Hey all, I took a chance on a farthing on eBay with a lousy photo in hopes it was the 5/2 or 5/3 over date. Now that I have the coin in hand, I think it is as hoped (likely 5/3) but would love some additional input. I know it's not a terribly valuable coin but I love such varieties. Thanks
Looks to be 5/2 to me. The Freeman book on British bronze coinage says: "All 1865 farthings seem to have an overstruck "5", but the original numeral is often unclear." In fact they do not list a straight 1865, only the overdate. Scarcity is given as R3, which means at date of his book (1985) he believed there were 200,000 to 350,000 still in existence with readable dates. Still a nice example if you like overdates!
