YeOldeCollector

My most recent arrival. Henry VIII Posthumous groat.

Oh right, yes, they are very easy to get your hands on but I'm not one to pay Royal Mint prices and so I only pick them out of circulation. Much more fun.

Bloomin' elusive!

It usually is! Although I have 2010s of the 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p so perhaps the mint has different policies this year.

Not as good. The relief is a bit odd when in the hand but I still really like it. As £2 coin designs go it is above par. It certainly beats the likes of this:

I was to happy to receive one of these in my change at the pub last night.

Nope, sorry. This is the Mary of Philip and Mary. These two: He was King Philip of Spain and the marriage was the union of two of the most powerful nations in the world, it was a purely political union.

Nope. Mary Queen of Scots was this Mary's cousin and many years younger. This Mary was the half-sister of both Queen Elizabeth I and Edward VI. Coinage did change somewhat under her reign, but not because of her origins. I would argue that most of it changed due to her marriage. Her marriage led to two portraits being featured on a coin and a foreigner, so to speak, being named and sometimes portrayed.

Certainly not a looker but a very rare coin indeed. A genuine silver portrait penny of Queen Mary.

I think I recognise this. It looks like a coin of Ferdinand of Naples, from the 15th/16th century. It has the same sort of portrait: http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/calgarycoin/...?idProduct=3761 I hope this helps somewhat.

Each year I notice more and more errors, as if they are more careless when checking. I'm not too familiar with milled errors, but the E of Elizabeth has almost been completely smoothed and is the same on the corresponding area on the reverse.

Look what I got in my change in Waitrose today! The first 2010 coin I've seen and it shows how the quality of the Mint is deteriorating. Even so, not bad for a penny.

I like this one!

On the reverse, yep! I thought you said you couldn't get the hang of Medieval coin legends? I am mightily impressed, George!

Henry III Voided Longcross penny. Class Vb, Willem on Cant. A very unusual 'C' in my opinion.

Not quite More like such tiny coins The last coin features a crowned thistle, the emblem of Scotland as James I was also James VI of Scotland.

Alas, no...

Henry III Longcross Penny. Nicole on London. Interesting portrait, Class 3c. --------- Edward I Penny. London mint. Class 8c. --------- Mary Groat. A metal flow line on obverse but one of the best reverses I've seen. --------- Elizabeth I Halfgroat. Second Issue, 1560-1. Superb coin, much better in-hand. --------- James I Halfgroat. Second coinage. Very sharp detail.

You are quite right, I used to go to Jersey for a fortnight every year for sixteen years on the trot and I did not come across many £1 coins. The £1 notes are more favourable, apparently.

I've got plenty of coins to show you all, but need to take photographs first. I managed to snag this tonight, here are the seller's photographs. It's an Anglo-Saxon Secondary sceat, series J, type 37. A pair of opposed faces with a cross dividing. The reverse features four stylised birds around a cross. This coin dates to about 740 A.D. and appears to be in fantastic condition.

My coin has arrived and I am very happy. Thanks for the competition, Bill! It is much appreciated.

Edward I Penny of Durham. Bishop de Insula, class 4a.

Thank you gentlemen, I am glad that you like the coins. A coin like that could have circulated for about fifty years or so. Many, many coins were dropped as individuals and you can imagine how hard it would have been to keep coins on your person on those days when pockets were probably things of the future. Many people kept coins in their mouths as they could not afford leather purses, otherwise people held them in their hands and dropped a couple on their way to market. A metal detectorist comes along in this day & age and finds several coins and artefacts in an acre field. Freshly-ploughed soil can bring these pennies to the surface and that is how they then fall into the hands of people like me. Coins like these... ...are often part of hoards. Some hoards consist of thousands of coins with many having been deposited soon after being struck, hence their 'as-struck' condition. At this time, collections would not have been about as the first coin collectors tend to appear in the 16th and 17th centuries with them really becoming prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries. But yes, I'm biased and will agree that they are wonderful coins. There is so much history attached to one piece and the quality of workmanship for each piece is amazing.

Many thanks gentlemen. Here are a couple more I received recently. Edward I Penny of York. Class 9b2. I just like the portrait and toning. ----------------------- Edward VI Shilling. Tun mint mark. Again, I fell for the portrait...