Gas was not paid for but the keepers were good.

[2ndoldman]

I only manage 61 cents on Sunday 41 of which were pennies.
But the keepers were good. Including a short talk with a pair of tourists.
They, like many, asked if I was looking for gold. My reply was "anything old will do for me".
After showing them the pocket full of practice rounds. And explaining the military history of the area they asked if I would mind having a picture taken.
Well here I am in all of my dirty glory.
Not a ton of trash in the spot I was working. And my one military keeper did not have the age I was hoping for But the coins made up for that.
This one is worn but since it predates Victoria I can live with that.

[rmartin]

Okay, how much is 6 pence in US?

[2ndoldman]

HAHAHA Ray I have no idea my friend. But in it's current condition probably $15-20 US.

[Driftwood]

Sweet coins! I'd say it was worth the effort.

[2ndoldman]

Definitely worth the effort.

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Bruce, I really like the old coins.

[2ndoldman]

So do I Ron. Thanks.

[Spicoli]

The six pence coin is an interesting find. Looked them up in Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixpence_(British_coin) Worn condition 40 bucks US. Bruce great picture of you too.

[2ndoldman]

How was the vacation Mr Incognito?
Thanks for the information Matt.

[JoshinMO]

That last one is really nice.

[2ndoldman]

Thank you Josh.

[painshill]

Okay, how much is 6 pence in US?

In those days (and until 1971) we had 240 pence to the Pound Sterling (now referred to as “old pence” or “pre-decimal pence”). So, sixpence was 1/40^th of a Pound (0.025).

In 1835, the US Dollar was worth 0.2062 Pounds Sterling, so a British sixpence would have been the equivalent of a little over 12 cents.

[Ron Kelley]

In those days (and until 1971) we had 240 pence to the Pound Sterling (now referred to as “old pence” or “pre-decimal pence”). So, sixpence was 1/40^th of a Pound (0.025).

In 1835, the US Dollar was worth 0.2062 Pounds Sterling, so a British sixpence would have been the equivalent of a little over 12 cents.

Or two bits. Thanks Roger!!

[2ndoldman]

Or two bits. Thanks Roger!!

Actually Ron 25 cents would be two bits. 12.5 cents is one bit. and one bit was legal tender at one point in time.
When the decimal system came in and the dime was introduced many retailers hated them. Their pricing was structured around the bit system and the could not make proper change in many places if 20 cents (2 dimes) was offered for a 12.5 cent item so they had to accept one dime instead and lost money on the sale. PS the dime was referred to as a short bit.

"In the United States, the bit is equal to one eighth of a dollar or 12 ¹⁄₂ cents. In the U.S., the "bit" as a designation for money dates from the colonial period, when the most common unit of currency used was the Spanish dollar, also known as "piece of eight", which was worth 8 Spanish silver reales. One eighth of a dollar or one silver real was one "bit".
With the adoption of the decimal U.S. currency in 1794, there was no longer a U.S. coin worth ¹⁄₈ of a dollar but "two bits" remained in the language with the meaning of one quarter dollar, "four bits" half dollar, etc. Because there was no one-bit coin, a dime (10¢) was sometimes called a short bit and 15¢ a long bit. (The picayune, which was originally ¹⁄₂ real or ¹⁄₂ bit (6 ¹⁄₄¢), was similarly transferred to the US 5¢-piece.)
In addition, Spanish coinage, like other foreign coins, continued to be widely used^[1] and allowed as legal tender by Chapter XXII of the Act of April 10, 1806^[2] until the Coinage Act of 1857 discontinued the practice.
Robert Louis Stevenson describes his experience with bits in Across the Plains, p. 144:^[3]
In the Pacific States they have made a bolder push for complexity, and settle their affairs by a coin that no longer exists – the BIT, or old Mexican real. The supposed value of the bit is twelve and a half cents, eight to the dollar. When it comes to two bits, the quarter-dollar stands for the required amount. But how about an odd bit? The nearest coin to it is a dime, which is, short by a fifth. That, then, is called a SHORT bit. If you have one, you lay it triumphantly down, and save two and a half cents. But if you have not, and lay down a quarter, the bar-keeper or shopman calmly tenders you a dime by way of change; and thus you have paid what is called a LONG BIT, and lost two and a half cents, or even, by comparison with a short bit, five cents."

[rmartin]

Thanks for the info Roger!

[painshill]

Without wishing to hi-jack Bruce’s post, this kind of “equivalence” of coinages is something I find rather interesting. Here’s a tiny coin from Britain which is one-third of a farthing. A farthing was one quarter of an old penny, so this equals 1⁄2880th of a pound:



Although minted specifically for use in Malta, they were considered part of the British coinage of the time, but didn’t circulate here since the denomination was too small to be of any practical use. Malta however (a British Crown Colony since 1813) had a much lower cost of living. They used the “scudo” as their unit of currency, divided into the taro, the grano and the picciolo. The scudo was 12 tari, divided into 20 grani, divided into 6 piccioli. British coins circulated alongside the local currency and the farthing circulated with the equivalence of a 3 grani coin, so a third-farthing coin was produced to have an equivalence of 1 grano. They were last issued in 1913, a total value of £100 being produced.

Here’s another example. It’s a British silver “Trade Dollar” from 1911:




Note Britannia with the Union Flag and English lettering on one side, but the denomination repeated in Chinese and Jawi-Malay on the other. The Spanish Dollar had become the accepted common currency for trade in the Far East and several countries produced coins especially for this purpose with the approximate weight and fineness of Spanish coins. For Britain, these coins were a consequence of extending our trading interests via the colonies of Singapore and Hong Kong following China’s defeat in the second opium war of 1856-1860. They were largely used to pay for tea, silk, porcelain and other imported goods.

The United States also produced similar coins from 1873 onwards. Until then, the Mexican peso had been the primary silver coin used for trade with China. American trade dollars were slightly heavier than domestic Liberty/Morgan dollars to compensate for differences in silver content versus the peso (which was 90.3% silver versus the American standard of 90%) and they also borrowed the Mexican eagle design.

These were sensitive times, foreign trade was a highly political area, and unfamiliar coins related to the “silver-standard” were treated with great suspicion. When the first American trade dollars reached China, the Emperor had them assayed and issued this official proclamation:

“… for the information of you merchants, traders, soldiers and people of every district. You must know that the ‘Eagle Trade Dollar’ that has lately come to Hong Kong has been jointly assayed by officers specially appointed for the purpose, and it can be taken in payment of duties, and come into general circulation. You must not look upon it with suspicion. At the same time rogues, sharpers, and the like, are hereby strictly forbidden to fabricate spurious imitations of this new Eagle Dollar, with a view to their own profit. And should they dare to set this prohibition at defiance, and fabricate false coin, they shall, upon discovery, most assuredly be arrested and punished. Let everyone obey with trembling! Let there be no disobedience!”

[gregszybala]

Good thread gents, thanks

[2ndoldman]

Roger you can hijack any of my posts anytime you like.
I looked up the US trade dollar and that is a beautiful coin in my opinion.
I particularly liked the fact that due to suspicion in the Chinese marked the US trade dollars were stamped with the weight and grade markings of 420 grams and 900 fine.
It is to bad those ones were never put into circulation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_...States_coin%29

[rmartin]

Thanks Roger. My first venture at collecting was coins over 40 years ago and they still remain an interest