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A few new additions (Ireland/England/Bermuda/Sierra Leone).

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I hope the new year is treating everyone well so far. It had been a while since I posted, so I figured I would share a few pictures of some of my recent (albeit not so recent) purchases. My photography skills remain lackluster at best, but I have made some progress since I first started. It appears that capturing the actual color of the copper coins I photograph is by far the largest challenge. Silver seems easier, but copper is very tricky. As always, I am open to comments, questions, and suggestions about either the coins or the photographs. If you have anything that fits the general theme of this thread in your collection, please share some pictures!

1.      1682 Ireland halfpenny (S-6575). You can not tell from the pictures, but this coin has a nice even brown color. Not as nice as my other 1682, but this example is of a different variety. 

273073439_1682IrelandHalfpennyObv.(2).jpg.bbdeeece7119d1abf93cdcca4965e13b.jpg539797572_1682IrelandHalfpennyRev.(2).jpg.621ff95fcf4e2f14dc42d4063af209b8.jpg

2.      Type 1 bust of either a 1766 or 1769 Ireland halfpenny (S-6612). This one has a curious reverse that shows the beginning of incuse lettering of "G E" within the impression of the coin where the date should be. This coin should weigh 126 grains but weighs 115.7 so it remains possible that it could be one of the many lightweight counterfeit examples in circulation at the time. I need to do a little more searching on this one.  

335195219_1766(69)IrelandErrorObv..jpg.e583e003a4d749448ddc4be02a3aba98.jpg33764585_1766(69)IrelandErrorRev..jpg.08bc57d73fedda5341cb2ed9db585117.jpg

3. 1797 British 2 pence (S-3776) I am not sure of the Peck variety for this coin. I will have to take a peek at my book when I get a chance. The pictures make this coin look washed out, but the color is an even chocolate brown. 

127643456_17972PenceObvGrey.jpg.9f9b323e912ec6dcb71b833f9b6339b0.jpg666364764_17972PenceRevGrey.jpg.6916fda1d567dc45241ab7a05306525f.jpg

4. 1701 British halfpenny (S-3556: Peck-705). This coin has a few interesting points, such as the inverted "A"s on the obverse legend, the unbarred "A"s on the reverse legend, and the abnormally large "0" in the date. 

337276087_1701Halfpenny(Peck-705)Obv..jpg.19462ceda7e724787dc971862efa1362.jpg1749908695_1701Halfpenny(Peck-705)Rev..jpg.d39858a67d3da494dc76c741a559fc4b.jpg

5. 1736 British farthing (S-3720: Peck-864). The picture of this coin does a slightly better job of depicting the color accurately, although the coin in hand has a much deeper and even chocolate color than the pictures would suggest. 

173243252_1736FarthingObv..jpg.df70ff5734a42aeb33418af87d3e5ca3.jpg530432031_1736FarthingRev..jpg.8155a2667e443c36a66398be75018312.jpg

6. 1793 Bermuda penny (KM #5). I had a hard time finding a decent example of this coin within my budget. It appears as though the market either has exceptional pieces for sale with large prices or basically destroyed examples that actually fit my budget. This coin adds breadth to my Droz design set I am building. 

1050183095_1793BermudaPennyObv..jpg.9411a61cccecb6c2e19fab6dafd3e215.jpg1051057465_1793BermudaPennyRev..jpg.a2ed67e6fb31f3c9936ec6575621ba49.jpg

7. 1791 Sierra Leone penny (KM #2.1: 32mm). This coin is stunning in hand. I had originally purchased it to add breadth to my SOHO set, but I may seek other examples when they become available. 

1388514172_1791SierraLeonePennyObv..jpg.659c636c5bf8b668ee290c1250e2eee9.jpg46227957_1791SierraLeonePennyRev..jpg.45a921d4ec437accdc4c7a887ead5da9.jpg

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1 hour ago, bottlebum said:

Nice coins. I really like the Lion that's depicted on the Sierra Leone penny. 

Thank you! The whole design really is rather interesting, as well as the history behind them. For instance, the date 1791 reflects the year the Sierra Leone Company was founded. These coins, in fact, were not contracted until August 1792 and production did not begin until December of 1792. If you investigate the Sierra Leone coinage you will also notice both pennies and cents. The first order placed in August 1792 was for 214,764 one penny coins. Apparently, the Sierra Leone Company wanted to transition to a decimal system and in 1793 ordered an additional 498,932 pieces bearing the cent denomination. It appears that a large quantity of the 1793 cent pieces was destroyed in a fire, and as such 50,129 cent pieces were ordered in 1796 (this batch had the correct date). David Vice wrote a book that has an abundance of interesting facts. That paired with the tidbits found in the Richard Doty book on the SOHO mint is enough to convince anyone to start collecting them.

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14 hours ago, coinsandmedals said:

I forgot that I also purchased a few of these little Guatemalan 1/4 Real coins just because I thought they were neat. The picture is from the seller.1136613840_1889GuatemalaquarterReal(1)SIdebyside.thumb.jpg.030764ca5882e46a6abb102f1161b122.jpg

I almost bought one just the other day, and for the exact same reason.

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19 hours ago, Mk123 said:

are you gonna send that 2pence in? The more I see it, the more I wanna buy one!

I am glad you like it! It is in the queue to be submitted. I first have to stop buying coins before I can afford to submit another batch. I also really needed to check my Peck reference, which I just did.

This coin caught my eye because the fields are slightly reflective (no evidence of cleaning from what I can tell) and the obverse almost has a frosted appearance to the bust. I also noted on the flip insert that there are 3 rows of waves on the reverse under Britannia. Peck only lists 3 verities that share most of the die diagnostics of this coin. The dot placement next to Kuchler's initial “K” on the lowest fold of the drapery paired with 3 distinct wave crests on the reverse effectively rules out two early SOHO proof strikes (KT-1a and KT-1b) and the currency strike (KT-4). That leaves two late SOHO proof strikes (KT-2 and KT-3) and one restrike proof (R-48). KT-2 is distinguished by the presence of the Union flag on the stern of the ship, which is not present on this coin, which effectively rules it out as a possibility. The possibility of it being KT-3 is also ruled out, the flaw along the base of the letters “G · REX.” Is absent, and both the obverse and reverse stops are not blocked up. The only possibility that remains is R-48. Peck mentions a long flaw from that starts at the hair curl above the right shoulder that extends to below the bust. This is not present on the rim, but there is a slight hint at a very faint die crack in the drapery in this location. He also mentions that the flaws on the rim were likely filed down but I do not see any evidence of that on this coin. The reverse is also puzzling, all the coins I have examined with 3 wave crests have sea at the right of the rock behind Britannia which is absent on this coin. The ship is also somewhat crude which is in stark contrast to the detail of the rest of the coin. All this to say that this should make for an interesting submission.

5 hours ago, bottlebum said:

I almost bought one just the other day, and for the exact same reason.

I have had a few of these over the years, and they just make for interesting conversation pieces. Plus, who can resist such a small coin popping with detail? I also have another with a bunch of die cracks throughout the coin. I think they add a little character to the coin.

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