Great Britain 1838 half penny
This specimen was lot 75089 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2023), where it sold for $100. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Penny, 1838. London Mint. Victoria. PCGS MS-63 Red Brown. This Choice minor offers impressive fiery copper-red surfaces moderated by burnished brown tone." The copper half pennies of Victoria were issued 1838-60 in fairly large quantities but are scarce compared to the massive issues of the smaller bronze halfpennies of 1860-94. The pure copper composition also caused the coins to wear more quickly than bronze, making high grade specimens even scarcer. Like the United States half cents of the same period, many varieties exist, avidly pursued by specialists.
Recorded mintage: 457,000, a better date.
Specification: copper.
Catalog reference: S-3949; KM-726.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Freeman, Michael J., The Bronze Coinage of Great Britain, Rev. Ed., London: Spink & Son, 2006.
- Peck, C. Wilson, English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum, 1558-1958, 2nd Ed., London: Oxford University Press, 1970.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancient & World Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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