British Coin Collecting – A Feel of Nostalgia

For the dedicated and specialized numismatists around the world, British coin collecting has become a craze just like the hobby of collecting American coins. There is a lot to learn about the British coin collecting hobby and the British coin itself, as it is a vast subject and should not be taken lightly. 

There are numerous books and journals that may be used as the guide to the British coin collecting hobby. A few of these esteemed books are British Silver Coins Since 1816 by Peter J. Davies; Coincraft’s Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins 1066 to Date by R. Lobel, M. Davidson, E. Calligas and A. Hailstone; The British Bronze Coinage 1860-1869 by Michael Gouby; English Silver Coinage Since 1649 by P. Allan Rayner, and many more.

Apart from these informative books, there are also some journals that provide collectors a wealth of information regarding the coins of Great Britain and British coin collecting. To name a few of these journals or magazines, those worth mentioning are Collecting Coins For Pleasure and Profit (Krause), Coins of England and United Kingdom (Spink), Collectors Coins, British Coins Market Value, and etc. These books and journals are essential to the dedicated collectors of British coins.

Value and Grades of British Coins           

There are some British coins that have tremendous value due to their rarity. The two pound coin of Great Britain has become so rare that some crazy collectors had spread rumors all around the United Kingdom to acquire all the British two pound coins for their own collection. The rumor claimed the two pound coin with the queen’s necklace was worth a lot more than its original face value, and banks and post offices were issuing extra premium for every submission of the two pound British coin.

There are eleven distinctive grades that are used to denote the condition of the British coin. For the coins that have their inscriptions too faded to be recognized is categorized as poor, while the coins with legible date and denomination are categorized as fair and good (G) are considered mediocre coins. There are also very good (VG), fine (F), very fine (VF), extremely fine (EF), uncirculated (Unc.), and brilliant uncirculated (BU) categories. For the coins with a perfect mint condition there is a special category called fleur de coin (FDC).

Finally, there is an additional category for the coins known as proof. The features of this category are that these British coins have very sharp edges – a result of deliberate high pressure. There are even categories falling in between grades and are generally denoted in the way “Nearly VF” or “Gem BU” and etc.