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I have to admit that the "take 4 months to pay " option at Heritage Auctions is brilliant. It means I can bid on a coin and then sell coin at another auction house to help pay for it. Only problem is there are very few really interesting (hammered) english coins sold at heritage. Wish some of the english auction houses had payment terms...

So if this is a test .. .. did we all pass?

Yes, yes yes! I should have known you'd all crash in here. Suggestions noted.

Mary had a little lamb She tied it to a pylon 10,000 volts shot up its a*^e And turned its wool to nylon.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300793859565?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331114601864?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648 more french

I emailed 3 days ago asking for photos but haven't even had a reply, so I phoned and very much got the impression that viewing in person is the only option. I'd offer to look at the farthings for you, but my knowledge in that area is somewhat limited. If you want a photo of a particular coin I'll do my best with a camera when I'm there.

LOL I think I'll pass on the 5ps for now thanks! It's not just French though, that's just where I started! It's Marianne. Or rather a female figure wearing (or carrying) a Phrygian cap. She's "an icon of freedom and democracy against all forms of dictatorship." Marianne typically symbolised Liberty, Reason, the Nation, the Homeland, the civic virtues of the Republic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne As such she's not just confined to French coins. She also appears on some Portuguese ones, as well as colonies such as New Caledonia, Polynesia. Plus there were many nations inspired by revolutionary fervour, so as well as the Argentinian Dos Centavos I bought there are ones from Chile and other Central American countries. The cap alone appears on Mexican coins. And of course, Marianne, as Liberty features on quite a few American coins. Depending on what I think of my purchases when they arrive I have my eyes on this: Or how about this? And I've been looking at US 'capped bust' cents too. I haven't decided whether to restrict myself to Marianne/Liberty. There are coins with a similar figure but on study she turns out to be Ceres or The Republic. And some coins have just the 'Liberty cap' .. I'm less inclined to include those, but ... Yes, I know it's no different from collecting coins with cats on or octagonal ones (do many of those exist?) but it has long been on my mind to find a cheap sideline collecting theme and suddenly this one occurred to me. I must be feeling rebellious in my old age or something! Vive la révolution! .

Perhaps a setting somewhere, I'll have a butchers.