Posted 3 years ago
Julesfoxy
(1 item)
Hi can’t anyone shed some light on the ‘C’ on this old 50p?
It is quite significantly embossed
Many thanks
‘C’ on an old 50p | ||
| British Coins11 of 124 |  |  |
‘C’ on an old 50p | ||
| British Coins11 of 124 | | |
Posted 3 years ago
Julesfoxy
(1 item)
Hi can’t anyone shed some light on the ‘C’ on this old 50p?
It is quite significantly embossed
Many thanks
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Hi, Julesfoxy. :-)
Very interesting. You're allowed up to four pictures per post, so could you add a picture of the reverse side?
The 50p coin only came out in 1969:
https://onlinecoin.club/Coins/Country/United_Kingdom/Fifty_Pence_1969/
FYI, I am definitely not a coin expert, but that backwards/upside down "C" character doesn't look like a mint error. The grooves of it are too clearly incised and shiny in comparison with the rest of the coin.
It looks like somebody was perhaps experimenting with a die stamp.
This is interesting:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/sep/14/50p-britons-living-costs-1969-spending
I think your coin has been “countermarked” or “counterstruck” for an official purpose.
There’s quite a lot of info on counterstruck coins….very interesting!
I’ve just begun researching such coins and haven’t come across what the “C” meant. (It’s 4am so I should be snoozing instead of reading but this has caught my attention).
I know Keramikos will research this to the ‘inth degree, so stay tuned! She’s tops at digging deep for facts! > >>all my respect to her quest for knowledge <<<
I may be way off with this digging I’ve gotten into regarding the C counterstamp mark. But here’s a theory:
In 1977, a very controversial leader in the Northern Ireland conflict - Seamus Costello, was murdered. British coins had previously been counterstruck with the initials of the warring groups.
The very next year, 1978, your coin went into circulation. Someone, for some reason counterstruck it with a C.
I’m wondering if the C was for Costello??
Was it a way of honoring Costello for his leadership in that politically volital time period in Northern Ireland??
Have I gone down a rabbit hole because it’s now 5:30 am and I’m still reading??
Wow thank you, sorry to have kept you up all night ????
That’s a very interesting theory, I will do a bit of reading on that (possibly won’t lose sleep though)
Thank you so much for your time
The coin was previously played with in a toy till by my daughter and I brought it back out for my granddaughter when I noticed there were coins in it along with the play money and this one really intrigued me, so thank you
Watchsearcher, Wow.
That is fascinating. I haven't found any twins yet, but I did find an Irish Republican Army countermarked fifty pence coin:
https://twitter.com/profdanhicks/status/1101573051446108160
There is a museum collection of countermarked currency:
https://twitter.com/profdanhicks/status/1101552679241830401
Somebody demonstrates how easy it is to countermark a coin. The website is in German, but the YouTube video is in English. If you want to cut to the chase, go to 4:45:
https://muenzenwoche.de/podcast-des-british-museum-ueber-suffragetten-2/
Thank you so much