Great Britain 1879 half penny

Goldberg sale 98, lot 3019

This specimen was lot 3019 in Goldberg sale 98 (Los Angeles, June 2017), where it sold for $146.87. The catalog description^[1] noted, "Great Britain. Halfpenny, 1879. Victoria. Young head. A trace of mint red luster. NGC graded MS-65 Brown." In 1860, the copper half penny was superseded by a smaller bronze half penny. To mark the change, the young bust was dropped in favor of the "bun head." This type was struck until 1895. farthings and pennies were similarly modified. The Heaton mint also struck this type 1874-76 and 1881-82.

Recorded mintage: 3,583,000.

Specification: 5.4 g, bronze.

Catalog reference: S.3956; KM-754.

Source:

• Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
• 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.
• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• 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]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, John Lavender, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 98: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2017.

Link to:

• 1878 half penny
• 1875-H half penny
• 1879 farthing
• 1879 penny
• 1879 Maundy penny
• 1879 tuppence
• 1879 threepence
• 1879 4 pence (groat)
• 1879 sixpence
• 1879 shilling
• 1879 florin
• 1879 half sovereign
• 1879 sovereign
• 1880 half penny
• Coins and currency dated 1879
• return to coins of Great Britain