This is a coin outside of what I generally collect but as the 1983 "error" mule 2 New Pence caught my interest some while ago and got the 1983 Specimen Unc. set with the coin, I then looked at some of the other currency or uncirculated earlier decimal coins that might be obscure rarities. Perhaps this coin fits the bill as I have seen very, very few of these and note catalog values are VERY low at perhaps 5-8 USD in uncirculated. So after looking for a few years and not finding many at all, got a two coin lot recently at very near to catalog prices!! Young Mr. CladKing has admittedly influence me on such searches, not to mention the obscenely high prices many world coins have reached these days. What factors might there be making this an unheralded scarcity? - although 3.5 million were struck, that is only 1-4% of other earlier 10p coins - all coins evidently released to circulating channels - none in mint sets as they did not begin issuing the modern sets until the next year 1982 - a widely used denomination that was the size and equivalent to the old florin ( 1/10 of a pound - ordinary copper nickel composition - recalled in 1992-1993 and replaced with a smaller coin - not recognized as an "interesting" coin at the time or in the intervening nearly 40 (!!) years so was not withheld or collected in any significant quantities in all likelihood. Anyway, maybe the coin is or is not special but I doubt there are roll or bag quantities laying around. Here are pictures:
This is a coin that has been on my list for a long time. But, unfortunately it's one I haven't been able to find in quantity or otherwise. Of course with moderns there's no real way to know if this means it's common, scarce, or rare because most moderns exist in small to huge hoards no matter their mintage or availability. Old coins are spread out among tens or hundreds of thousands of owners with few having more than a hundred specimens. New coins have little demand and the ten or twenty owners of them have no incentive to sell. Those who do believe the coin is scarce may even be buyers. I believe some moderns are so scarce that there aren't even hoards at all other than what someone was able to acquire in circulation. It's difficult for me to believe Soviet circulation coins from the early '70's with mintages in the millions and prices over $100 in XF exist in any kind of quantity. How does the price of a "10c" coin get up over $100 while there is almost no demand if there are hoards? Most of these we just won't know for decades yet. There is a very strong tendency for moderns that were issued in mint sets to be very common even if the mint set mintage is only a few thousand. Most of the scarcities were not issued in mint sets. The implication being that the markets for these are exceedingly weak so even a few mint sets swamp the demand. another implication, of course, is that many moderns are far scarcer than collectors believe. Moderns are terra incognita where the only thing you can tell about availability is whether you can find one or not. I have a couple hoards but a one of these came from a single source, ie- every single one I've ever seen came from that specific source. These specific hoards are not particularly exciting because they are low denomination but it highlights the difficulty of collecting in an area without widespread demand. Until recently I had believed '50's era Chinese coins were tough but it appears this might not at all be the case since only the high grades have soared in price. Once prices go up one must assume there is finally some collector demand and the price is a gauge of scarcity. Perhaps it's not a safe bet that 1956 Chinese coins are easy in XF. They are hard to find in the US though.
Well, Sam, there are a few of us out here that like these coins - 1984, me, a gentleman in Poland and a few others..... I imagine there are some others out there and think there may be some others in the GB decimal series - however the 1982 and later mint specimen sets then limit some of the later coins....
These are definitely going to be harder to find, especially in UNC grades. I personally have yet to find one in any condition. I doubt many people are looking for them outside the UK, as a UNC 1968 is a dime a dozen and takes care of the type. In the UK, the decimal market is a very fickle beast and I could just as easily see the coin never gaining any significant value, or being worth 100 pounds by this time next month.
Yes, who knows? I think it rather entertaining to try for cheaper scarce to rare bits and this fit the bill. I will try to get a better picture presently.... Can you name any others of similar background other than the 1983 2 New Pence coin?
There is one variety of the 1992 10p that is significantly harder from the rest, although based on some research, it's likely that around 10 million (out of over a billion coins) of that variety were minted. One of the first couple years of bimetal 2 pound (maybe 1999?) wasn't included in mint sets, so carries a bit of a premium in UNC today. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a couple good dates in the large 5p and 50p runs but I've never paid enough attention to the mintages to say for sure.
Here is picture of one of the 1981 10 New Pence uncirculated coins in hand which looks much better than the pictures with startling lustre:
I was finally able to source one of these coins earlier this year after literally decades of looking. Every time I thought I found one, it was inevitably a proof. So glad I can say my decimal collection in Unc/BU is complete 1968-1981 now.
Congratulations! I would suspect this harder to manage than people may realize. May we ask where you found yours? Maybe you have some other stories to share? BTW, I sent the better of mine off for grading & will report on that as it returns.
PCGS graded it 65 BTW; I think sometimes they barely look at these and tag the grade on there. I am still of the opinion that this is a pretty scarce date in true and not terribly bagged uncirculated. In the interval since this was posted, I learned that there was evidently a single bag singled out and then dispersed some while ago.
This is the problem with low denomination moderns. If a person who can afford to save a bag comes into possession of one there is a high probability that it will be saved. Higher denominations are fare less likely to come into someone's possession and even a wealthy person was unlikely to set aside $1000 in coin. Even in US coins it's improbable any bags of some coins were saved. Though there was a gentleman in New Jersey who reportedly saved a bag of every clad quarter through about 1988! I'd wager most of these were just spent by the heirs but they are the largest source of the '82 and '83 coins apparently.
65 seems right to me, maybe even a little high. It has quite a few smaller bagmarks, normal for a more recent Royal Mint circulation coin. The luster likely carries it.
Yes, actually near to blinding for a 40 year old copper nickel coin. The marks in hand look less pronounced.
