1892-C Two Annas KM#488

[PeaceBD]

1892-C Two Annas KM#488. Both the sides of this coin are different like night and day. The reverse of this coin is nice and frosty but the obverse is prooflike with a cameo like appearance to the devices. It is also a good example of a heavily polished and used die. The coin has an incuse C on the bottom flower on the reverse. It's a beautiful looking tiny coin has swirling luster on both sides. Let me know what you guys think.



Thanks
Bhushan

[anand]

Nice looking coin!! 

B/II C incuse if I am not wrong.

How much did you pay for this one, if you dont mind me asking?

I find these small 2 anna series interesting and with a higher chance to complete the series year wise as compared to the others in British India.

Anand

[Harry]

I agree its a lovely coin with a fantastic strike! Congrats BD!

I find these small 2 anna series interesting and with a higher chance to complete the series year wise as compared to the others in British India.

Yes, also the minors don't have the tons of variants like the Rupee does.

Anand, how far along are you with the 2 Anna  BI series? Do you collect strictly Unc or high grade?  Please share some of your coins when you get a chance. Would love to see them!

Although not from the same series and certainly not a gem like BD's but here is my 1875 2 Anna and I would grade it BU (MS62-63).

[anand]

Yeah I try to get the 2 anna ones as much as I can. I try to have them in XF if not better. dont have any graded ones as such. considering their small size and usage getting them in grades is not easy.

Currently I have almost all 2 annas of Edward and KGV. and probably half way through the Victoria series.

Sometime this week let me try taking pictures of a few and i will post them.

Anand

[Md. Shariful Islam]

Yeah I try to get the 2 anna ones as much as I can. I try to have them in XF if not better. dont have any graded ones as such. considering their small size and usage getting them in grades is not easy.

Currently I have almost all 2 annas of Edward and KGV. and probably half way through the Victoria series.

Sometime this week let me try taking pictures of a few and i will post them.

Anand

Great! WoC is a good place to watch coins of collectors. I have shared almost all of my coins and love to watch coins of other collectors. Here I I find different tastes of different. For example Bhusan brings gems, Tariq brings illustrations, Abhay brings rares, and I bring commons .

Islam

[Harry]

Currently I have almost all 2 annas of Edward and KGV. and probably half way through the Victoria series.

Sometime this week let me try taking pictures of a few and i will post them.

Nice! Looking forward to seeing them!

[PeaceBD]

Nice looking coin!! 

B/II C incuse if I am not wrong.

How much did you pay for this one, if you dont mind me asking?

I find these small 2 anna series interesting and with a higher chance to complete the series year wise as compared to the others in British India.

Anand

Thanks Anand for the variety attribution. Yes it is B/II C incuse. I paid a few dollar over 300 for this one. I am not trying to collect these year wise but I do pick up which ever one I like. I love these tiny coin too.

I agree its a lovely coin with a fantastic strike! Congrats BD!

Yes, also the minors don't have the tons of variants like the Rupee does.

Anand, how far along are you with the 2 Anna  BI series? Do you collect strictly Unc or high grade?  Please share some of your coins when you get a chance. Would love to see them!

Although not from the same series and certainly not a gem like BD's but here is my 1875 2 Anna and I would grade it BU (MS62-63).

Harry, thanks a lot. I am trying to collect the 2 anna by type in gem grade. Don't know if I will find them all in the grades I want but I believe I am half way through.
Your 1875 Anna looks nice, definitively a 62-63. Maybe a 64 on a good day. My experience has been the grading is very strict on these tiny coins.

Great! WoC is a good place to watch coins of collectors. I have shared almost all of my coins and love to watch coins of other collectors. Here I I find different tastes of different. For example Bhusan brings gems, Tariq brings illustrations, Abhay brings rares, and I bring commons .

Islam

Islam , I believe we should collect what we like. Does not matter if it is rare, gem or common. We have this as an hobby to get away from our regular stress.

Bhushan

[Harry]

I am trying to collect the 2 anna by type in gem grade. Don't know if I will find them all in the grades I want but I believe I am half way through.

Bhushan that's a very good goal. What are your types? The toughest will be the 1911 2 Anna (none graded MS65 by NGC so far!).  The easiest is the KGV 1912-1936 series and the Edward series.  The Empress Victoria that you have is also a tough one. In my view the following are the 2 Anna round types ranked from the hardest to get in MS65. These are business strikes.

1911 -  King George V  ( Highest graded by NGC is a MS64 - no MS65 so far)
1874-1876  - Queen Victoria   (Only 1 graded by NGC as MS65 - its the 1847)
1840 -  Queen Victoria Cont. Legend
1877-1901 -  Empress Victoria  (14 graded MS65 and none above)
 
1862 -  Queen Victoria  (10 graded MS65 and 2 graded MS66)
1903-1910  - Edward VII (35 graded MS65 and 4 graded as MS66)
1840 -  Queen Victoria Divided Legend (1 graded MS65)
1912-1936 King George V (9 graded MS65 and 3 MS66)

Unfortunately the NGC report is out dated, at least by 1 year if not more. For example the 1840 div legend 2 Anna MS65 is reported as only 1 but I have one (and it was not as expensive as yours) and I have seen several MS65 selling on ebay.

Ignoring the NGC stats, whats your experience with finding MS65 2 Annas Gem types and how would you rank them?

[PeaceBD]

Bhushan that's a very good goal. What are your types? The toughest will be the 1911 2 Anna (none graded MS65 by NGC so far!).  The easiest is the KGV 1912-1936 series and the Edward series.  The Empress Victoria that you have is also a tough one. In my view the following are the 2 Anna round types ranked from the hardest to get in MS65. These are business strikes.

1911 -  King George V  ( Highest graded by NGC is a MS64 - no MS65 so far)
1874-1876  - Queen Victoria   (Only 1 graded by NGC as MS65 - its the 1847)
1840 -  Queen Victoria Cont. Legend
1877-1901 -  Empress Victoria  (14 graded MS65 and none above)
 
1862 -  Queen Victoria  (10 graded MS65 and 2 graded MS66)
1903-1910  - Edward VII (35 graded MS65 and 4 graded as MS66)
1840 -  Queen Victoria Divided Legend (1 graded MS65)
1912-1936 King George V (9 graded MS65 and 3 MS66)

Unfortunately the NGC report is out dated, at least by 1 year if not more. For example the 1840 div legend 2 Anna MS65 is reported as only 1 but I have one (and it was not as expensive as yours) and I have seen several MS65 selling on ebay.

Ignoring the NGC stats, whats your experience with finding MS65 2 Annas Gem types and how would you rank them?

Harry, I am going to first concentrate on collecting all the major types listed in Pridmore. I already have some of these in gem grade or higher:
1840 -  Queen Victoria Divided Legend (1 graded MS65) - I have a 66 but I think this is the most common 2 anna in gem grade I have encountered.
1840 -  Queen Victoria Cont. Legend - I have not seen one offered in gem grade since beginning of 2011 when I started  collecting these.
1862 -  Queen Victoria  (10 graded MS65 and 2 graded MS66)-These are out there. I just need to find one.
1874-1876  - Queen Victoria   (Only 1 graded by NGC as MS65 - its the 1847)- Yes these are hard too but i will be happy with a 64 too as long as it has good eye-appeal.
1877-1901 -  Empress Victoria  (14 graded MS65 and none above)- The above specimen. I think these are moderately tough in gem grade.
1903-1910  - Edward VII (35 graded MS65 and 4 graded as MS66)-these are pretty easy except certain dates. I have a 03-C & 04-C in 65. 1903-C has second lowest mintage after 1910-C. I am planning to collect all of these year wise as its a short series. The stopper is going to be 1909.
1911-1917 King George V  Round (9 graded MS65 and 3 MS66)- Again these are pretty easy except certain dates. I have a 1912-B in 65 (mintage -2.4 million lowest in  series). 1917 is the most common da5te for these in my opinion. 1911 is hard to find in Uncirculated grade but not very hard. I think this date is just hyped for the 2 annas just like the rupee.
1918-1936 King George V  Square - These should be easy to find in gem grade. I have a 1918 in 64. I am looking for a better specimen to come along.
1939-1947 King George VI  Square - There are a whole lot of these out there. I would like to find one dated 1939.

Thanks
Bhushan

[anand]

Nice breakdown of the periods and the grading availability. Since I am slightly against the idea of locking coins in the plastic boxes, I dont go for them as such.
From what i have seen so far I would agree with most the above. But i feel the 1874-1876 series much harder to get than the 1841 ones. I could be wrong.
And for the ones after 1918 onward are plenty available. I guess in these series there are some variations of KGVI first and second head and one of them hard to find.

Anand

[Harry]

Harry, I am going to first concentrate on collecting all the major types listed in Pridmore. I already have some of these in gem grade or higher:
1840 -  Queen Victoria Divided Legend (1 graded MS65) - I have a 66 but I think this is the most common 2 anna in gem grade I have encountered.
1840 -  Queen Victoria Cont. Legend - I have not seen one offered in gem grade since beginning of 2011 when I started  collecting these.
1862 -  Queen Victoria  (10 graded MS65 and 2 graded MS66)-These are out there. I just need to find one.
1874-1876  - Queen Victoria   (Only 1 graded by NGC as MS65 - its the 1847)- Yes these are hard too but i will be happy with a 64 too as long as it has good eye-appeal.
1877-1901 -  Empress Victoria  (14 graded MS65 and none above)- The above specimen. I think these are moderately tough in gem grade.
1903-1910  - Edward VII (35 graded MS65 and 4 graded as MS66)-these are pretty easy except certain dates. I have a 03-C & 04-C in 65. 1903-C has second lowest mintage after 1910-C. I am planning to collect all of these year wise as its a short series. The stopper is going to be 1909.
1911-1917 King George V  Round (9 graded MS65 and 3 MS66)- Again these are pretty easy except certain dates. I have a 1912-B in 65 (mintage -2.4 million lowest in  series). 1917 is the most common da5te for these in my opinion. 1911 is hard to find in Uncirculated grade but not very hard. I think this date is just hyped for the 2 annas just like the rupee.
1918-1936 King George V  Square - These should be easy to find in gem grade. I have a 1918 in 64. I am looking for a better specimen to come along.
1939-1947 King George VI  Square - There are a whole lot of these out there. I would like to find one dated 1939.

Bhushan - thanks for sharing you insight and experience. Its greatly appreciated! By the way, as pointed out by @josephjk, the 1911 2 Anna in MS64 (top pop) is currently available on cranko's ebay listing, the only snag is that its listed for $9,999.99! http://www.ebay.com/itm/INDIA-NGC-MS-64-1911-CALCUTTA-2-TWO-ANNAS-PIG-SILVER-COIN-/230820066293?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item35bdf2b3f5

From what i have seen so far I would agree with most the above. But i feel the 1874-1876 series much harder to get than the 1841 ones. I could be wrong.

Anand - yes you are correct, however, there are two different types of the 1841 2 Annas. The continuous legend and the divided legend. Relatively speaking the divided legend is the common one and continuous legend  not so common, I've not see a nice one in Ch BU or Gem.