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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;James O&#039;Brien, post: 2991443, member: 70800&quot;]This is a huge area for research.</p><p><br /></p><p>The people who engaged in these activities seem to be on the extremes of both sides of the political divide, i.e. Loyalists, not Unionists and Republicans, not Nationalists. They also seem to have quite a bit of free time !</p><p>- the Loyalists defaced Irish coins.</p><p>- the Republicans defaced British coins.</p><p>- and the banks quietly removed any defaced coins they found out of circulation.</p><p><br /></p><p>The pre-decimal coinage of the UK circulated freely on both sides of the Irish border banks up to D-Day (decimalisation day) in 1971 and, the florins from both countries (2 shilling coins), being the same size as the new 10p, continued to circulate in Northern Ireland up to 1977/78 when Ireland terminated &quot;monetary union&quot; with Sterling.</p><p><br /></p><p>I divide them as follows:-</p><p>A - main stream paramilitary groups (IRA, UDA and UVF)</p><p>B - splinter groups (INLA, UFF, etc.) before the Good Friday Agreement</p><p>C - anything (from the above) after the Good Friday Agreement</p><p>D - political campaigns, anti-H Block, general strikes, etc.</p><p>E - remembrance issues, e.g. hunger strikers</p><p>F - high quality political &quot;works of art&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>There seems to be a bit of a resurgence in their activities since the Good Friday Agreement, with pound coins and 50p coins being the main targets. Now that the UK has demonetized the old &quot;round pound&quot; we should now see an end to the production / circulation of&nbsp; same. </p><p><br /></p><p>The problem is, that anyone with a punch set, that anyone can start their own little production line, i.e. buy a bag of circulated 50p coins from the bank, hammer a few acronyms and sell them on eBay for £5 each ... a nice 90% profit margin !</p><p><br /></p><p>My selection criteria are simple:-</p><p>1. look at the overstrike</p><p>2. if the metal inside is shiny, its a recent, opportunistic product</p><p>3. if the metal inside is the same colour as the rest of the coin, it might have circulated back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.</p><p>4. the font type on the punch set used</p><p><br /></p><p>I tend to source mine from genuine attic/shed clearance lots and I usually find them in very small numbers, so modern production lines are not so much of a problem for me, personally.</p><p><br /></p><p>Best of luck with your research,</p><p>James[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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