Introduction

As with most people, I feel I know a bit about several things and wanted to address one of my "passions".  I have collected US coins since I was 8 years old, which was long enough ago, that I don't remember my first coin.  I have also collected World Coinage since I was a youngster, but it really took off while I was in the US Navy.  You know, "Join the Navy and See the World," well I did see quite a bit.  My passion for collecting UK coins is only slightly secondary to collecting US coins.  So I decided to write a series of guides on UK coins and collecting them.

This series of guides will deal with collecting specific denominations of British coins and will generally cover the “life” of that denomination.

First let me provide you with an excellent reference, perhaps the premier reference for information on British coins on the internet.  Chard, yes the same Chard that had written so many excellent reviews on Gold and Silver British coinage.

Deciding What to Collect

As with collecting US coins there are many options when collecting UK coins.  You can decide to collect a certain denomination; Farthings, Half Pennies (or Half pence), Pennies, Two Pence, Three Pence, Six Pence, Shillings, Florins, Half Crowns, Crowns or several others denominations which I will touch on briefly.  Perhaps you would rather concentrate on a particular Monarch, or maybe a type set, the possibilities are endless and are only limited by your interest and to a large extent by your wallet or pocketbook.  One thing that I can tell you is that the older British coins are, in general, more affordable that US coins of the same year.

Coins from Great Britain and the colonies and other members of the Commonwealth always, at least for purposes here, have a portrait/bust of the current Monarch on the Obverse.  This portrait may and did change for various reasons, such as the longevity of the Monarch, especially in the case of Victoria and for correcting possible flaws such as the case with the early 20th century bronze coinage of Edward VII and George V.  The reverse of coins is often pretty standard for a given denomination with some changes being made at various times.

Generally, but not always, coins have no mint mark as most coins in these reviews were manufactured by the Royal Mint, which was located in the Tower of London and later on Tower Hill, for the entire period of the coins covered in this review.  Perhaps after I have completed the coin guides I will write a guide on the minting history of British coins, it will be fun doing the research.

Grading British Coins

As with US coins, the condition or grade of the coin plays a significant role in the value and how “collectible” the coin is.

US Coins:

Circulated General Standards:

For US coins we have traditionally used the ANA standards:

Choice About Uncirculated-55. Abbreviations: AU-55. Only a small trace of wear is visible on the highest points of the coin. As is the case with the other grades here, specific information is listed in the following text under the various types, for wear often occurs in different spots on different designs.

About Uncirculated-50. Abbreviation: AU-50. With traces of wear on nearly all of the highest areas. At least half of the original mint luster is present.

Choice Extremely Fine-45. Abbreviation: EF-45. With light overall wear on the coin's highest points. All design details are very sharp. Mint luster is usually seen only in protected areas of the coin's surface such as between the star points and in the letter spaces.

Extremely Fine-40. Abbreviation: EF-40. With only slight wear but more extensive than the preceding, still with excellent overall sharpness. Traces of mint luster may still show.

Choice Very Fine-30. Abbreviation: VF-30. With light even wear on the surface; design details on the highest points lightly worn, but with all lettering and major features sharp.

Very Fine-20. Abbreviation: VF-20. As preceding but with moderate wear on highest parts.

Fine-12. Abbreviation: F-12. Moderate to considerable even wear. Entire design is bold. All lettering, including the word LIBERTY (on coins with this feature on the shield or headband), visible, but with some weaknesses.

Very Good-8. Abbreviation: VG-8. Well worn. Most fine details such as hair strands, leaf details, and so on are worn nearly smooth. The word LIBERTY, if on a shield or headband, is only partially visible.

Good-4. Abbreviation: G-4. Heavily worn. Major designs visible, but with faintness in areas. Head of Liberty, wreath, and other major features visible in outline form without center detail.

About Good-3. Abbreviation: AG-3. Very heavily worn with portions of the lettering, date, and legends being worn smooth. The date barely readable.

Uncirculated Standards:

MS# where MS stands for Mint State and # is a number between 60 and 70 with 70 being reserved for the best possible example of a business strike coin available.

Proof Standards:

PR# where PR stands for Proof and # is a number between 60 and 70 with 70 being reserved for the best possible example of a proof strike coin available.

In addition we have seen additional descriptors for proof coins added by the grading companies to describe the "frosty" appearance of modern proofs such as:

• CAM meaning Cameo
• DCAM meaning Deep cameo 
• UCAM meaning ultra cameo.

Finally, there have been additional descriptors added to provided additional information, such as:

• Red, brown or chocolate when referring to a bronze coins coloration.
• Porous - referring to a coin that shows some pitting due to environmental conditions.
• Cleaned – attached when a coin has been cleaned (DO NOT DO THIS)
• Toning – usually referring to a nickel or silver coin that has some coloration due to atmospheric exposure causing the metal to show a colored or “toned” surface.

British Coin Grading Standards

British coin grading standards are similar, in name only, to those used on US coins but without the numerical modifier.  However there are siginifcant differences:

Poor: Often considered not collectable unless extremely rare. This is equivalent to "About Good" or "Good" and in some cases "Very Good" in the US.

Very Good - Abbreviation: VG.  Reckoned at 12% perfect, the grade is similar to a coin considered "fine" in the US.

Fine - Abbreviation F: 25% perfect, the grade is similar to a VF in the US. Head is not worn to a silhouette. Considered the minimum collectable grade.

Very Fine - Abbreviation VF: 50% perfect, this is similar to a XF in the US. Good VF is similar to XF in the US.

Extremely Fine - Abbreviation EF: 75% perfect, this is similar to the "About Uncirculated" designation in the US. Good EF approximates MS-60!

Uncirculated - Abbreviated UNC: 100% perfect, falls at about MS-62 or MS-63 in terms of US grading. US MS-60 and MS-61 are technically uncirculated but have many detracting marks as a rule. These may or may not be reckoned uncirculated by the British system depending on how bad they are.

Choice UNC - MS-64 to MS-65.

Gem UNC or About FDC - MS-66, MS-67.

FDC - MS-70.

The Brits have not accepted the 11-point uncirculated grading system and prefer to use lustre as a criteria for grading when it comes to copper coins, so the terms "UNC," "UNC with trace lustre," "good lustre," "much lustre," "almost full lustre," "full lustre" carry more weight than the technical grade.

I will be writing additional guides on each of the denominations of British Coins starting with the Farthing.

I hope you have found this guide and the others that I submit useful.  Thank you for your interest.