1942 Bombay Halfpenny with long reverse denticles

Take a close look at the halfpenny above. Notice anything different? For the uninitiated, this is the very scarce large reverse denticle variety of the 1942-I halfpenny. Although I have seen perhaps a dozen or so low-grade examples in halfpenny albums across Sydney, I have only seen three in Mint State—that’s over the last five years since I started trading. One coin (graded MS63BN by PCGS) resides in the collection of an avid Sydney varieties collector and will not come to market until a better example comes along (which could be a long time). The second coin is in the window of a Sydney dealer, and is graded MS62RB with NGC. The coin photographed above is the third example I have seen and grades PCGS MS62BN—not too shabby for such a difficult variety. The Ian McConnelly handbook of pre-decimal varieties describes this type as “RARE”, and I agree. Like the 1931 dropped 1 Indian obverse die penny I listed last week, this is one of those “must have” varieties for any serious variety collector.