Are British coins fun to collect?

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

In 1971, in February I seem to recall, British switched from pound, shillings and pence, to a decimal system. Prior to that there were 20 shillings to a pound and 12 pence (pennies) to a shilling, so 240 pence to the pound. They switched to a new decimal system which has 100 pence to the pound. As the value of the pound did not change it is obvious that the new penny was worth 2.4 times the old penny. For that reason the new coins said "new pence". After ten years, long after all the old coins were gone and everyone was used to the new ones, they dropped to word new and they just became pence again.

I remember when it happened. I was in my first year in college. One day we went into the bar for a pint of beer and it was 1/4 (1 shilling and four pence) (1/10 for Guiness). The next day it was 7 pence. I seem to remember that they posted both prices for some time and I think you could pay in either for a while. 10 New pence (exactly 2 shillings) and 5 New pence (exactly one shilling) coins had been introduced earlier in 1968 to get people used to the idea. They were exact equivalents and the coins were the same size.

So whether the coins says "new pence" or just "pence" does not really make a whole lot of difference to the value. Both were produced in the millions. Same with the early LSD pennies, which were much larger. I remember my mother keeping 3 pennies with her kitchen scales (balance scales back then) because they weighed one ounce and she has lost the one ounce weight. That was over 5 times the weight of the new penny.

I also remember that in 1977, the year before I emigrated to the USA, I met a 16 year old who had no idea how to calculated in LSD. It was only 6 years after it happened. I can still do it to this day without any thought whatsoever.

 

Those were the 1797 "cartwheel" pennies, right?

 

Heck yeah British coins are fun to collect. I decided to build a type set of Shillings by Monarch. I got most of them, and sold my set last year. I had a great time doing it. There is such a wide range of time, history, technology, availability, and price. It was a lot of fun, but I decided to focus elsewhere. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

 

Yes, British coins are fun to collect! I separate mine into British and British Empire. Then you have about the whole world to go for, sun never sets on the British Empire, and all that rot. Its a great way to learn some history, and most of the coins are very well struck and quite artistic.

 

I'm not THAT old.

 

I'll show you some British halfpennies and pennies I already have. These aren't all of them, and I have a 1920 farthing somewhere.



All obtained under .50 each US.

My LCS has a world coin bin for .25 that often has pre-decimal pennies in it.

 

Hi, as a British expat living in California and having collected British coins for 50 years or so the answer to the question is a resounding Hell Yea! I own several rarity 4 (Rayners esc scale 11 to 20 known) that I have been able to pick up relatively inexpensively and also some 200 plus year old coins in AU grade, whereas I don't even own a scarce American coin because they are darn pricey although I do have a few Liberty era Golds that are pricy because of their metal content but are numismatically very common.

 

Just curious, what are the R4 coins you obtained?

 

1711 shilling 3rd bust (2) one ~ vf 30 and one ~ F15 and I do have a 4th bust sample for comparison.
1721/8 Shilling, Roses and plumes in the opposite angles, although this is a problem coin having been harshly cleaned, would probably grade VG10 details.
1675 Crown F15 or so.
I do like rare coins but I do appreciate beauty and art in coins also.
I like Victoria young head halfcrowns and Edwardian silver (pricey).

I find lots of American coin series very artistic also especially capped bust silver and many post Barber series.
I find bargains to be rare here although my sampling is basically limited to ebay.
In another life i would be a high roller at auctions...

 

Yes British coins are brilliant to collect - I have them back to around 850 AD (Saxon kings).

But to clarify on the Maundy - they are not just issued by the monarch on Maundy Thursday - they are issued for collectors and in the past could be ordered from the bank, so there are many more sets out there than the number of years the monarch has reigned would indicate.

 

Another good thing about collecting British coins is that there are SO MANY OF THEM! That is, if you include all the British Empire coins from all over the world. I am currently working on completing a set of all the Great Britain Edward VII and George V coins. Still have a ways to go and some real pricey key items to find. This might be a lifetime job...

 

I just checked and I have 400 British and 367 British Empire coins. That's not counting the extras I have marked to get rid of. Plus many of the ones I have are in less than perfect condition, so if I spot a better one, upgrade time and one more to palm off.

 

I love maundy coinage! I focus on just maundy pennies though. They are small, nicely minted coins.

 

Hell YEA.....even the new ones....my latest additions



Both PF70UC

 

A commendable philosophy.

 

Collecting is collecting, you find a coin or coins that strikes your interest go for it. There are all kinds of great coins out go find them and enjoy the travels. C U

 

I believe that there are easily as many ideas, opinions, preferences, interests, choices, desires, outlooks, whims, inclinations and perceptions as there are people on earth. There is no wrong or right way to collect; there is only your way.

 

As, effectively, is ALL coin collecting!