[LEAPSECS] Leap smear and Big Ben - clock's penny's replaced - plot thickens

[mike cook]

Le 02/10/2011 08:31, mike cook a écrit :

> Le 02/10/2011 07:57, mike cook a écrit :

>>   The clock was made in 1854, though not installed and started in the 

>> tower until 1859. In those days the penny was 18,8 grams, twice that 

>> of the 1860 and latter pennies.

>> So I wonder which ones are currently in use? If the penny story is 

>> true I would have thought that pennys available at the time of 

>> testing and installation would still be there. The halfpenny of the 

>> 1825-1860 period was 9,3 grammes, so maybe the original weights were 

>> halfpenny's and later swapped with 9.4g penny's.

>>

> Just located an article from Reuters dated November 2009,

>

>

>   150-year old pennies removed from London's Big Ben

>

> ...

> Three of the 10 coins have now been replaced with a 5 pound crown -- 

> produced as part of the Royal Mint's collection to celebrate the 

> London 2012 Olympics -- which features Big Ben's clock face.

>

> But McCann will keep hold of the old pennies in case they need to be 

> returned to the pendulum at a future date."

>

>

>  So if Reuters can be believed, the penny's date from the time that 

> the clock was installed and are thus the 18,8g issue.

Further research shows that maybe Reuters ware wrong about the age of 
the pennies:


   I checked the weight of the £5 crown commemorative coin. There were 2 
versions issued in 2009. One in gold with a weight of 39.94 grammes and 
another in silver  with a weight of 28,28grammes.

  As the Reuters report states that three coins being changed , and 
assuming that there was a relation between the weight of those removed 
with the crown which was added,  the best fit is that the penny's were 
the 9.4g coins  issue between 1860-1971
(3 x 9,4g = 28,2g).

  From that, it look like Reuters were not correct about the coins 
age...   I know this will keep me awake, so I will try and contact Mike 
McCann who is the clock keeper.



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