as I recall, it was as green as the copper roof of an old building, and the "5" was almost completely corroded away, but you could tell (barely) that it was George VI on the obverse and a kangaroo on the reverse, so that only left two options, 1940 or 1950, and what remained of the third digit looked more like a "5" than a "4".

I don't still have it, though it did sit in my collection until a better 1950 penny came along.