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          COIN CLUB

Reading Coin Club

   The British Bronze Penny (Victoria) 1860 to 1901

Published: December 2009 - 1st edition

Over the last five years I have been working to replace my earlier book - The British Bronze Penny  1860 – 1970 (1986). Many new varieties have been found and prices of the Victorian bronze pennies have increased quite considerably.  Originally I considered updating my original book but so much needed changing and none of the smaller printers had the equipment to punch 15 holes! It therefore seemed appropriate to rework the book completely. I decided that the format should be smaller - A5 size  so it would be easier to carry around. A ring binder is used to hold the pages but this time with standard 6 holes. The pictures are now all in colour. The main obverse and reverse pictures are approximately 3 inches or 76 mm in size and are still shown on split pages (each page half this size) so that obverses and reverses can still be matched up.

This time, however, I have concentrated on The Victorian Bronze series of 1860 to 1901 as that is the area that most new varieties have been found. It is also the period that has seen some spectacular price rises in the last 5 years.

The Specialised edition has - 

4 ‘new’ obverse and 3 ‘new’ reverse dies have also been added plus a large number of new varieties with 338 pictures.

These are some of the varieties listed:

1860 – N over N sideways (Z); V over A; E over P; missing or repaired colon dots.

1861 – 6 over 8; R over B & 8 over 6

1862 – Small size numerals; 8 over 6; 3 extra plumes; 2 over 1 & B over R

1863 – Open 3; Slim 3; die No. 2, 3, 4 & 5 below date & 3 over 1

1866 – 6 over 8

1877 – Large and small dates

1879 – Large and small dates

1882 – No H below date (Royal Mint issue) & 2 over 1

1889 – Narrow date

1888 – Broken left top to I’s

1893 – 3 over 2 ?!

1897 – O^°NE  

                              ~ Section 1 ~

                                            Contents

Foreword & Acknowledgements…………………………………   3 – 6

The Introduction to Bronze Coinage……………………………..    7

Other Mints involvement…………………………………………..    9

Which Mints used what dies during 1860 to 1863……………...   10

Mintages, Bibliography……….……………………………….….    20 - 26

                                ~ Section 2 ~

                Obverse / Reverse [split in 2 - horizontally]

OBVERSES (Top half)……………………………….      Obv. A to V

REVERSES (Lower half)…………………………….       Rev. a to x

                              ~ Section 3 ~

                                      Penny Varieties

Victorian Repairs, Die Varieties, Errors, Date Variations, etc.......   27 - 104

                              ~ Section 4 ~

                                              Prices

Coin Grading & Valuations                                                           105 - 108

(1) Die-Pairings, Referencing, Rarity & Pricing of Victorian

      Currency Bronze Pennies 1860 – 1901…………..…...       VP 1

(2) Foreword -Trials & Proof Victorian Pennies…………..       VP 7

(3) The Victorian Penny – Trials, Proofs & Anomalies,

      - Examples & Prices -………………………………......        VP 11

(4) ‘Special’ prices on Victorian Bronze Pennies…..…….        VP 21

                                    ~ Section 5 ~

                                 Special Collection Prices

(1) The late Laurie Bamford Penny Collection -

      realised prices – 20 June 2006………………………..        LB1

(2) The late Roland Harris Penny Collection –

      realised prices – 28 February 2009……………….…..        RH1

(3) The Tony Crocker Penny Collection

      realised prices – 15 September to 3 October 2009……     TC1

                                   ~ Section 6 ~

                                               Index

Index of Victorian Penny dies & varieties……………….........    109

                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a small example of Section 6 for coins of 1865 and 1866

BP 1865 A      J + g   

BP 1865 Ba    J + g    Date: 5 over 3 (see page 45 for type)

BP 1865 Bb    J + g    Date: 5 over 3 (see page 45 for type)

BP 1865 Bc    J + g    Date: 5 over 3 (see page 46 for type)

BP 1865 Bd    J + g    Date: 5 over 3 (see page 46 for type)   

BP 1865 Be    J + g    Date: 5 over 3 (see page 46 for type)

BP 1866 Aa    J + g    Date width: 11 teeth

BP 1866 Ab    J + g    Date width: 11 ½ teeth

BP 1866 Ac    J + g    Date width: 12 teeth

BP 1866 B    J + g    Date: 1^st 6 over 8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An 'updated' 2nd edition is now available (October 2020)

Information on the 2^nd edition update pack:

It is just over 10 years ago that I published the first edition of my British Bronze Penny 1860 to 1901 Specialised book and with ‘lockdown’ in March of this year due to COVID-19 I thought that I would examine the new varieties and information that has been sent to me over those last 10 years. This led me to eventually produce this 2^nd edition.

This "update" pack contains over 30 new varieties with pictures and text. Over 200 pictures have been up-graded or enlarged. One new obverse has been discovered and has been included. There was one reverse that I had no image of in the 1st edition, it has now been found and added.

There are now 47 double sided ‘new’ pages (94 single sides). See below - 2 pages added !

As of 3 November 2020 two new pages have been added to the 2nd edition 94 page pack, now there are a total of 96 pages.

This is a very unusual double error repair entry. The C is over an O and the R is over an A in VICTORIA.

Unfortunately, the discovery was made after the new 94 pages had been returned form the printers. The new double page has had to be printed by me and added to the 2nd edition pack.

What has remained the same to the 1st edition ?

Section 1 – (Contents) Remain unaltered. No new pages.

Section 2 – (Obverse / Reverses)

Obverse: The text page for Obverse D needs to be removed. The new D & DE pages need to be added between Obverse D & E.

          Reverse: The text page for Reverse p needs to be removed. The new p & p1 pages need to be added between Reverse p & r.

Section 4, 5 & 6 (Prices, etc.) These sections remain unaltered. The pricing has not been updated as the purpose of this ‘updated’ edition was to advise collectors of the new varieties, etc. found. The pricing section should be used as a guide only. Prices for rare dates and varieties constantly change and differ from auction to auction.

What has changed or been added to the 1st edition ?

Section 3 – (Penny Varieties)   New pages 33 to 94A have replace pages 33 to 94 (48 double sided pages in total).

                      The ‘old’ 1^st edition pages have been stored at the back of the book.

The British Bronze Penny 1860 - 1901 (book) has now become

 a joint 1st & 2nd edition combined book.

Prices

For collectors with a copy of the 1st edition and would like just the 'update pack' please email me for the cost of the 96 page "update pack" & postage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The price of the 2nd edition combined with the 1st edition is £65.00.

Sorry, NOW - SOLD OUT

(1 December 2022)

 I regret but at present I have no plans

 on printing a second run !

~~~~~~~~~~~

As of 4 April 2022 the post office have increased the cost of ALL postage abroad due to COVID-19. The levels of compensation for UK 'Signed for' is £50.

The compensation for normal post (NOT signed for) is a maximum of £20.00.

Postage cost:   1st & 2nd combined edition.......weight: 980 grams - from 4 April 2022