Welcome to my collection of British coins. My primary interests are in copper and bronze coins, with a few silver denominations thrown in just to make it interesting. This is an example of one of the coins that currently don't fit in to my main collecting areas. 1953 Crown for the coronation of Elizabeth II in Proof 66 Cameo. I have wanted one of these because I like the design, and although they are cheap it is extremely difficult to get them in high grade. This is currently the highest graded at NGC, and I have looked at dozens of raw examples without finding one its equal.

Another one I quite like the design of is this modern Britannia bullion (2 Pounds) piece. This is the 2011 with a matte finish, mintage of 2337. There has been a lot of conjecture on how these came about as they were not a standard mint product. The best explanation I have heard came from a British dealer who believes these are the results of an unpolished set of dies, by the time someone noticed the problem 2337 had been coined. The entire group was purchased by a US dealer and slabbed by NGC, NGC reports 1290 graded as MS69 and 803 graded as MS70.

Updates:

1-8-2012 - I've just retunred from a couple of days at the NYINC show and did ok with a few new purchases. Overall I believe the auction prices were considerable higher than a year ago, although quite a few pieces failed to sell with very high initial reserves drawing no bids. I've added updates to the Halfpenny, Geroge III and George IV pages.

December 16 2012 - My take on the market for the year. After very large price increases throughout 2010, 2011 showed more of the same. Indeed the November StacksBowers auction showed amazing price increases for coins that had previously been passed over as the market heated up in 2010. These included a large group of Geo. VI and Eliz. II VIP proof halfpennies, sixpences and shillings. These were all unslabbed (raw) and many showed obvious signs of being badly stored with numerous carbon spots and unattractive toning. Yet they sold for significantly more (10-20%) than nice specimans did in 2010 and early 2011. Geo. III coins have shown similar increases, for example Taylor restrike pattern halfpennies where one could have expected to spend $3-400 in 2009-2010 for a decent example are now going for $500 and up.

The NYINC auctions have mostly posted their reserve prices and 2012 is looking more of the same. Reserves seem to be 10-20% higher than would have been seen in early 2011 although we will have to wait to see if they sell at those prices.

These pages are set up by ruler, for those that I have a reasonable number of coins, and by type sets for those interested only in specific denominations. The information given is to the best of my knowledge, if you have additional information please feel free to email me.

Bronze and Copper Coin Notes:

Bronze and copper, in addition to a numerical grade, is graded by color. On my listings you will see RD for red, RB for red-brown, and BN for brown. All other things being equal red coins sell for more than red-brown, which in turn sell for more than brown.

I would like to note that some of the most beautiful copper coins you see are graded brown, but with really nice toning and hence often very high prices.

Any references you see to "P" with a number following referse to C. Wilson Pecks volume " English Copper, Tin and Bronze coins in the British Museum 1558-1958". This is a must have reference book for serious collectors of British copper. ESC-xxxx denotes Seaby's English Silver Coins.

Third Party Grading:

NGC refers to Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, one of the two leading third party grading (TPG) companies.

PCGS refers to Professional Coin Grading Service, the other of the top two grading companies.

I do on occassion buy coins in ANACS holders as they are often fairly graded and will cross over to the other TPG's at the same grade much of the time. The older small ANACS holders often have real bargains in them that will upgrade under today's grading standards.

The majority of my coins are in NGC holders rather than PCGS. This is not due to any bias on my part but simply because NGC has been grading World coins much longer than PCGS and has a much larger market share. When I submit coins for grading I tend to still use NGC, the turn around time is often shorter and the slabs fit in with each other when I am displaying.

Although the latest version of the NGC slab with the edge view was quite controversial when first issued, mainly due to the prongs intruding on photographs, I have come to prefer them. In particular for early coins with different edge insciptions or patterns it becomes a little easier to see them.

Other countries that I collect can be seen here.