British-Bronze/bronzed

[Yarm]

I came across this halfpenny designated "Bronzed PF64" by NGC and began to look around. Peck lists both bronze and bronzed coins but NGC seems to used "bronzed" or no designation for such coins. Some of the bronze or bronzed coins that have been graded have "BN" attached and some don't (are there ungraded RB and RD out there?!) Does anyone understand this well enough to explain how these are certified? Thanks!

 

[Hoot]

Nice looking coin. You may want to post this in the "Ask NGC" forum to get an answer to your grading questions.

 

Hoot

[Yarm]

I'm giving it another shot with NGC as you suggest!

[Yarm]

I received this response from NGC's research director re the way bronze coins are treated. Of greated interest to those whose world coins do not appear in the census is the last paragraph which refers to a country by country census update.

 

"For those who don't know, a "Bronzed" proof is one that was specially treated at the mint to give it a uniformly brown finish from the outset so that it wouldn't suffer the usual spotty red or red/brown toning. The exact technique of bronzing copper proofs varied, but it was essentially a chemical process that could be described as "official AT." These are numismatically acceptable, as that is how they were made at the mint.

 

The term appears most often with reference to world coins, though some of the Smithsonian's proof large cents from the 1820s and 1830s were bronzed, so there are also a few in the marketplace. Certain copper USA pattern coins from the 1860s are also found bronzed.

 

By definition, all bronzed proofs should be labeled BN (brown). In the past, this was not adhered to perfectly, but it is being standardized as we update each of the world coin census reports. This is a very slow process, and it's being done country by country, in order of descending of popularity."

[Hoot]

Interesting answer - thanks for the post!

 

Hoot