nicholasz219

Hello All, I'm a visitor from the Russian Coin Forums. I recently bought a Elizabeth I hammered penny for my daughter's coin collection for Christmas. I bought from a trusted seller and am overall very pleased. I am considering purchasing some other hammered silver pennies for her collection as well as desirable pieces come up at reasonable prices. I checked the UK Coin Links section before writing this post to see if I could find a list of reference works that might direct me to a good standard guide for hammered coinage. I am an experienced collector and she is an enthusiastic novice who is nine. I'd like to purchase something worthwhile with good pictures (my eyes seem to deceive me with the lettering because of bad eyes and unfamiliar character style) as well as indicators of relative rarity/general price guide. I know these catalogs are obsolete as soon as they are printed concerning prices, but I think the pictures and technical information would be great to have on hand. Any suggestions would be mighty welcome. Also, if anyone has an extra copy of a recommended book for sale, I would much rather give an unwanted copy a home and do business with fellow Coin People. Thanks in advance, nicholasz219 P.S.-Feel free to IM if you have a copy and do not want your details out in public.

I have a hard time with the overstrikes, partly because my eyes are bad, and partly because I do not have another person who is an expert on Russian coins near to help me see the markers which help identify the underlying host coin. Is there a good reference for this, book wise? How about a reputable collection online that would help with overstrikes. The only one I currently own is a 1731 polushka which appears to be overstruck over a kopeck of Peter I because in the right field of the obverse (side with date and wreath) there are two parallel lines which fit the pattern of the Peter I cross copper kopeck series. Anybody see what I am seeing? (I apologize for the poor picture quality. I only have a iPhone camera and I took about ten shots to get a picture with even some clear detail.) http://www.omnicoin.com/coin/1015295 nicholasz219

A colleague on Collectors' Universe thought it looked like a contemporary fake with a copper core eventually allowing rust or verdergris to eat through the outer layer. Any thoughts?

Well, I'm learning Kopeikin. I typically buy coins in the $20-40 range and I stick to copper for the most part. That does leave me with some semblance of sanity in terms of figuring out genuine coins from copies. As I have been branching out into silver a little more, I am learning the field as I can from the computer and without trying to put too much money at risk. But yes, the coin was ugly, just looked unusual and caught my attention.

I saw this auction and there wasn't any chance I was going to bid on the item, but I was just wondering what was going on with the metal on the coin. As best as I can tell, it appears to be a cast copy with metal plating bubbling off of a denser metal center? Any opinions on this? I'm trying to educate myself on copies when they are not in hand and looking for warning signs through pictures on Ebay and what not because I would prefer to not inadvertently buy any copy coins. Sorry if I am a little naive or the questions are elementary. http://www.ebay.com/...130813965875%26 Thanks, Nicholasz219

Boy did I do a hatchet job on this. I totally confused what Sigi was saying and then confused which picture was of which coin. Good job, Nick.

Well, Sigi, you are definitely correct, it is not the same variant as in the Gorny and Mosch sale. That is for certain. But to me it does not entirely match the photo you have of the common variant either, which may just be a simple difference of engraving by different die engravers or some issue of early 19th century quality control. The differences between the crown sizes and wing tips (the crown on the ebay piece appears to be an earlier, more crude crown, I'm not sure if it is necessarily larger than the crown on the G&M piece; the wing tips have tips drawn to more distinctive points on the ebay piece) are good reference points but something that always helps me differentiate between varieties is the distance between devices on different variants. For example, to me it seems that there is a longer distance between the tip of the tail feathers and the inside concentric circle on the G&M coin. In addition, there is a marked difference in the scepters. The scepter in the ebay piece appears longer, and is held at a wider angle away from the eagle so that the tip of the scepter is nearly touching the inner concentric circle. There also appears to be a wider space between the scepter and the body of the eagle as well. It also seems that the pattern of how the feathers on the body are laying is distinct as well. Does anyone else see these differences? Am I on the right track? This is an area that really needs some help for me IMHO.

The problem with reading old posts that have links to Ebay or anything else it seems is that the links 'go dead' and then the thread is almost useless for someone coming along after the fact. *Sigh*

These are remarkable!

I agree with Tane. There is no sense in purchasing a copy if I can not afford the real thing. Anyone who would like to do so is welcome to do so, but I think that any purchase of copy coins only encourages counterfeits. IMHO

What did you use to remove the patina?