Great Britain 1857 half penny
This specimen was lot 72117 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2019), where it sold for $312. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Penny, 1857. London Mint. Victoria. PCGS MS-65 Red Brown Gold Shield. The finest example certified by PCGS, this wondrous Gem offers intense luster and blazing, fully red surfaces. The shimmering radiance is exceptional and will assuredly cause this piece to catch the eye of a handful of enthusiastic bidders. From the Regent Crest Collection." This half penny was struck 1838, 1841-48, 1851-60 and is common, tho the proofs are rare. It shares the same design with the farthing and penny. The pure copper composition wore rapidly in circulation, leaving few survivors today in nice condition.
Recorded mintage: 1,183,000.
Specification: 8.8 g, 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.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2019 Collector's Choice Sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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