5th Variety of 1931 Penny discovered

[fred lever]

Seems like John the Pennyman has hit hard times.
His "penny man" web site states the shop and site at Lismore are in liquidation.
Shelves and fittings for sale.
The web site is in "lorem Ipsum" state.
The ebay shop is empty last sale more than 90 days again had 100% feedback.
Seems like yet another coin dealer has found the market too tough to stay afloat.
Sad, sign of the times.
Fred.

[Basil]

I'm sure he'll bob up somewhere Fred,the 1931 dropped Indian has ruined him up here in this neck of the woods,amongst coin enthusiasists at least,but would still have the general public dealing with him wherever he goes.

[fred lever]

Yes Basil, I wish him the best.

There is a confusing situation regarding the buisness name "the penny man".
I am confused a bit as there is a "Penny man" in the USA who is in liquidation and I may be in error in thinking this has anything to do with our "Pennyman".
I am sure that John Spence is aware of this forum having been in the coin buisness for some time and I would expect him to be aware of the thread and advise us of the actual position of the bricks and mortar and e-bay stores.
I did send him an email some time ago seeking more information on the drop 31 coins but have not yet received a reply.

Fred.

[Basil]

Yes Fred,more than one 'Penny man' around both here in Oz. and O/S.
I rang a friend who lives out the back of Lismore,he is of the opinion the shop is still there but will check when he is in Town next week.

[fred lever]

Re #229, thanks Basil. The local  estate agencies list the "pennyman" shop address as being part of the main street Star shopping complex but the shop itself appears to have its front door access in the street behind. Nothing like hopping in the car and going there for a gander un announced. Something thats not possible for me to do any more. Twenty years ago i would have just driven there for a day visit, seen the local tourist sights and swung by the shop and sorted the guy out. Google is the only way I can get about now!
Fred.

[Basil]

Didn't the dropped 1 Indian get a mention in the Deans Variety Catalogue of 1964/5 with 6 examples known? That predates that Downies advert by a few years.

I can't see where anyone has confirmed Neale's question,my Brother recently obtained Deans 1965 book and it is mentioned as stated including "curved based letters on Rev.".
However as i posted previously i'm sure it was well known in Dealers circles well before then,when it was announced we were changing to Decimal Currency,1962/63?, i read an article where the final paragraph stated the dropped Indian was our rarest Penny,not the 1930,it always stuck in my mind and i was looking for them on my Paper Run/Route back then,early 1960's.

[fred lever]

Hi Basil I covered this point about the 31's in an article in CAB May 2016 v19-04.
For years(decades) I had been going on about the lack of coin catalogs even  listing the drop1, let alone anything else.
I had a quick refresh of my 31 file and in general you will find most coin catalogs just cut and pasted from Dion Skinner.
Thus only 1 type of 1931 exists, etched in stone................................
In time sequence Dean 1965 noted the 4 types  in his cat and various authors onwards in journals, Saxton, Sharples, Holland etc noted the drop 1 and the die pairs.
Cats like Fosters, Gartner, Clarke  noted the drop 1, but in popular cats printed in Australia,  only Dean, Byrnes, Lever, Briggs  have ever listed the 4  types. Dealers like Bob Roberts has newspaper ads noting the drop1 indian existed but they were pissing against the wind, "if it aint in Renniks or Maccas it dont exist"!
If you cant locate my article easily just drop me an email and i'll send you a pdf copy.
Cheers, Fred.

[Basil]

Hi Fred,received PDF's,thanks for making an effort,i will have a look on the W/end.

[fred lever]

Yuri has advised me that the latest "unicorn" coin associated with "the pennyman" has been validated as authentic by Nobles the auction people.
He has no further details at the moment.

Fred.

[drakesterling]

I'd be interested to know the exact context in which they authenticated the coin. Who at Nobles authenticated it? Were they primed to believe it authentic by being shown the NAA Journal first?

Perhaps Yuri might be able to reply here.

Eric

[echidna]

The JNAA no longer supports the "Unicorn Penny".
They now believe that they are fakes.

[echidna]

Another "Unicorn penny" has turned up.
This brings the tally to nine.
Same Ebay seller who has discovered most of them.


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[Basil]

Just a quick observation but the last '1' is spaced too far away from the '3'.

[fred lever]

Yes Basil, it is amazing that Fred Coote keeps finding these rare "unicorn" coins for the "pennyman" while no one else in the world can find one.
Funny all the rare 1931 indians that "frederick****" tries to sell on ebay all have the same "cat dragged in" look.
Almost as if they have come from the same source...............
Anyway,
At least Jim Noble has now seen one and authenticated it I believe.
Life has funny twists and turns does it not.
We can all now relax and spend up big to buy a "unicorn" now that Noble has authenticated a coin.
I look forward to that coin appearing in the next Noble auction.
Fred.

[echidna]

The obverse of this latest "Unicorn penny" looks quite dotty.
A big dot under the ear.
Should be able to match it up with a 1929 Indian obverse.