Hi! Loads of coins from grandad. Probably worth nothing but want to know before..

before I give them away! Its going to take ages to post all the pictures but i will give it a go.

Everything you see has been given to me. I have no idea!

1. It looks like a really old coin and is in a little wallet with '12th century' written in it. Its thin and i cant read anything clearly from it. But there's a pic here..

2. A coin that i think says 'One florin' at the top and 'One tenth of a pound' at the bottom. On the back.. A worn image of a queen then it says 'Victoria d.g. britt'?? 'red. r.d. mdrrrlxxxiii'. Seems a bit daft but i'm sure thats what it says! You can read it clearly but its the writing i dont understand.. thats the third and fourth picture..

3.A really heavy/thick black coin - says GEORGIUS III D.G. REX' on one side with a profile of him im guessing. And on the other side 'BRITANNIA 1797' with a picture of a women holding an olive branch and a little boat in the background.

 

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This one seems to be the same as the one above - the 'BRITANNIA' can be seen and the same woman as the one in the black thick coin above. And on the otherside it has the same man but without the flowers/branches in his hair. I can make out 'GEORGIUS' part and i think the date is on this side on this one. All i can see is '180..' and i think it might say 5? But im not sure. Thank you so much for any replies

 

Another one - says 'VICTORIA DEI GRATIA' with her profile, then on the other side says 'BRITANNIARUM REGINA FID DEF 1887'.

 

Two of these from post #1 are British.

The 1797 coin is a copper 'cartwheel' penny or twopenny (so-named, because it was so large and resembled a cart wheel). It contains exactly 1oz or 2oz of copper, depending on whether it was a 1d or 2d coin. Measure it or weigh it; if it's 36mm across (or 1oz), it's the penny, and if it's 41mm (or 2oz), it's the two pence. Current value in £ is about £20 in F for 1d, and £22 for the 2d. Mintage: 2d = 722,160.

The larger silver coin is a florin (2 shilling, or 1/10th of £1) dated 1883 (mdccclxxxiii in Roman numerals). It contains 92½% silver, weighs 11.3g and is 30mm across. It's also known as a 'Gothic Florin', due to its Gothic design. Very beautiful coin. Value is around £18 in F, but it will also have intrinsic value. 11.3g is about 0.4oz, so take the current silver price and multiply by 0.4 to get value in $ for the metal alone. Mintage 3,555,667.

If you need more info on this, let me know and I'd be glad to help. Current exchange rate is about $1.57 = £1.

Good finds!

 

What you've got there may be an English halfpenny or penny dated 1806 or 1807. A halfpenny would be about the size of a quarter, while a penny would be about the size of a half dollar.

 

Thanks! Well any help is great I have had them for years - i have a box full of them! Do you have any idea what to do with them and if they are worth selling? :S Thanks!

 

Again, need to measure/weigh to determine whether it's ½d or 1d. (d = denarius, Latin for penny). Again from the UK. The woman is the personification of Britain, named Britannia, and the monarch is George III (Latin form = Georgius III). It'll be either 1806 or 1807. These were made of copper again, but less metal that the Cartwheel one above. Minted at the Soho mint in Birmingham, UK.

½d = 9.42g, 29mm
1d = 18.87g, 35mm

Very poor condition, so no real value, except (of course) for its history!

 

This is a Victorian Jubilee halfcrown, so named because her portrait was changed to this one in 1887 to celebrate her Golden Jubilee (50 years on the throne). The design lasted only untl 1892, as many people ridiculed the tiny crown perched atop her head!

Again, 92½% silver, 14.1g (about ½oz), 32mm, mintage 1,176,299.

At least intrinsic value; your specimen is in F (UK standard), and thus value is bullion (whatever ½oz silver is, around $20 or so).

Halfcrowns are my favourite UK coin denomination.

The obverse legend means "Victoria, by the Grace of God", and the reverse is "Queen of the Britons, Defender of the Faith". In general, for UK coins:

REG[INA] = Queen
REX = King
FID DEF or F.D. = Fidei Defensor - Defender of the Faith
DEI GRA[TIA] or D.G. = By the Grace of God
IND IMP = Emperor/ess of India
BR[ITT] OMN = of all the Britons
BRITTANIARUM = British
GEORGIVS = George
EDWARDVS = Edward
GULIELMUS = William

 

Well, it's entirely up to you!

Sometimes it's nice to have them for sentimental reasons (grandad), other times they're interesting talking points.

Many people take silver these days for scrap. But these are great coins, and if you don't need the sponderola, keep 'em!

 

Ok a little list of the other stuff without pics (but il upload them if needed)-
1. A 1953 Five shillings- big coin - woman on a horse - 'Elizabeth II.' Says on the sides on the coin - 'I WILL BEAR UNTO YOU FAITH AND TRUST' .
2. Big coin - 'Queen Elizabeth the Second 1952-1977' with her profile on one side. Other side - 'Bailiwick of Jersey - Twenty Five Pence', with a picture of a castle i think and sea in front of it with boats on.
3. Big coin - 'Georgivs VI D.G BR:OMN: REX F.D' - Five Shillings, with profile of him on. On the other side - A man on a horse stabbing a dragon? under them. '1951'. - writing on the side in another language.
4. 1977 Elizabeth II gd. reg. fd. - Woman on horse. Other side - Crown, Bird, flowers/tree round.
5. Loads and loads of tiny three pence coins from 1883 all the way up. God knows why he collected them ha!
6. One Shillings from 1911 up.
7. Loads of sixpences.
8. A paper barclays bank bag with 'three pence' in -30 of them. from 1940's upwards.
9. Great britain halfpennies collection 1902-1936.
10. Set of george VI farthings 1937-1952.

 

Your 12th Century one appears to be a Long Cross silver penny, better pics of both sides would help with its ID and approx value.
Your silver Threepences are 92.5% silver up until and including 1919 after and including 1920 they are 50% silver.
It sounds as if you have quite a collection and maybe surprisingly valuable. even if some are just scrap silver.

 

Thank you for that! Would be quite a surprise if its any value really. Does anyone have any idea where/what to do with them?

 

In general, in the UK silver coins have the following content:

Up to 1919 ... 92½% silver
1920 - 1946 ... 50% silver
1947 to date ... cupro-nickel

#1,2,3 & 4 are alll 'Crown' coins, worth 5 shillings (25p in today's money).

#1: Coronation crown of Elizabeth II. Mintage 5,962,621

#2: Silver Jubilee (25 years on throne) crown from island of Jersey

#3: 'Festival of Britain' crown of George VI, 1951. Minted to celebrate the 'Festival of Britain'. Will have edge lettering reading "MDCCCLI CIVIUM INDUSTRIA FLORET CIVITAS MCMLI", translated as "1851 By the industry of its people the State flourishes 1951". Mintage 1,983,540.

#4: Silver Jubilee crown of Elizabeth II, UK. Very common.


For #8, the 'rare' dates for brass 3d are 1946 and 1949. 'Scarce' dates are 1948 and (if Unc or EF) 1950, 1951.

 

You could take them to a coin show and have dealers check them out for you and make you an offer. Take them to a dealer who specializes in world coins. You might have trouble finding someone knowledgable on the medieval coin, though, and would try to have a medieval/ancient expert help. If you can get better, closer pics I am sure there are those here who specialize in them.

 

One of them is 1948, just looked

 

I have 64 Threepences before 1919. and about 91 Threepences between 1919 and 1946. thanks for your info!

 

here are better pictures..

 

As it is from one of the Edwards, it's either C13th or C14th:

Edward I ... 1272 - 1307
Edward II ... 1307 - 1327
Edward III ... 1327 - 1377



It looks similar to this (but minted in Canterbury, not London):
http://www.treasurerealm.com/coinpapers/england/coins/S1390.html

S1390 Penny (1279-1307)
[TABLE="width: 100%"]

O

Crowned bust of Edward I facing within circle of pellets, type 3d, normal crown, drapery in two pieces, broad face


EDW R ANGL DNS HYB


R

Long cross dividing legend into quarters, trefoil in each quarter of inner circle


CIVITAS LONDON


[/TABLE]

I'm not an expert in hammered, though, so I'd leave that to such experts. You can definitely see "EDW" on the obverse and "CIVITAS CANTOR" (Canterbury) on the reverse. (Similar, more worn, coin with "CANTOR": http://www.treasurerealm.com/coinsales/coins/mchc/mchc-S1419.html)

 

Thank you for all your efforts. Thats really interesting Thanks. Not sure what to do with them now! Been on a learning curve today!

 

To me it looks like your Granddad was a English coinage/history fan. If you can, I would say pass it along intact to a family member. It would be nice to have your grandfather's collection intact, since an intact collection many times tell you about the man.