5th Variety of 1931 Penny discovered

[echidna]

Obverse scan is a fit fuzzy but it looks OK to me.

[fred lever]

Re #210 Goldies lazy 31.
That poor coin has had a tough life!
The reverse is well struck with flat base letters and a drop 1.
There is too much crud on the face of the coin to pick any die markers, but looks typical.
The obverse is also very badly affected with crud but appears to be an Indian die by the placing of the N, shape of the O ect.
Assuming the reverse and obverse are from the same coin it looks like one of the rare drop1/Indian mob to me.
Good one!

Fred.

[fred lever]

Re #212.
One thing about Goldies lazy 31 was a niggling thought I had seen it before in another context.
That is not surprising seeing how few genuine ones exist.
While getting my thoughts together I reviewed my 31 file and found the reference that would give that coin the gold standard despite the condition.
The reference is Jon Saxtons Website on Australian coins.
That same coin (identified by the circulation marks on both obverse and reverse) is portrayed and used as the example of a P31.2A to prove that the variety really does exist.
Circa the 1990's and despite many collectors such as R.L. Clarke  having cataloged the variety much earlier,  some people clung to the theory the  coin did not exist.
Jon was making the point that it did.
So Goldies  "lazy 31"  gets another tick of approval.

Fred.

[nealeffendi]

The same sorry coin (or correctly speaking filched images from Triton.vg) was offered by a sleazebay seller about 15 years back. I always wondered why he had such a nice collection but settled on that one
It isn't quite true that so few genuine ones exist. Bob Roberts many years ago mentioned to me that he had sold about 50 over the years; Ian McConnelly told me he picked up 2 from dealers books and perhaps one is for sale every other month from dealers/auction and ebay.

[JeffH]

Off topic Fred but you said before that John Barilaro is a gold plated goose. Recent events bear that out but maybe just "tin plated".

[fred lever]

Jeff, absolutely agree the jerk is a fat blowhard.
Met so many guys like him, all wind and no guts when the chips are down, they squeal and go to water.
Then puff there chests out and say how good they are.
That Gladys woman probably said , "my way or the hi-way" and blowhard walks out and says what a wonderful job he is doing.
I would have just sacked the lot and slid in the back up crew, problem solved.
Back to topic.
Fred.

[echidna]

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Another "Unicorn" has been discovered.
Same Ebay seller who has sold many Unicorns has it.

[fred lever]

Have to laugh. Why do these coins always look like they have been buried for 100 years?
Or just out of the oven.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm, or just out of the foundry??
The fakers used to make cast 2/- pieces when a 2/- was really worth something.
Guess they now make pennies, their problem is we have sussed out the 1930 duds well and truly, so 1931 must be the next go-to date.
I'll give it a look tomorrow and see if i have seen it before anywhere.
Fred.

[echidna]

Five out of the (now) nine "Unicorn" pennies can be traced back to the same seller.
Here are the other four:


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[JeffH]

Great quality photos...............NOT.
About time Frederick got a good camera.

[fred lever]

re post 217# Yep that is another image I have not seen before.
That makes about 14 CBL 1931 IMAGES I have seen.
I updated my previous PDF memo where i pulled all the images into a document to keep tabs on them and have email circulated that doc to interested people.
I still have not see a CBL 31 coin of any breed outside of Yuris JNNA paper, or ebay sellers, pennyman and frederick.
And yes once more that "frederick1234" (or whatever) guy is NOT ME! (just in case you wondered)!
I have enough trouble just staying alive let alone  trying to sell the same 2 dodgy pennys over and over again.

Fred.

[Basil]

I still have not see a CBL 31 coin of any breed outside of Yuris JNNA paper, or ebay sellers, pennyman and frederick.

Fred.

Yes Fred,i think the shed door is still open,always a worry when you get several coins with similar artificial Patina from the same seller/owner.
'Pennyman' is becoming famous amongst our small band of Coin Collectors up here on the NSW North Coast/SE Qld with the "minted in India"  comment. He had a few scrambling for reference books until the Penny dropped.

[serenitystan]

The metallic composition of the coin is not in question. The die evolution is not part of this test.


Cheers, Fred Lever.
Hi Fred, you did say that and that is why I raised the issue. Precision of language is important in numismatic research. (Yes, I'm a PITA pedant).
I'm no expert on brazing or welding so is it possible (perhaps with the right equipment?) to precisely braze/weld bronze such that x-ray analysis is inconclusive in showing a join? Not necessarily in this case but for advances by fakers for other bronze ( or other metal) rarities.

Neal,x-ray equipment designed for the Aircraft Industry are very sensitive,Lnyx machines could pick up microscopic hairline cracks in metal and that was 50 years ago,there would be some exotic methods these days.
Any alteration to the date on a Coin would show up clearly.

No one seems to know who "Aussie Grading" are that Spence mentions.

Aussie Grading-Ebay seller based in Lismore n.s.w., has the exact same banknotes for sale as did Ebay seller Thepennyman. Honest John Spence  :angel: based in Lismore..Would not be to surprised to here that this Yurist,Pennyman and Frederick rooster are just a get together scam syndicate.  :sun_bespectacled:

[echidna]

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Close up of the first 1 in the date, from an oblique angle, showing the base of "Unicorn penny #2".
Appears to be a clear join line where they have glued or welded the numeral on.

[Basil]

Aussie Grading-Ebay seller based in Lismore n.s.w., has the exact same banknotes for sale as did Ebay seller Thepennyman. Honest John Spence  :angel: based in Lismore..Would not be to surprised to here that this Yurist,Pennyman and Frederick rooster are just a get together scam syndicate.  :sun_bespectacled:

Thanks SS,i haven't come across this seller before.The way i(and others) read the article was that he was working with a 3rd party grading Co.,not one of his Ebay monikers.

Keep up the good work Echi.