There's a £100,000 coin buried under this London building
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- Published on Jan 16, 2022
- The 1933 British penny is one of the most famous coins in the world. I'm not saying this is definitely a heist movie waiting to happen... but I do think someone should write it. ■ Thanks to the team at Baldwin's, and the penny's owner, for letting me film it! www.baldwin.co.uk/
I'm at tomscott.com
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For once, I didn't convert the title of the video to US dollars. It didn't seem right somehow.
a far more expensive one is a 1792-year old penny. there are only 10 left in the globe.
So what's the plan chief? let us know when ever you are planning the heist 😃
now americans probably think there a really heavy coin buried somewhere in london
No, but you did say 'One pence', which is incorrect. It is simply 'One penny.'
How am I supposed to know how many dollar meals I can get with the given amount?
Not only does this indeed need to be a film, but halfway through Tom needs to do a cameo where he's pretending to shoot this very video, the publication of which kickstarting suspicion towards the already active team working their way into the foundations, putting an extra time-sensitive element of suspense into the script.
100k is almost nothing compared to the cost the heist would have
Ok, can we get a Kickstarter on this?
whoa
You're a genius
+
I think that is material for *two different* Heist movies:
1. A proper heist movie that plays it straight, presumably with the thieves getting away with it by the skin of their teeth.
2. A heist comedy that goes a bit *too* smoothly at the beginning, just for someone to accidentally give it as change to someone, and through shenanigans it occurs that the group of thieves then consistently *just misses* the coin as they bumble the way through from location to location, until they finally retrieve it, just for it to turn out that historians or a news report or something got the year wrong and the coin they hunted for the duration of the movie was almost worthless, so they give it away to some homeless guy, and the next day it turns out that that *specific coin* was a misprint that made it worth *billions*, and the previously poor sod cashed it in immediately.
The title of the film “In for a Penny..,”
yes please
ah you ruined it with spoilers!!!
second one would be better if they were trying to steal something else, and just found the coin by coincidence
@Simon Jones Another option. My dad had a bunch of 1960s era half pennies and my mom used to use them as shopping cart tokens as they are almost the same size as a Canadian Loonie. Wouldn't work in a more sophisticated devices, but old vending machines, capsule toy dispensers, arcade machines and parking meters could be fooled by the "slug" as well.
I like how Tom Scott doesn’t make videos needlessly long. Just enough time to properly cover the subject, no fluff.
Yes, I like his short videos, in this 'fast world' we live in.
And just enough time to properly case the joint :P
He’s one of the very few on TheXvid that doesn’t add fluff, has quality, and has a good output of videos.
I inherited a set of English coins from my grandfather. I never knew why there wasn't a 1933 penny and now I do!
@Account will be deleted on September 11th should have deleted the account
Fun fact, we have our own rare, expensive penny in the US.
In 1943, the US needed to conserve copper use for the war effort, so the pennies minted that year, normally in copper, were instead minted in steel.
The steel ones aren't common, by any means, it's only one year.
But for the briefest period in 43, they still used copper. Google says there are 40 known real 43 copper pennies in existence.
If you can find a real one (counterfeits are common, unsurprisingly), it usually sells for 100,000 to 250,000 dollars.
The 1933 Double Eagle is a bit more rare because only 2 are known to exist and quite expensive at 18.9 million dollars but still, nice coin
So that’s why it’s in my grandpas coin collection
The tricky part, I think, is figuring out a plan that isn't more expensive than the value of the coins.
@Quill Maurer don't think the one at the church was nearly as complex to dig
Trip to B&Q for a shovel and pick axe, maybe a hard hat and hi-vis. 60 quid? Then just go at it! Nobody questions someone in a hi-vis.
@Queueue_ Why go through all that trouble to steal it when you could invest the same time and potentially equipment to steal something that's way more valuable?
I feel like it would be kinda cool to see a heist movie where they're stealing something that isn't all that valuable and they have to figure out how to do it in a way that's profitable.
or the value of your freedom if things go wrong
feels like we're searching for Horcruxes; Harry counted them back in his head, "Three are held privately, two are in museums, one I think is under this church..."
Lmao
Grow up
factual and straight to the point
You must be new here.. Tom is a master of making things /exactly/ as long as they need to be.
That brought back memories of my childhood in the 50s. I tried for many years to get one penny from each year - not knowing it was impossible! Younger viewers probably look at this coin and think it's something like the modern 'penny' - wrong, it was HUGE! In the days when I got 6d pocket money and Mars Bars were 4d, you often used to have quite a few of these in your pockets - but not for long, the lining couldn't take the weight!
On the subject of conversion to US money, my sister had an American pen pal just about the time of decimalisation, so I remember that just before the new pennies came in, the old ones were worth exactly a cent (so £1 was worth $2.4). Nothing like these days of near parity... Mind you, when I was a kid a half-crown (2/6 - 12.5p) was also known as 'half a dollar', so I'd guess that the £ had been worth even more 20 years or so earlier.
Thats like finding a needle in a hay stack! The part with the needle stays quite unchanged, small metal object, the part with the hay gets *a little bit more complicated*
@Account will be deleted on September 11th There's no joke in there. It's not supposed to be one. If you don't have the exact location finding the penny under the building is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
A related story: Workers digging a drain in St Leonard's Place in York discovered 10,000 9th-century Northumbrian coins.
Thanks Tom! I'm already hard at work sourcing original blueprints and meticulously planning out my heist route in methodical detail, thanks for the suggestion, this is going to be great fun
I mean eaiser thing to do, steal one of the other five coins in poseesion of a human at this point and claim you found it under the building. What are they gonna do to prove you wrong, go dig up the other coin?
I love you and your vids Tom. Always get hella excited when I see that you’ve put one up. Cheers for being so consistent with your vids, genuinely pleases me.
Let’s just all take a moment to appreciate how much effort goes into these videos.👍🤯
I love how the last 30-40 seconds of this just felt like more and more incriminating evidence
Nice pfp
*flies away making whale noises 🤘
GOJIRA
gojria
Yes, I was thinking 'Tom, stop digging' and then I thought 'No, really Tom, Stop Digging!'
Interesting fact, in Australia one of the most short after coins is also a penny the 1930 penny and also holds/held the record for the most valuable copper coin in the world since their is estimated to only be 1600 that existed sadly my 1925 which is another valuable coin will never be part of a completed set due to the rarity of the 1930.
Tom I really appreciate your continued effort to promote captions on videos as standard by walking the walk and including them on all your content. As someone who needs them it feels so good to be seen and not have to worry if I'm getting the whole message
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I wonder if they've ever found or noticed small stuff like this when digging all the tunnels and underground conduits or basements in the UK... granted most likely London but I do wonder if it had happened anywhere else
Happens all the time actually especially around stuff that used to be where the Romans set up shop. Construction companies have archeologists in their contacts lists for that very reason
That's really cool. Coin Collectors always love to own them!
The transitions between the different buildings were too smooth
@Elijah Mckenzie as an American it's always a little funny when British people consider a 5 hour drive to be a "bit of a faff, really." I sometimes forget how enormous America is.
Tom Scott always surprises with new ways to add coolness to his videos.
I don't get what makes it special
Tom can just do that, actually
Keyframing and positioning setting on Adobe After Effects
Note to self : check date on penny when finding one before leaving it where it is if not from 1933
Also, Tom, is that your way of telling us you stole a £100,000 penny ?
Thanks Tom, keep bringing out the content, loved that one. Cheers
Thanks for all the amazing work you put into your videos, It really makes my day better💙
I'm a coin collector and I own three of these pennies with the same design. They are not from 1933 however ! I've got a 1913, 1920, and 1921. Got really excited when I saw the thumbnail 😅
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If you’re going to make a heist film, Senate House is the perfect filming location since it’s already a major filming location. It’s featured in Batman Begins and Dark Knight Rises and most recently in the latest James Bond. TV shows like The Crown have also used it.
When you know the building very well (I studied there) it’s very fun to see its corridors and halls pop up in random films and major productions.
I'm studying at Durham, at Castle! It's right next to the cathedral too, so there are a lot of tourists. The cathedral has appeared in Harry Potter, and is where I had my matriculation. Fairly recently the castle appeared in an anime of all things.
@Ozymandias In the novel too
Also in the BBC miniseries Day of the Triffids from 1981.
@InShortSight :3 Omg that was my idea too! Weird!
Wow it's like if Fort Knox was on that one highway in california thats in every other movie. Why hasnt a movie been made about this lmao
Just commenting my appreciation for those wipe transitions while walking, starting at 1:50. Amazingly well planned and executed!!
Tom, I'd really like to know how many fan mail you get related to this video.
I get that you don't exactly want to encourage your followers to send you fan mail, but I imagine that this one will have some interesting pieces.
Looking forward to “Why fencing stolen goods is harder than it looks in the movies”
All you’re doing is just walking in front of these locations, and yet, with those clean transitions and on-location shoots, makes your videos worth watching more than others covering the same topics.
Tom Scott "For Legal Reasons, That's a Joke"
How dare you sum a person up in 6 words so accurately
@Happy Eevee PewDiePie
@Happy Eevee
"For legal reasons, that's a joke
For legal reasons, that's a joke
For serious, Indian mafia, please don't kill me, that's a joke"
@Happy Eevee Yes
im currently taking a writing class where we will be writing some short stories, and after seeing this now i plan to (hopefully) write about a heist for this coin. Thanks Tom!
"It was tradition for the king to bury a full set of new coins from that year in the foundations of new and important buildings"
Thanks, I needed that reminder that monarchies and traditions are dumb*.
*Obviously not everything that people do that is a tradition is dumb, but the reason to do something should be that there's a benefit, not just because it's a tradition.
The benefit here is the social glue and promotion of social unity through that. A group of people with shared rituals and traditions are more cohesive in general.
Great, now I have to go through my Mum's old coin collection to find out if there's a 1933 penny. Thanks a lot Tom!
Interesting video as always, Tom. And well done on those transitions! They were almost too good!
i was lowkey expecting Tom to enter the building and perform the heist while calmly describing the steps to the camera
Why has spell-check come up with a word that doesn't exist as a suggestion for 'actually'.
@Freddie Rhodes "Now, usually if you were to use these kinds of power tools inside a building the noise would draw a lot of attention. But... remember what I said about construction work being done around here right now?"
"As you can see, they have several security measures in place. However, this type of card reader can be foiled with this aluminium foil, a credit card and a hammer"
parity... Mind you, when I was a kid a half-crown (2/6 - 12.5p) was also known as 'half a dollar', so I'd guess that the £ had been worth even more 20 years or so earlier.
A worm probably slid across that coin and was like “Dang, this isn’t dirt”
Tom always finds the most unheard of, but interesting topics to talk about right
Obscure and interesting facts delivered in an intreating way, You've done it again Tom!
Tom always finds the most unheard of, but interesting topics to talk about
The Endcard is a hint from Tom.
It clearly is burried somewhere beneath the South Block!
Thank you Tom, I will mention you on my trial!
@Dave Land Perhaps not - clearly, one of the bookshelves inside there must be on a swivel. And you'd have to close exactly one of them to access some kind of staircase.
My research indicates that “Senate House South Block” is an anagram for "Sleuth shut one bookcase," which is utterly unhelpful.
you are unequivocally accurate
@mchanna there might be some artistic licence there....a smidgin perhaps...or maybe a big dollop
@slicedpage are you sure about that?
George Clooney: “alright team this is the heist. There’s a penny buried under a building in London. We’re gonna get.”
Team member: “what’s it worth? (Chuckling to another team mate) A billion dollars?”
George: “Two hundred thousand dollars!”
To be fair, it seems to me that the specialised equipment and manpower needed to heist a coin from the foundations of an in-use building, even if you knew exactly where to look, would be high enough that the £150k value of the coin wouldn't be worth it. Especially when you add in costs of moving it on and splitting the money between the people involved.
Well, one WAS stolen from the foundation of a church. And another one was retrieved from the foundations of another church.
So I guess it all just depends on WHERE exactly the coins are buried.
Can I just say that my favourite moments from this video were all the excellent side-swiping match cuts? Seriously, you almost can't tell the difference between Tom's face from one to the next!
That would actually make for a really good heist movie I think, far more interesting than some elaborate safe cracking for a piece of old gold.
Imagine planning a "heist", digging up the 1933 coin set under Senate House, getting away with the whole thing...
then discovering that for some reason the penny is missing, leaving the incomplete set worth a fraction of its potential value.
What would you do next? How would you placate your financiers? That could make for a fun movie.
Didn't know that, thanks Tom! Now, there weren't any 1d coins minted in 1957 either so are there exceptions in this year too?
"Guys, the thermal drill, go get it"
A reference to Payday 2, one of the most iconic bank-robbing games out there
Perfect hiding in plain sight approach to diverting suspicion away from Tom's planned theft...
As a metal detecting and coin collection channel primarily, I clicked this video right away!
The rarest coin I own is is an American 1873 doubled liberty indian head cent worth about $2,000.
The rarest coin I found with my metal detector in 10 years is a 1921 Standing liberty quarter worth about $180.
A £100,000 coin would be a dream find!
I have the exact same coin but the date is 1914 not 1933. It`s a bit damaged. How much does it worth?
I can hear your excitement just talking about it! Keep loving what you do, and don't pay any mind to the snarky commenters who think they're too cool to actually enjoy anything.
@Al Rib YOU do not care.
I have a bag of old coins from the 1900s I know nothing about their value.
Indeed 100k worth of coin would be great to find. Though it would hardly finance an Ocean 11 style operation. Or, for that matter, an Ocean 11 style movie. Stakes seem to be much higher nowadays for to justify that kind of effort/risk endeavour.
The rarest coin I have is a proof penny from the last 10 years. I found it in my pocket change one day.
Worth about $5.
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"How do I make this sound not sarcastic?"
Tom, we're British. We can't.
Stories like these make my coin collection look like a child with a fist full of buttons 😂
1:51 and 2:06 - Respect for getting TWO perfect transitions between selfie-shots with you in the EXACT same position!
Being from Middleton, I found it very hard to believe there was anything of value buried here.
"I'm not saying you should steal this, I'm just saying where it is, that it is highly valuable and just sitting there"
That area in London looked so familiar. Senate House. I spent an amazing year studying around that area. Thanks for showing it.
"How do I make that not sound sarcastic"
That's gonna be a tough challenge for a British guy :D
If somebody really did make a heist film about this subject they need to get Tom Scott to at minimum cameo in it.
maybe even feature the exact video as inspiratio n for the thieves? :0
What better way to use his new skill at jumping through windows?
I'd love to make something like this into a film, shame I can't write scripts and don't have the millions neccessary to film it.
As a filmmaker myself, that does sound fascinating!!
I love your videos - very little fluff, no unnecessary intros or greetings. You did your research, you have the facts, you're at the place. Begin - teach - get the hell out. You're a king!
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OMG the walking transitions are so good! Your walking pace, the vocal delivery... very nicely done. So seamless that many viewers probably won't even notice you did that. But I did. Kudos. That was very entertaining! And the topic of the video was good too. :)
This came out of a conversation at the stamp dealership from a few weeks ago! It turns out the 1933 penny is also commonly forged: people take a 1935 penny and try to reshape the 5s into 3s. That was a whole other thread that didn't fit into this video, alas!
This is amazing, I had no idea! And those transitions were so cool…
I’ve just looked in my father-in-law’s old coin box. We’ve got a half penny from 1933 not a full Penny. Is the half penny worth anything?
I always see your video, am delighted, decide to put it on watch later list, realize it's very short and watch it right away. Thank you Tom.
Nice work there, Tom. Even matching the transitions from ocean's eleven. well frikkin' done
You could carefully dig around under the foundation, fill and compress the areas where you have been and use a multitude of metal detectors and ground sonars to pinpoint possible locations
If it was tradition to bury coins how far back did/does the tradition go? I'm a coin collector and the idea of all sorts of interesting coins buried under buildings around the UK is fascinating.
Gotta be one of my top rated information/learning youtubers.
I allways learn something new and interesting and the videos allways keep me focused. Good job 👏 👍
Great work on the nice transitions between locations, excellent filmmaking.
One of the rarest and most valuable American coins, the 1933 double eagle (one just sold for $19 million), is from the same year.
Americans paid what? HAHAHAHA!
@MadRish that's where you gotta double down
@This Guy Even better
@James Bond There could have been a difference. US cars, for example, come out the year before their model designation (e.g. a 1958 car comes out in 1957). A UK car with a model year is usually part way through the same year due to historic August registrations and current March and September ones. To those that do not have knowledge of the minting process, coins could have been the same.
Thank you for telling me that the 1933 penny and the 1933 double eagle were both from the same year. I wouldn't have been able to figure it out otherwise.
What strange values some people have, the difference of one digit makes a coin worth immensely much more than millions of near identical pieces. The same with artworks, an original by a revered artist is prized way beyond the very best copy.
I remember as a kid, I used to search boot-fayre stalls for 1933 pennies. I often wonder how many hours I spent on it. It was good brain training though for other forms of collecting and being patient in general.
i imagine it would cost significantly more than a few million to recover it safely
If we get enough people on it, I think somebody is going to find it... Great video Tom!
If a person did find such a coin in their grandparents coin collection, how would that be handled. If you knew they never bought it, and it could be assumed that they were the ones who stole it, would you be obligated to return it, would it be taken away, or would it essentially be yours at that point?
@Omniferous Swan Youi would make an excellent buyer were I trying to fence my highly distinctive stolen merchandise.
"The surest way to stay poor is to be honest".
As no one is sure how many were made and no full records exist as to the location of them all, if you found one, handling stolen property would be difficult to prove. Theft also could not be proven absolutely.
There were 3 1933 proof pennies minted to go in proof sets, 7 normal pennies that would have been the type that went into circulation, In addition to the seven known 1933 British penny examples, and of even greater rarity and value, is a 1933 pattern penny, engraved for the Royal Mint by French artist Andre Lavillier. Only four of the 1933 pattern pennies are known to exist. The pattern differs from the “regular” 1933 penny in a few details, including a different set of designer’s initials
"How do I make it not sound sarcastic" That's 100% me when I try to compliment somebody
You know what they say "in for a rare 1933 20 foot underground penny in for a pound"
Hey Tom, can we make up a plan to get this coin? Definitely would love to work together. Getting this coin just by own, seems a bit too much work.
I can't wait to see a film with
"Consulting Director - Tom Scott" in the credits!
A small part of me was hoping for a massive meter+-sized 100,000£ coin
"The Triganic Pu is a unit of galactic currency, with an exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu. This is simple enough, but, since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own one Pu. Ningis are not negotiable currency, because the Galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change."
It wouldn't actually be that big, the one tonne kangaroo coin produced by the Perth Mint is only 80cm in diameter, and it has a value of over $50 million. The Royal Canadian Mint has also made a 100 kilo gold coin that people could actually buy rather than being a one off, and one of them was stolen from a gallery in Germany and melted down for its millions of dollars in bullion value.
@jan Melantu Although moving onto notes rather than coins, there are £100m notes for transfers between banks.
The British version of the Trillion Dollar Coin
I KNOW!!!!!!!
ME TOO
Tom always finds the most unheard of, but interesting topics to talk about
of circulation, pre-decimalisation coin, it only has value to those that know its history. Still, after Oceans, i reckon Eddie Izzard could get rid of it for us!
Not only does this indeed need to be a film, but halfway through Tom needs to do a cameo where he's pretending to shoot this very video, the publication of which kickstarting suspicion towards the already active team working their way into the foundations, putting an extra time-sensitive element of suspense into the script. 😊
You are talking about the construction work that Tom said was gong on RIGHT NOW, right?
In the real world, the planning and implementation of a plan to steal the coin would cost more than the coin is worth.
The one thing that gets me when pondering the original Italian Job, how much would that setup have cost IRL, all to steal $4'000'000? :)
I finally watched Ocean's Eleven since everyone goes on about it and I absolutely hated it. I turned it off when I heard someone bastardising a 'British' accent
Another excellent video Tom. Loved the cuts
That ending made me remember some guy who found a hole in the white house security perimeter where you could set up a mortar with the right range to hit the white house and was jokingly giving away the details. I wanna look it up but I'm obviously going to get on some list.
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i love your videos. i appreciate the time and effort you put in
I just love how your videos have titles that look clickbaity but are actually 100% truthful.
I have a one penny that was made in 1920, and a 3 pence from 1942.
HOW COOL !
Imagine everyone storming that one exact building together after watching this video.
@Pablo Alberto Chavez Miranda I could see this being a fun and frantic slapstick comedy! Bring in an ensemble cast and go nuts.
Imagine a heist movie where the are no real protagonist, because in the middle of the movie they being caught for trying to steal the coin, or being caught in another place, when there are another group trying to dig the coin, when in reality the coin is being dug up by another group in other place at the same time, while they end up fighting with another group who was trying to dug up the coin.
heist after heist, in a heistception.
this is America
"I've seen this one, it's a classic!"
STORM AREA 41
"How do I make it sound not sarcastic" you can't, Tom. Your only option now is to assemble a crew and retrieve the penny.
Tom, I enjoyed the transition between scenes. Well done!
The problem with having a unique item like that is that you need a buyer lined up immediately, otherwise it's still worthless. To be fair, to Joe Bloggs on the street, it's just an out of circulation, pre-decimalisation coin, it only has value to those that know its history.
Still, after Oceans, i reckon Eddie Izzard could get rid of it for us!
That coin would sell for half $1 million if it went up for auction today. It’s interesting to find out how they buried them if they were encased they put them in a velvet presentation case or they just threw them in the dirt maybe in which case it would be worth a lot less.
Fascinating story.
Despite your best efforts, Tom, I am determined to interpret this video as recruiting for a heist you intend to pull and would like to join the team.
Brilliant, making a video on your TheXvid channel so that when you steal it, you can just say "You know the internet, they'll do something even if you tell them not to"
Well, it would technically be very difficult to pull off..... Do we know of someone who does technically difficult things?
I feel sorry for Tom having to walk round Middleton, proper rough
Tom: "Don't do it. You'll never succeed."
Internet: "Challenge accepted."
If you don’t know where it is, you might just as well do more damage to the building than the penny is worth. If you DO know on the other hand...
P.S.: if the building ever gets sold, they will surely add the value of the coin to the price of the building / plot of land ;-)