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Is it being sold as that if not and cheap brian worth a gamble.

New dies it is. Not helped by the dotted e!

This is mine. Purchased from a forum member over 3 years ago for £275, and graded by the seller and by CGS as NVF Prices haven't moved much for this grade, so I suggest £300-£350 for VF? Do run it by the forum if you find one that takes your fancy (there's plenty about )

New dies? Possibly

There are still plenty of choice coins available, just too many collectors to spread them around. They do however represent a very small percentage of the total available. It would be good for the hobby to see an increase in the number of people doing genuine research in any area as this would increase the demand for lesser pieces. It has to be born in mind that many varieties are only available in low grade. Museums have acquired a considerable number of rare/choice coins in the past half century. NMW, BM, Exeter, Taunton etc, the list is endless. Additionally there is a small but not insignificant list of coins that are unobtainable elsewhere, unless someone digs up another example. Recently rendered unobtainable is a Petherton coin, discussed a couple weeks ago, where the ex-Lockett coin was the last one available. It is no longer possible to acquire a complete run of PAXS penny mints as the last one in circulation went to Guildford Museum. I spent a couple years looking for an Exeter crown until I found it was bought by the museum in the Willis sale in 1992. Edward Besly has procured a good number of Civil War pieces for the NMW too. All the Horndons are in museums AFAIK and then there are the unique pennies of Hywel Dda and Pershore in the BM. The insistence on keeping hoards intact is also not very helpful to collectors. Once they enter a musem then they frequently become available to the public in theory only as many museums don't have a curator - so they languish. This is a double edged sword though as the Frome hoard of 52000 Roman coins would undoubtably have flooded the market for example.

Shame to didn't bid but it's going to a good home, I think £50 is about right for that grade. Lost a lot on the 1902 crown.

Demand has certainly increased dramatically. The choice pieces have always been few in number - a fraction of a percent, and they have always been able to find a home. Over the years a good number of these have found their way into museum collections, either as bequests or as direct purchases. Museums were particularly active in the second half of the last century, though funds are somewhat restricted today. Bequests such as those of Weightman and Clarke-Thornhill ensured that the BM had a significant increase in the collection, with the latter allowing them to take any coin for which they previously did not have an example of the die. Thousands went to them as a result. Similarly the Fitzwilliam benefited from the Henderson bequest (1933) - an act which eliminated a LOT of high grade material from the collector scene as he only collected choice pieces. Blackburn Museum's collection was essentially donated by Hart in 1945. Again, a significant number of rarities were removed from circulation. In the past, dealers such as Baldwins would have bought the book, i.e. any unsolds would have been acquired by them at reserve (if any) or at bargain prices. This was ok as it meant that they could build up stocks and keep a glut from saturating the market. The extent to which this happened was clear when Baldwins were taken over and the basement cleared. Many rarities which had been off the market for maybe 70 or 80 years suddenly became available again. However, since WW2, this cushion has fallen by the wayside as more people had disposable income and populations increased, providing a broader collector base meaning that demand for lesser pieces increased. Today the collector base is much broader and those with deep pockets far more numerous than in the past. All of this creates a perfect storm leading to rocketing prices.

As you know the prices of coins are determined by the equilibrium of supply and demand ... The supply is more or less the same in the years while the demand , especially with the invention of internet, is increased a lot . So I think in addition to inflation what has determined the increase of prices is that in the past only few people could have the possibility to have a coin collection.