This website is purely for Reference and comparison along with comparing copper coins of your own collection to help prove there existence and the recognition they deserve. Perhaps one day somebody will write a dinfinitive guide book on copper errors and omissions for us all to buy from our high street shops.

There are hundreds copper coins on many pages some which are not listed in books which to be honest is easy to achieve.

In one thousand years collectors will still be finding new varieties i dont mean letters over the same letters or dates over the same date but proper genuine cover ups by mint workers who were bad at spelling like my self or just excellent at recycling.

This website is solely for the love of coins and the thrill of collecting them and the enjoyment it brings. Built by my self with the help of a clever chap called Mike sherwood a web designer to help beginners and any one looking to collect copper coins of normal issues and errors, more importantly to prevent you being ripped off and wasting your hard earned money.

Ive collected coins since 1980 but its copper which i find the most fascinating due to the large amounts minted and the vast amount of varieties and errors that exist infact i believe theirs so many different types it would be impossible to fill a seaby/spinks type catalogue of just copper.

I would like to bring straight to your computer screen some rare English and British copper farthings and halfpenny coins from Charles II to Queen Victoria. Some will be quite standard and relatively straight forward to acquire whilst others will appear ( turn up ) once or twice in a life time.

If you the collector has never seen a genuine example of a certain type of coin this maybe the site is for you. Cross referencing and checking could save any unsure collector a fortune i hope by the time you have reached the end of this website any unsure collector will feel that bit more confident and surer when buying there copper coins and hopefully bypass most collecting issues which happend to probably all of us pre-internet days.

I hope now the surer collector has developed the eagle eye and necessary skills to spot the coin which often slips the net of dealers and experienced sellers. Of course you may not need any advice or help collecting as so many people dont in which case i shall do my best to avoid patronising any body or teaching you to suck eggs.

This website was designed solely for the love of coins and that feeling of Utopia which i desperately wish to spread to give something back to the world of collecting. I wish us ! the collector to have a easier safer happier time collecting after all farthing collectors are the most humble of coin collectors.

Were To Buy From

Sadly their`s very few traditional coin shops left these days as most have closed down but some antiques shops sell coins and there seems to be more collectable shops opening every day.

Coin magazines are full of valuable information along with many dealers lists to view and if your lucky meetings and clubs maybe open near you and of course collectors fairs.

Ive not met a dealer who hasn`t the time to spare a few words of advice. A proper established dealer will nearly always be able to find a certian coin for you. Most coin dealers are good people who can and will often find specific coins you require.

Many people are using the internet to find their coins and auction sites are becoming very popular. But please beware when using the internet and auction sites ! if your new to coin collecting a genuine dealer is better to buy from with a returns policy rather than taking a chance. As a rule of thumb with normal coins dont worry if you miss them or they get away because theirs always more coins.

The Expert

Experts know alot of stuff thats why their experts these poeple will always be happy to help or even sell to you what your looking for.

But now there seems to be mores sellers than ever becuase of the internet so an established or trusted seller is still a better idea if ones not sure. But please understand if one specializes in a certian filed a standard seller is unlikely to understand one`s specialist requirements.

Even experts make mistakes and would be coin dealers ( internet sellers ) are by far the worse.

If ever in doubt please contact me with the contact button you never know you might have the coin everybody wants.

How I Collect

Back when i first started in 1980 i collected anything i liked and to be honest thats a great way to collect. Some collectors collect by type or dates or just pennies which is very popular i met a man once who only collected halfcrowns i never understood that but i was young.

There are also collectors who collect by association i do this when i go on holiday or traveling around the UK. Theirs nearly always workman tokens or foreign coins especially German & Austrian which have superior workmanship.

I would consider my self as a keep looking collector and can quite easely lose an afternoon or an evening in a wink of an eye. All collectors have or will develope a certain pull like gravity to a certain type of coin or denomination or even possibly just a single date.

Some collectors can`t leave it alone or put it down for a moment this is called an obsession and my world of copper farthing and halfpenny, God help me! unlikely.

When looking for coins i will use experience more than books or papers as books often copy each other though this does not necessary mean the imformation is wrong.

If examining a coin and its genuinely the third or forth example i have ever seen i would ! hand on heart ! consider the piece as excessively rare regardless of what books say.

For me this is far more reliable than catalogs i find that catalogs or valuation books can often be wrong along with there classification of scarcity and rarity.

Sadly taking into concideration most coin valuation catalogs also sell coins this makes impartial advice now unachievable.

Its very dificult to value rare coins as the price is what the buyer is prepared to pay on the day and how desperate the collector is to add the example to his or her collection.

The price is then remembered and used as a reference in the future but this doesn`t mean the coin will sell again for that price as the buyer or bidder just wanted the coin badly enough on that day.

If i had been waiting ten years for a reasonable example to turn up i know what i would do if i had the money to spare as these coins are not normal coins in the mind of collectors like us.

Collecting both farthings and halfpennies is exspensive and time comsuming so collecting over longer periods of time helps but if its all happening now or tomorrow it can become frustrating.

If in a tricky situation where presented with two or three coins and can only afford just one i`ll always buy the coin ive seen the least as theres a better chance of seeing the two ive rejected again in the future.

At the end of the day its all down to money more than anything else and consequently regular collectors are not cheque book collectors but we still love it the same or maybe more ?.

Cleaning coins

Im sure you have heard from every one that cleaning coins is a no no and your right to think that. But from time to time coins do turn up caked in dirt grease sludge and other nasty substances.

To remove this grime here`s is what to do. Try an ultrasonics machine this is the best way but use a plastic tray.

If money is tight then ( And this does work ) get an egg cup and half fill with cillet bang next place a cotton wool bud in the solution then drop you coin in for five seconds take the coin out rub the cotton wool bud over the area of grime for another five seconds then wash off immediately with warm water.

Gently pat dry the coin with a soft dry flannel or towel and if needed wipe the coin with the end of your nose of forehead to apply a little oil to enhance.

This process also removes the early stages of green verdigris but if left to long in the solution if will lighten the appearance of your coin.

White spirit works just the same way but with no real consequence of the coin lightening  (possibly 5-10 % ) if unlucky but each coin needs a longer soak ( 10-30 minutes ) pending grime amounts.

Wet cocktail stick and a magnifying is great on small areas but very time consuming on an entire coin

On servere example`s that are caked in grease soak for 30 minute`s in white spirits then use a very soft tooth brush soaked in white spirit and vigorously brush in different direction quickly.

Once complete wash off and apply a little oil from ones forehead to put back the oils the spirit took out. Its the same for mud except soak in very warm water with washing up liquid.

To remove or at least stop green verdigris on more advanced examples again an egg cup with lemon juice and some cocktail sticks soak the cocktail stick in the lemon juice and just touch the verdigris spots and let the lemon juice flow out the stick.

On examples completely consumed with verdigris there’s not much hope, the only option left is acid ! applied the same way with a cocktail stick ( wear safety classes gloves and thoroughly risk assess ) on the infective area.

Its a common fact that some coin dealers will wipe engine oil into some of there coins to improve there eye appeal before sale.

And its all most certain that nearly every hammered Roman or Saxon coin that`s come out the ground over the years has also been cleaned at some point and re-toned over the years.

Coins do re-tone pending how and where there stored heres a good example of this when i was married to my wife.

 I insisted she wore a Victorian shilling in her garta of the same year were married 1997 the shilling graded brilliant uncirculated.

After the wedding the dress went into the loft for storage three years later i remembered and retrieved the shilling which had now toned a fantastic purple and gold tone.

I was very happy to see such a pretty coin. It was the lace and cotton which tone the coin.

I have used cotton and other natural substance`s to experiment with other ways of toning coins from leaving coins on a sunny window seal to making a sealed box and exposing metal ie copper bronze & silver to H2S gas, H2S is hydrogen sulphide the smell of rotten vegetation and stagnant water that`s often found in woods and streams.

But easier to acquire in the form of stink bombs it brings up very bright possibly cleaned or dipped coins ( this takes a lot of practice so please contact me for information ) with a heavy dark old looking cabinet tone.

As with all i have mentioned in the above it does take some practice to get right.

How i see is taking an example which no one wants and restoring it cosmetically to a collectable coin.

Warm water with soap or washing up liquid and a soft brush is acceptable in some circumstances ( even on copper/ bronze ) whats not acceptable is polishing or cleaning with a cloth as this looks like ants have been ice skating on your coin which is now destroyed for ever.

If unsure about any of the above is best to just leave your coin and wrap it up in cotton pop it in a draw and forget about it for a few years. Good luck and please feel free to contact me about any of the above..