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rmw

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Journal Entries posted by rmw

  1. rmw
    During the long reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) there were four major designs issued for florins, the two Gothic Types, A and B, then the Jubilee and Veiled Head types towards the end of the reign.
    With the 50th anniversary of her reign in 1887, a new type came out, replacing the Gothic type, namely the Jubilee type. A small number of proof sets were issued in 1887 in honor of her 50 years on the throne., somewhere around 1000 sets if I am not mistaken. Most of the sets now seem to have been broken up and individual pieces appear on the market.
    Here is an example of a proof Jubilee type Victoria Florin, taken from one of those sets. Here the words Dei Gratia are written out in full on the obverse, unlike the earlier type.

  2. rmw
    Here is one of the better examples of a William and Mary halfpenny from England, dated 1694.
    A combination of things makes this piece highly unusual.
    Copper pieces were not considered even as real money by the upper classes which ran things in England at the time. That, and the primitive machinery used at the time, made the strikes for this issue incomplete in most cases.
    This piece has a much better than average strike for the type.
    Also, many pieces from this period appeared to be from cast blanks as opposed to rolled and milled, as stipulated in the terms of the agreement with the outside contractors who made them. My 1694 farthing is an example of a cast piece and has a pitted appearance, not from wear but from the appearance of the blanks used for production.
    According to Peck, many pieces from this period are dark due to the presence of sulphur and other impurities in the copper used in production. This piece is not darkly toned.
    Lastly the coin has no wear and has nearly pristine surfaces. The auctioneers who sold this piece said it was the best of its type they had ever seen. However there are proof pieces in existence which may have a better appearance than this one. NGC has graded it as an MS 65.
    So overall, this is an excellent type piece for the issue.

  4. rmw
    Here is an example of a pattern farthing issued in the mid 17th century, dated 1665, which was bought late last year and will go to NGC for grading soon. This is catalogued as Peck 423, an extremely rare long hair variety , the dies for which were apparently made by John Roettier, who apparently helped to introduce machine made coins to England. There are a lot of varieties of 1665 farthings, made over a number of years. This piece, virtually as struck, is one of the better ones I have seen.


  9. rmw
    1881 halfcrown
    Here is an 1881 haalfcrown, just crossgraded from PCGS as an MS 65.
    According to some stuff Ive read, this type of halfcrown is not as well struck or well produced as those made earlier in the reign, but this one came out decently. Here is the reverse to the piece.

  10. rmw
    1881 halfcrown
    Here is an 1881 halfcrown, just crossgraded from PCGS as an MS 65.
    According to some stuff Ive read, this type of halfcrown is not as well struck or well produced as those made earlier in the reign, but this one came out decently. Here is the reverse to the piece.

  11. rmw
    Several things
    I read with interest Electric Peaks journal on the absence of activity in this forum.
    The chat room forum doesnt work well at least for world coins as it does not properly sort either by topic or by date of last entry.
    And this forum, at least for now, no longer gives anyone the capacity to reply to it.
    Which to me is ridiculous. YOu would think that NGC would want to promote discussion and interest, not suppress it. I understood the website was going to restore the reply option with its software changes but it has been quite a while now.
    On another topic, I submitted 31 PCGS British pieces for cross grading and 23 of them were cross graded. another four should have been as they were low value items and I did not request a minimum grade to cross on them, and would have been happy with any grade. They were not cross graded and so will be sent in again.
    The competitive sets have now all been updated for the new pieces. Most of the updates relate to George V farthings.An 1895 Low Tide Penny was recognized by NGC as a legitimate variety (as it does in the British Standard Catalogue) but does not have a slot in the Victoria Penny Set as it should. I will be contacting NGC to have this item added.
    Two of the pieces not accepted at the same grade by NGC are featured on the PCGS website with a photograph showing them as a top piece for its date and denomination. so who knows why they were not accepted. I asked for reasons and hope to obtain that shortly.
    Lastly, lets return to the reason some of us liked this forum in the fist place. Here is an example of a recent purchase from England, a 1717 sixpence, probably one of the better ones known.
    I hope there is someone out there to enjoy it.

  14. rmw
    1738 two guineas
    Just returned from NGC, an MS 61 1738 two guineas.
    Will show the reverse here.
    I will chime in here and hope that the functionality of the journals is restored soon. I dont find the chat boards useful for world coins as the sort options leave quite a bit to be desired.
    there should be an option to sort by the most recent post, which seems common sense to me (but maybe I didnt see it), as well as for world coins, to sort by country.
    26 other coins were returned with the two guinea piece. a lot of 65 and 66 red Edward VII and George V pennies and halfpennies. they have now been loaded into competitive sets, so check them out by all means if you are interested.

  15. rmw
    New or amended custom sets
    I have added a new custom set, for the minor denominations for Queen Anne (1702-1714) as well as added to the type set for George II (1727-1760). there is still a bit of work to do to upgrade some of the pictures for other sets, but quite a bit has been done in the last couple of months, so if you are so inclined, check them out!

  16. rmw
    Queen Anne, 1707 Halfcrown
    Here is the latest purchase, made this month, a nice 1707 halfcrown.
    Im nearing the end of my quest to purchase top notch examples of at least one example of each denomination for British milled monarchs (the minors) but still have a few to go.
    This piece was never circulated I dont think, and is graded MS 62, but it has the slightest of cabinet friction on the shoulder. I have never seen a gem or very choice Anne halfcrown. Who knows, there may be one out there.

  19. rmw
    A newbie
    Here is a proof 1746 British halfcrown in NGC 66 star, just purchased. This is one of the best examples of only 100 made, originally in 4 piece sets. It is now a companion piece to my 1746 proof shilling
    A belated Happy New Year to everyone.

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  21. rmw
    1673 halfpenny, obverse
    Here is the obverse to the halfpenny posted yeaterday. At this early stage of copper coin production, this is close to as good as it gets for strike and design detail.Quality control in this issue was next to non existent for a few reasons.
    This is last post for the year so I would like to wish everyone Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.

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  22. rmw
    1673 halfpenny reverse
    Here is an example of a Charles II halfpenny from 1673. These pices were usually poorly produced so to get one with even this knd of detail is good. As was the case with the farthings, the reverse depicts Britannia,and may be an actual depiction of a mistress of the king.

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  23. rmw
    A Trade Dollar
    Here is an example of a British Trade Dollar, minted from 1895-1935 and used mostly in trade with China, although also used elsewhere in Asia.It has over 3/4 ounce of silver in it and became a recognized medium of exchange in China after its introduction.
    the origins of the trade dollar may be in the Spanish pieces of eight that were minted earlier in the Spanish empire.
    Other countries, including the United States, had their own version of Trade Dollars for a similar purpose

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  24. rmw
    1911 Proof Set
    Here is an intact, pretty much FDC 1911 proof set. This was purchased raw in England and then sent to NGC for grading. One pice came back PR 65 and the rest higher than that. At least one in 67.
    But what grabbed me is the uniform great quality and toning, clearly an original set kept together.
    I cant say I know all that much abour Us coinage but I doubt you could buy say a single proof Barber piece, from the same period, in similar condition for what you would pay for a set like this.

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  25. rmw
    Another George III Farthing
    Here is a piece recently purchased in London, an 1806 farthing. there are many varieties of this, as well as various patterns and proofs in different metals. These were not produced by the Royal Mint, but at the Soho Mint Birmingham, using revolutionary (for the time) steam powered machinery. The Soho factory can be considered to be the first factory in the modern sense in the world, using steam power.
    These are relatively easy to get in a good grade, unlike the farthings of the 1770s I posted earlier. Compared to good early Us pieces of this period, these can be purchased for a trifle.

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