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Collecting Old British Coins
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A coin collection would make a wonderful hobby, especially when that collection contains ancient coins that have been changed after years of development. Collecting old British coins is a specialized hobby for some people because of the grand history of Britain’s pennies, pence and pounds. Collecting old British coins is like looking back on the history and development of England’s economy and currency, giving collectors a better understanding of how present British coins came to be.

Although collecting old British coins may not be a surefire way to strike gold, it is a very meaningful hobby for those who enjoy having a relic of the British past. The denomination of these coins is usually in pennies, pence, and pounds that used to have names such as farthing, halfpenny, guinea, and shillings that are usually familiar from English literature dating back to the 17th to 19th century. If you are into collecting old British coins, here are four early milled coins that are ideal for those collecting old British coins as a hobby along with a short summary of its history:


Two Pound
In 1986 the first Two Pound coin was issued. After several years, six versions of the two pound coins were also issued. A normal two pound coin weighs at 15.98 g and is 27.40 mm in diameter. In the end, there were seven types of commemorative two pound coins with all kinds of designs on the reverse (e.g. 1st type: Thistle on Saint Andrew Cross) and text on the edges (e.g. 4th type: SIC VOS NON VOBIS).

Four Pence or Groat
The coin name “groat” was given to all thick silver coins during the Middle Ages as opposed to the deniers or pennies which are thin silver coins. The first English groats were taken from the continental gros tournois, issued during the reign of Edward I in 1279. They weighed at 89 grains and became more established during the reign of Edward III in 1351 with a lower weight of 72 grains.

Early Five Shillings or Crown
The five shilling pieces were originally called the Crown of the Double Rose, which were first minted in the later half of the year 1526 and were the first English gold coins to have less than 23.5 carat. It was in 1551 when the first silver crown was issued showing Edward VI riding on horseback with a coat of arms in the reverse side.

Collecting old British coins takes you to history even farther than these popular old coins. As an interested person collecting old British coins, having any of the old coins even from the early 17th century would be like having a historic goldmine in your hands.
By: rk
Published: 09/17/08


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3 Posted Comments:

@ 3:18 am 09/17/08 by valiantdude
Hi Rk,
I also like to collect old coins, and really it is a great hobby...
my hobby is somehow different from yours because i love to collect coins of every country and thats i made a target for myself to collect at least one old coin of most of the countries.
Hope i will collect those soon.
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@ 11:40 am 09/17/08 by Willow Sidhe
Great article! It seems like no one collects coins anymore. I am particularly interested in British culture so this would be a great hobby for someone like me. :)
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@ 8:22 pm 09/17/08 by Ette_Rual
my grandma collects coins. she has a lot of them, that is why she gave away some of them. with your enumeration above, i don't think she has such coins.

good article by the way
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