The Brackley Hoard Of Silver Groats Coins to be Sold

In the summer of 1465, as the Wars of the Roses raged, an unknown person hid his worldly wealth in a secret location in a Northamptonshire field and went into hiding. He never returned to claim his money.

In 2005 – 540 years later – a metal detectorist stumbled across the hoard of 324 silver coins and alerted the authorities. The British Museum, where the coins were researched and identified as silver groats, purchased 14 of them to be put on show to the public, while the remainder were returned to the metal detectorist who unearthed them and the land-owner on whose land they were found.

The two men have decided to keep 12 coins apiece as mementos, while the remainder will be sold by specialist London auctioneers Morton & Eden on Wednesday, December 2. The 186 coins, which were found in the Brackley area of Northamptonshire, are expected to raise a total of around £30,000, the money to be split equally between them.

After asking permission from the landowner to search the field, the detectorist was thrilled to find five coins on his very first attempt. “I was amazed,” the man said. “They were lying there about a foot below the surface. I couldn’t believe my eyes but I was convinced there were more, so I went back the next day and discovered the rest. There was no sign of a container, so I assume the coins were hidden originally in a cloth bag which obviously had rotted away over the centuries.”

The coins date mostly from the reigns of Henry V (1413-22) and Henry VI (1422-60). They are all silver groats (fourpenny pieces) and are relatively free from corrosion, although clearly, they had been in circulation for some time before they were hidden and had thus received some wear.

Said auctioneer Jeremy Cheek: “When they were in circulation, a silver groat would have been enough to buy a sheep. Thus, the hoard represents the value of a flock of a sheep, perhaps a man’s main asset. As there are no gold coins in the hoard, it does not appear to have been the property of a particularly wealthy person. The gold coin of the time, known as a noble, was worth 6s 8d (1/3 of a pound) which would have represented a lot of wealth for a poor person to hold in one coin. A new type of gold coin, the ‘ryal’ or ‘rose noble’ valued at 10s (1/2 of a pound), was introduced the same year the hoard was deposited. The hoard included two contemporary Scottish groats.”

The groat was the largest silver coin of the time and might be equated to something like a modern £20 note. The hoard, with a face value of £5 7s 4d, is roughly equivalent to £6,500 today. None of the smaller silver coins current at the time was included. “The hoard was clearly a deliberate attempt to conceal a sizeable stash of money,” Jeremy Cheek added.

The exact location of the hoard is being kept secret to protect the site. However it is understood to be very near to the site of a medieval village which has since disappeared. This was common in medieval times – there are around 3,000 deserted medieval villages (DMVs) in England, including around 100 in Northants, abandoned for various reasons such as the Great Plague, flooding, the Enclosure Act and rivers changing their course. This accounts for the sight of some substantial churches standing alone in a field far apart from any other habitation.

The hoard, which is expected to arouse a great deal of excitement among coin collectors and dealers, will be offered as part of a sale of Ancient, Islamic, British and World Coins, to be held at Sotheby’s, with whom Morton & Eden have an association
Source: coinlink.com

Second ‘2’ in date key to authenticating 1922 Plain cent

I recently attended the Illinois Numismatic Association 50th anniversary show near Chicago. I wish I could have gotten away from the ICG table long enough to search for variety coins as this was truly a great “collectors” show.

During the three-day event I was asked to grade and authenticate many more 1922 Plain cents than I normally see at shows. In each case, I explained the nuances of these coins to their owners. Perhaps readers will also appreciate some insight into this variety.

Although Bert Harsche and especially Al Craig had done some pioneering research into authenticating 1922 Plain cents, as best as I can remember, confusion ruled in the marketplace. Practically any 1922 cent without a strong “D” mintmark could be found in a 2x2 holder labeled as a “1922 Plain” or “No D ” specimen and that included many altered coins with removed mintmarks!

When I joined ANACS in 1972, we used the diagnostics found in Bert Harsche’s book Detecting Altered Coins to authenticate this variety. They included a strong “T” in “Trust,” a weak “R” in “Liberty” and a flat tail 2 in the date. On many of the coins we certified, there was still a trace of the mintmark visible as a “shadow-like” blob under the date.

Eventually, I noticed that coins with no trace of a mintmark had a thin, wormy, curved top on the second 2 of the date. It was an entirely different shape from that of the first 2. This became ANACS’s prime criteria for authenticating 1922 Plain cents. We paid no attention to the strength of the reverse strike; however, some coins came with a broken reverse die. The major break runs from the rim, through the “L” in “Pluribus” and into the “O” of “One.” The crack is straight on some coins and shifts inside the “O” on others. We found that coins with the shifted crack reverse could be found with and without a trace of a “D” mintmark.

In the marketplace during this time, the “Very Weak D” coins were still accepted by many as the desirable 1922 Plain variety. In fact, ANACS had authenticated a number of these cents previously due to the fact that the mintmark was hardly visible.

Then Charlie Hoskins and I got tired of playing God at ANACS. We determined that only the coins with the “wormy 2” and a strongly defined reverse appeared without a trace of the mintmark. These coins would be the only ones we would certify as 1922 Plain cents. Coins with a weak reverse, very weak shadow mintmarks, or offset die breaks were certified as “Weak D” or “Very Weak D” cents depending on how closely the “blob” under the date resembled a “D” mintmark. It appeared that the confusion would finally be over.

Not so. In the mid-1970s, ANACS was moved to ANA headquarters in Colorado Springs. Only one rookie trainee from the original staff went along to join a new group of employees.
Unfortunately, the new group had to go through the entire learning curve again while trying to sort out the confusion caused by the different die states and die combinations of the 1922 cents. Once again, the ANACSs criteria changed as it needed to determine when a “Very Weak D” cent became the “Plain” or “No D” variety.

Let me quote from a 1982 ANACS article to give you a feel for what the new authenticators in Colorado Springs had to go through as the mintmark disappeared and then reappeared again later on some of the dies. I quote: “The 1922 ‘No D’ cent presents an unusual challenge because its authentication requires that a subjective judgment be made.” We had found out years earlier that subjective judgments didn’t work in this particular case.

Ultimately, this situation had a very happy ending. Around 1984, ANACS followed our lead (Charlie and I were now at the INS Authentication Bureau in Washington, D.C.) and also stopped playing God with these coins. ANACS published another article in The Numismatist magazine that modified Craig’s original research and became the definitive study on the 1922 Plain die varieties. This article can be found in Counterfeit Detection a reprint from The Numismatist Volume II available from the ANA library. I would be repeating much of what has been previously published on this subject here so if you wish a copy of this study, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to me care of ICG, P.O. Box 27600, Tampa, FL 33688.

In brief, some 1922-D dies became filled, preventing planchet metal from flowing into the mintmark cavity. These dies produced coins with various degrees of the mintmark visible. On another die pair, the obverse was heavily polished obliterating the mintmark cavity and changing the shape of the second 2 of the date. Even Lincoln’s coat was weakened as the dies were polished. This obverse die is paired with a fully detailed “strong” reverse and is accepted as the only “true” 1922 Plain variety today.

If you are looking for one of these coins, make sure it has a strong reverse and the distinct digit 2 that I have illustrated here. Otherwise, there is a chance the mintmark has been removed from a 1922-D or you have one of the less important varieties. Even better, have any of these coins checked for authenticy at a major grading service.
Source: numismaticnews.net

FOCUS-Gold coins, bars set to outshine Indian jewellery

Gold investors in India, the world's largest consumer, are likely to outstrip jewellery buyers in 2-3 years with the economy on the rebound and buyers seeking new ways to protect their investments from pilferage.

"The signs of heavy increase in investment demand are visible and may outperform jewellery demand in 2-3 years" said Anjani Sinha, president of Indian Bullion Market Association (IBMA), which represents about 10,000 jewellers across the country.

"We may see 20-30 percent rise in investment demand driven by the new class of investors. Even during this festive season, demand for coins was more compared to jewellery, strengthening the trend."

India just finished its peak festive season that starts in August and ends in October.

IBMA said it has sold 7,000 coins of 8 grams each since August and hopes to target 100,000 coins within one year.

India has traditionally been a jewellery-devouring country, with the important part gold jewellery plays in marriages and other family celebrations.

But the trend started to change in 2003, when gold coins and bars were allowed to be sold by licensed banks and some traders. In 2007, investment demand jumped 11 percent to 215.4 tonnes.

Even in 2008, when Indian imports fell 7 percent to 712.6 tonnes at the onset of a global economic slowdown and high prices, investment stayed steady at 2007 levels.

In 2008, jewellery consumption was 501.6 tonnes, while investment demand was 211 tonnes. In the first-half of 2009, when the economic downturn peaked, demand fell 55 percent to 126.7 tonnes, the worst since 1997, World Gold Council data showed.

Currently, gold jewellery accounts for 70 percent of India's total annual consumption.

SURGE IN THE OFFING

Industry players say the consumption in the form of investments is likely to surge from here on as the economic recovery gathers strength.

Former central bank governor C. Rangarajan, who heads the government panel that advises the prime minister, said growth in the fiscal year that ends in March 2011 would accelerate to 7 to 8 percent after growing by about 6.5 percent in 2009/10. See [ID:nHKG376802]

Gold coins and bars are an attractive investment option, unlike jewellery, which involves making charges and wastage.

"Gold coins and bars have more convenient usage, may be in the form of investment, or deferred consumption or for gifts," said Nayan Pansare, an independent consultant to jewellers.

"Definitely, investment demand is likely to surge as more and more people are looking to gold as an investment rather than as a fashion statement," said Rajesh Khosla, managing director, MMTC PAMP Pvt Ltd, a gold coins refiner.

MMTC PAMP, a joint venture between the state-owned MMTC and Swiss-based gold refiner, hopes to start its refinery in the northern Indian state of Haryana in the second-half of 2010 and expects to produce 100 tonnes of gold coins in 2010
Source: in.reuters.com

China Battles Domestic Counterfeiters

The Peoples’ Republic of China has been in the numismatic hobby news in recent months due to coin replicas originating from China that are being sold elsewhere in the world as genuine coins. This includes coins of Canada, Russia and the United States.

Since the Hobby Protection Act in the United States is unenforceable outside U.S. borders, this lack of enforcement overseas almost invites the export of replica coins to places where the replica coins can be sold by third parties to unsuspecting collectors as being genuine. In an article appearing in this column last month coin collector Mike Marshall of Trenton, Ontario, was acknowledged as saying there are six companies in China that make replica coins. The Chinese replica products are produced and sold legitimately – in China.

Well, it appears China may be having problems of its own regarding locally produced counterfeit or replica coins. In fact, since China has been one of several countries that in recent years has suffered from a shortage of circulating coinage it appears at least one enterprising organization working outside the government has decided to take advantage of the shortage by making its own coins.

According to the Aug. 6 Guangzhou Daily newspaper, police in Foshan in south China’s Guangdong province arrested seven people a day earlier, seizing more than 220,000 counterfeit 1-yuan coins reported to weigh a total of about 1.5 tons.

The 1-yuan denomination, which is the workhorse coin of the Chinese economy, is a nickel-plated steel coin with a diameter of 24.9 millimeters. The obverse depicts the denomination and date, while a chrysanthemum appears on the reverse. The lettered edge repeats RMB three times.

RMB is an abbreviation for renmimbi or “people’s currency,” which is issued exclusively by the People’s Bank of China. The official abbreviation is CNY, but it does not appear on circulating coinage.

According to the Guangzhou Daily newspaper article, “A woman named Liu and her driver were stopped by police when they were seen behaving suspiciously around a Foshan bus station on June 26. The police then seized 18,000 counterfeit 1-yuan coins at the scene and captured a buyer with 1,100 such counterfeit coins. Following the seizure, the police raided Liu’s home in Guangzhou and found 200,000 more counterfeit 1-yuan coins wrapped in packages.”

The newspaper reported the fake coins originated in Loudi in Hunan province (central China). The counterfeiting operation does not appear to be an isolated incident. According to the newspaper, more than 20 people possessing 1.17 million counterfeit 1-yuan coins were arrested in Loudi in July. In addition “five fake coin plants” were raided in Loudi.

This isn’t the only recent incident suggesting China is having internal problems with counterfeit coins. The Aug. 10 issue of the publication China View reported, “China’s Public Security Ministry Monday warned the public to beware of fake commemorative coins purportedly issued to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.”

Specifically, a set of 100- and 150-yuan gold coins and four 10-yuan .999 fine silver coins being advertised as having been issued by the People’s Bank of China and distributed by China Gold Coin Inc. are fakes since neither organization has issued any such coins.

China View reported the unauthorized commemorative coins being sold for 550 yuan or $80 US on the Web site www.taobao.com originating in Hebei Province.

Sounding very much like what you might expect to hear from the U.S. government if a similar situation happened in the United States the Chinese ministry warned, “Precious metal commemorative coins should only be purchased through formal channels.”
Source: numismaster.com