I'm finding it difficult to calculate this coin's value, because it's got some erosion (from water?) on the obverse and haymarking on the reverse. The reverse is high grade. I'd conservatively grade it about extremely fine, considering the weak strikes common in this series. My catalogue (four years out of date), give F as £50, VF £225 and EF £650. My personal feeling is that it's going to be somewhere between the F and VF price, but I'm unsure. I'd like some second opinions. It's attractive despite the damage.
It doesn't have erosion, the coin is corroded. It looks like it was probably found buried in the ground. It also looks to have been harshly cleaned. Bottom line, the coin is damaged and ungradeable. As to value, I would estimate it to be worth about 10%-15% of what a problem free VF example is worth.
It's not harshly cleaned as far as I can tell, there are no hairline scratches visible under a 10x loup. The undamaged surface has a light grey tone, and it doesn't look unnaturally bright in hand (the scan is bad, I'll upload a high definition photograph soon). It was found buried in a river bed. I don't really collect modern coins at all, so no surprises that my prediction of the value was so off.
Look at the 6 o'clock position where the 4th shield is supposed to be. The coin has scraped so hard in that area (probably in an effort to clean the coin) that the shield was completely removed.
It's obvious from both sides of the coin that the flan was heavily filed before striking. If you look at the Scottish shield, the file marks are actually under it.
So so metallurgy plays a bit of a part in the condition of the coin on the obverse. But this coin has been harshly cleaned at sometime in the more recent past. Contemporary coins from Britain are frequently found with the sort of corrosion that exists on the front of the piece. I do see traces of what was at one time a decent amount of encrustation though - particularly on the lowest crown on the reverse where the legend "ET HIB" is. The damage on the lower English shield looks more post mint than mint damage. The outline of the Scottish shield displays scratches where they would have been struck through or worn off with a bit of circulation.
