Hi All, I am very new to this coin collecting business. I have inherited a small collection of coins from my grandad, can anyone out there give me some idea as to what they are and what they are worth, if anything ? I have looked on various coin identification websites and books from the libarary but as i do not know what im really looking for this has proved very difficult. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Please see the scans of the coins below, if you need the original scans let me know and i can send them to you. Again, thank you so much for all your help. Regards Kingmarc
The seven coins at the bottom ..assuming they are genuine... are sovereigns and half sovereigns and if you check on the www.ebay.co.uk site... in Search.. put 'gold sovereign' you will find the current prices for them........ The others look interesting too... Great little collection you have been left..... The sovereigns and half sovereigns will be worth somewhere around £1000. Best wishes, Mike.
The two silver ones on the top row are georgian shillings and are also English the 1817 booked at £8 in 2007 and the 1826 at £4. The one with the hole in is an English gaming token and is worth very little.... Not sure about the others. Best wishes, Mike.
thank you georgian silver, does anyone know what the other coins are ? and any idea of value ? again thank you for all the help.
Have a look here for the gold sovs http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/greatbritain.html Also you will need to post clearer pics or scans of some of those coins, it looks like you might well have a couple of hammerd in there.
The King over the Water? Hi Marc, This is really rather fun! May I start with the 2nd and 5th coins on the top row? "IACOBUS II" is James the second of England and seventh of Scotland, who reigned from 1685 to 1688. The thing that fascinates me about these coins is that they are dated 1689 ... the year after he either abdicated or was deposed (according to your view of the events) and fled to France. He had many supporters, the Jacobites, who did not accept that his reign had ended. To them he was "the King over the Water". Are these coins minted by his government in exile in France? Later, John
Coins from the second row Hi Marc, The second coin in the second row is a 1732 George II halfpenny. According to the 2008 Spink catalogue, in fine condition this retails for £12 or £20, according to whether it has, or does not have, a stop after the word "REX". The sixth coin is a hammered coin of James the first of England and sixth of Scotland. It's hard to read, but I recognize the inscription on the reverse. Tuaetur unita Deus--may God guard the united (kingdoms)--appears on quite a few of James's English, Scottish and Irish coins. This coin looks like an English halfgroat (2 pence piece) of the second coinage which, in fine condition (which this one isn't), retails for £20. Later, John
and finally, the sovereigns Hi Marc, Provided they are genuine the coins in the last two rows are sovereigns and half sovereigns. None of them is particularly uncommon and in fine condition (which some of them probably exceed) they trade at bullion value. 7 sovereigns and 3 half sovereigns contain two troy ounces of fine gold, as near as makes no difference. So they would be worth about £1140 or $1870 at the latest London fix price. Later, John
These coins are Irish 'Gun Money'. The 5th coin is a very nice example of one of these. They tend to corrode easily (they were produce from an metal alloy of whatever could be found at the time, church bells amongst other things). And were produce during a shortage of coinage to pay for King James's army, hence the term gun money. I would the value 5th from right at at least $350. the first (second from right) looks like a crown and is more scarce, but the grade is not so good.
Prices on there are somewhat out of date, due to the constantly fluctuating price of gold trending upwards (they've even out of date in the latest 2010 Spink, which just came out this week). Unless you have a rare date/variety/mintmark combo, you won't get much more than bullion value for them, which should nevertheless be considerable. All of it looks to be English/British (with the exception of the gunmoney, which is technically Irish). The Spade Guinea type thing looks to be a brass imitation, of the kind which was used as a gambling chip in the early-mid 19th century.
:thumb: a man after my own heart that 5th coin looks very nice more like a large shilling i have not one for that month yet but it looks in great con would love to see larger pics of this one dont get wrong i love the gold coins as well and have all of these dates have to say he left you a nice collection you should be proud dave