1773 Virginia Half Pence 0

[Zebo]

    Thoughts about the only colonial coin to receive a proclamation providing the approval from the crown to mint and use in the colonies? The Virginia half pence after a long and repeated attempts for approval was finally received in the colonies on 16 November 1774. The timing was interesting because earlier in that month, Virginia had its own Tea Party. The tea was dumped into the York river. News traveled slowly in those days so the crown would not have heard about it until after the half pence, which was struck at the Tower Mint in London, arrived in Virginia. 
     Very interesting coins with a lot of hard to identify variations. This would be an interesting and challenging set to collect.

    Any collectors of these want to chime in? 

   

[l.cutler]

I have only one as a type coin.  It would be interesting to get into the varieties, probably a fertile area to pick some rarer ones.

[Greenstang]

There are at least 23 known varieties, so even being able to distinguish them especially when worn would be a challenge in itself let alone trying to collect them.

[World Colonial]

I've mentioned my step grandmother's collection which I viewed once in December 1975.  She had several hundred and gave me a few, though I have no idea which varieties she owned.  My two or three, grading in the vicinity of VG, were the more common Red Book variety.

I've seen variety collections of other colonial coinage, like Pine Tree shillings and Fugio cents.

Challenging?  Presumably

Interesting?  I can only think of a few things in coin collecting more boring than collecting so many of the same coin with such minor variations.  I can think of thousands of coins (literally) I'd rather own than 23 of the same one.

I've looked at the prices in higher grades (MS) on occasion and it's one I could conceivably (though unlikely) buy at some point.

[Zebo]

On 12/27/2022 at 4:30 PM, Greenstang said:

There are at least 23 known varieties, so even being able to distinguish them especially when worn would be a challenge in itself let alone trying to collect them.

31 varieties now and counting.

[Zebo]

On 12/27/2022 at 4:46 PM, World Colonial said:

I've mentioned my step grandmother's collection which I viewed once in December 1975.  She had several hundred and gave me a few, though I have no idea which varieties she owned.  My two or three, grading in the vicinity of VG, were the more common Red Book variety.

I've seen variety collections of other colonial coinage, like Pine Tree shillings and Fugio cents.

Challenging?  Presumably

Interesting?  I can only think of a few things in coin collecting more boring than collecting so many of the same coin with such minor variations.  I can think of thousands of coins (literally) I'd rather own than 23 of the same one.

I've looked at the prices in higher grades (MS) on occasion and it's one I could conceivably (though unlikely) buy at some point.

There is a lot to be said for collecting a variety of different coins. More history, different designs, different designers, collect what appeals to you. There is also something to be said for collecting and specializing in a series including having a finite goal. If you collect by variety, it adds an additional challenge. varieties are often subtle and there is a sense of accomplishment when or if you find a new one. Either way is fine - why not do both? 
  As far as the Virginia half pence goes, I believe it would be very difficult to determine a variety on a well worn coin. There are loads of mint state examples for that, some rarer that other and some that you will never likely find - at least with a reasonable price tag. The history of the coin is very interesting.

[World Colonial]

On 12/28/2022 at 7:06 AM, Zebo said:

 Either way is fine - why not do both? 

It's a function of finite resources. For 99%+, if they spend their limited budget buying a set of Virginia half penny varieties, they have less for everything else.

I used to buy a wider range than I do now, until I accepted that I don't have enough money to collect random coins of temporary interest.  I'm trying to get rid of these coins I already own now, not add more of it.

Doing it also results in noticeable "slippage" which means I can buy fewer of the coins I really want later.  

Ultimately, it comes down to what kind of collection someone wants for their budget. I'd never do this because there are many other coins which I consider far more interesting and distinctive available for the same money.

Edited December 28, 2022 by World Colonial