So my mum and i were searching through some old boxes in her garage. There was a ruck of old commemorative coins my mum had bought celebrating the Queens silver jubilee. This is the 25th anniversary of her coronation.
There were other coins for random events as well but none of them are rare at all and they have no intrinsic value being made of nickel and copper. While they look nice it was quite disappointing to find out that they had no silver in them whatsoever.
I was set to give up when a darker coin that I had at first missed, caught the light and i saw it glinting.
I won't lie i don't know much about old coins and i had to google it. At first i saw that it was 50% silver and i was thrilled with the estimated £6 bullion value, but then i started to delve a little deeper knowing it could have some numismatic value and i found that good examples of this coin sell for £150 - £200 on ebay. I am very happy with this find!
Unfortunately someone has attacked the obverse with a sharp object scratching away at the petina and obviously damaging the coin beyond repair :(
I am very upset about this but there is absolutely nothing i can do. I can also see some slightly orange colouring where it has been scratched and was wondering if this could mean the worst...
I am very happy with finding it anyway, if anyone has any information on this coin or would care to hazard a guess at its value i would be very appreciative.
Thanks very much for reading
Well, them "crowns" (older issues) have 25 pence face value historically crown was equal to 5 shillings i.e. 1/4th of the pound), some more modern were minted as 5 pounds coins but those you have are 25 p ones. Minted in copper-nickel (no zinc in them) but there were also sterling silver versions minted - from the photos it looks like you have only copper-nickel ones. The silver 1928 crown in this condition in my opinion is worth not much more than the silver it contains - numismatic value is strongly correlated with condition and collectors are not keen on coins with scratches if better condition specimens are available. On the positive side it looks genuine to me - its low quality silver (just 50% the rest is mostly copper) which slightly corroded giving them scratches yellow tint (coming from oxidized copper).
Edited thankyou
The other ones are just commemorative and don't have a face value at all. Shame about the crown :( Thanks for your comment :)
They have face value - the fact that this face value is not clearly stated on them is another story. But those coins have legal tender status and are officially worth 25 pence each :-)
BTW I suggest to use tag #numismatics not #numismatic - first one is much more popular and has correct spelling...
Those more modern "crowns" worth 5 pounds have face value written on them.
You my friend are full, of useful information! Thank you i have edited the tags :)
Run few more queries - if you want to be sure get the coin checked because there are fairly good quality fakes available from Chinese distributor: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/United-Kingdom-Coins-1928-CROWN-Britain-Copy-Coin-Copper-Silver-Plated-CEORGIVS-V-DEI-GRA-BRITT/32818779249.html for less than $2 and if they are made from copper then magnet would not help as copper is non-magnetic.
How can i check its authenticity?
Well, as somebody mentioned it earlier - check the weight. Or better find a local coin dealer.
Dude, do you realise how rare that wreath crown is?
There was only 9034 minted, even in that condition it can be worth a pretty penny and way above melt value. If your in no rush to sell put it in a flip and keep it safe, you must check it is real. I suggest magnet and make sure the weight is correct, it should be 28.28 grams
Even in that condition I would expect £45-60 on the open market, and these are conservative prices
Thank you yes i have read that. Very happy to find it considering i've been grunting about never finding UK coins with silver content. It weighs 28.32 on 0.00 digital scales do you think that suspicious or could it just be dirt etc?
Could be your scales need calibrating. Sounds ok to me.
That's cool you found some old coins. Really sucks about the crown though. :(
Dude I would be stoked if I found that crown in any condition
I hear you there. I'd hang on to that, even if it didn't look great. It's still rare and still a piece of history.
Yeah man i'm gutted, why would anyone do that to such an old coin!? :'(
Cheers for your comment :)
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It is a beautifully designed coin despite the abuse!