Victorian copper pennies

[Bruce06]

5 hours ago, CollectorNo1 said:

Thanks for that..I've been reading about different varieties.. near colon,far colon,no colon...not sure about the ornamental trident whether it's worth more...large dates,small dates...its interesting....as I said only just sparked an interest in me...probably like you I'm a gold and silver buyer..so not much knowledge when it comes to the pennies..but will learn...do you have many in your collection???.

Regards 

No worry, you will know whether you like it slowly once you watch n buy more.  For OT, PT rarity, it depends on years, OT is scrace than PT for some years, while it's PT over OT for some other years.

[Stuntman]

As Bruce says, it's all about which combination of things occur on which penny in which year that drives the rarity and hence the price.  
For example in 1853 the Ornamental Trident is the more common one, whereas in 1854 the Plain Trident is the more common one.  So if you just want an example of each, buy the more common one from each year...

I'm certainly not a dedicated penny collector, although I do have about 35 different predecimal pennies, of which 6 are copper and the rest are bronze.  A few of them are in UNC condition and a few of them are rare - but none of them are both UNC and rare, sadly!

Among the rarer ones in my collection, I have an 1897 O'NE, a 1903 Open 3, a 1919 KN and a 1926 ME.  None of them is in particularly good condition but I just like the fact that these coins are fairly rare.  If you're into predecimal pennies, you'll know what those descriptions mean!  

Edited November 1, 2021 by Stuntman

[Stuntman]

My 1853 PT and 1854 OT.  Both of these are nice honest examples of lovely big copper coins, which are great to hold in-hand.  The 1853 is the nicer coin.  Neither cost me very much money (£60 delivered in total, from two different reputable coin dealers, less than 5 years ago).

 

[CollectorNo1]

31 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

As Bruce says, it's all about which combination of things occur on which penny in which year that drives the rarity and hence the price.  
For example in 1853 the Ornamental Trident is the more common one, whereas in 1854 the Plain Trident is the more common one.  So if you just want an example of each, buy the more common one from each year...

I'm certainly not a dedicated penny collector, although I do have about 35 different predecimal pennies, of which 6 are copper and the rest are bronze.  A few of them are in UNC condition and a few of them are rare - but none of them are both UNC and rare, sadly!

Among the rarer ones in my collection, I have an 1897 O'NE, a 1903 Open 3, a 1919 KN and a 1926 ME.  None of them is in particularly good condition but I just like the fact that these coins are fairly rare.  If you're into predecimal pennies, you'll know what those descriptions mean!  

So ..thanks for the info...the early Vicki's are copper which I would have thought would be of a higher value and premium? But seems the later dates of bronze are more valuable???.

[Bruce06]

2 hours ago, Stuntman said:

My 1853 PT and 1854 OT.  Both of these are nice honest examples of lovely big copper coins, which are great to hold in-hand.  The 1853 is the nicer coin.  Neither cost me very much money (£60 delivered in total, from two different reputable coin dealers, less than 5 years ago).

 

Lovely coins, and agree that old pennies are always nice to hold and appreciate.  Prices go up a lot in past years, and I think it cost at least £60-80 for a single coin nowadays.  Yours are real bargain.

[Bruce06]

2 hours ago, Stuntman said:

As Bruce says, it's all about which combination of things occur on which penny in which year that drives the rarity and hence the price.  
For example in 1853 the Ornamental Trident is the more common one, whereas in 1854 the Plain Trident is the more common one.  So if you just want an example of each, buy the more common one from each year...

I'm certainly not a dedicated penny collector, although I do have about 35 different predecimal pennies, of which 6 are copper and the rest are bronze.  A few of them are in UNC condition and a few of them are rare - but none of them are both UNC and rare, sadly!

Among the rarer ones in my collection, I have an 1897 O'NE, a 1903 Open 3, a 1919 KN and a 1926 ME.  None of them is in particularly good condition but I just like the fact that these coins are fairly rare.  If you're into predecimal pennies, you'll know what those descriptions mean!  

What a great thing to have 1897 O'NE and 1903 Open 3 on hand....really want to find a reasonable priced one, especially the 1903 one. For 1926ME, my example is also only at fair grade only.

[Bruce06]

1 hour ago, CollectorNo1 said:

So ..thanks for the info...the early Vicki's are copper which I would have thought would be of a higher value and premium? But seems the later dates of bronze are more valuable???.

Depends on years, like 1843, 1849, 1856, those won't be cheap, while Stuntman's 1903 open 3, O'NE, KN, ME examples are also cost a lot provided in similar grade.  

[CollectorNo1]

Does anyone know if any Victorian pennies or half pennies had a milled edges or are they all plain edge?

Thanks.

[Stuntman]

Copper Victoria pennies and halfpennies all have plain edges AFAIK.

[CollectorNo1]

16 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

Copper Victoria pennies and halfpennies all have plain edges AFAIK.

Thanks for the reply.. what does AFAIK Mean???? And if I said I had an 1861 milled edge would you say that is a forgery or a minting error?

Regards.

[Stuntman]

AFAIK - as far as I know.

I've got a couple of 1860 bronze pennies so I'll just go and have a look at those and report back...

Reporting back:

I've checked my two 1860 pennies and my 1876 and 1889 pennies.  All have a plain edge,  There is also nothing in my copy of Freeman's 'The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain 1860-1970' that mentions an 1861 penny with a milled edge.

Not looking good I'm afraid, it would suggest that it's 'post-mint damage'.

[CollectorNo1]

27 minutes ago, Stuntman said:

AFAIK - as far as I know.

I've got a couple of 1860 bronze pennies so I'll just go and have a look at those and report back...

Reporting back:

I've checked my two 1860 pennies and my 1876 and 1889 pennies.  All have a plain edge,  There is also nothing in my copy of Freeman's 'The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain 1860-1970' that mentions an 1861 penny with a milled edge.

Not looking good I'm afraid, it would suggest that it's 'post-mint damage'.

Thanks for the info..really appreciate it..so you think it's a minting error?

Regards

[Stuntman]

I doubt it's a minting error.  It's much more likely that someone has added the milled edge sometime after the coin left the mint.  Hence 'post-mint damage', which reduces value rather than increases it from a collector perspective.

[flyingveepixie]

I used to love these old pennies and other coppers when I was a kid - there was always something I found very appealing about the Queen Victoria young head and the design of Britannia on them.  I was never lucky enough at the time to own one of them however.  I have a few old head Victoria pennies from the 1890s, 1900 and 1901, but they're all in rubbish condition and now reside in what I call my 'penny box' which has all kinds of old and worthless coins in it, both British and foreign..

I can well understand the aesthetic appeal of collecting these old pennies.

Edited June 7, 2022 by flyingveepixie

[SidS]

In reply to the original post. If you like Victorian sovereigns, then check out the Victorian copper farthing issues. Yes they're not as glamorous or as chunky as the lovely pennies, but the obverse dies that struck all those sovereigns were often used to strike the farthings once they were mid life. Waste not, want not and all.

I've often wondered how many of the die flaws/letter overstamps found on the 1850s sovereign obverses would also be identifiable on the farthings of the same period.