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OK, we appear to have an issue here, so let's debate it. You appear to have a problem with Simon Willis - that's a specific issue between yourself and him. 'Dealers all deal between themselves'. - they do the world over. Every dealer has a list of customers and coins they require. They are hardly going to say I am not going to buy a coin for you that you want because it comes from another dealer! They usually have a good sense of underpriced coins, and also have to buy to offer a broad range of items when stock is short. i.e they have to buy coins, but other dealers are only a small section of the market place. 'set up price fixing between themselves'. Example? If a coin is common there is no way that the market can possibly be rigged. If it is rare or highly desirable, then the number available is unlikely to exceed one or two in any instance. The only instance I can think where there is some attempt to link coin pricing, is where the coins are slabbed, with a given number equating to a certain price. If people will buy coins unseen based on the slab number, that is a form of price fixing because (leaving aside the ability to resubmit to receive a higher grade), the grade is deemed to be set despite only forming one opinion amongst many. The same can not be said for raw grading whereby it is accepted that opinions differ and so the price for a given grade has more flexibility. If a coin comes from another dealer, then the selling price must inevitably be higher than the purchase price for the new owner to make a profit. 'shuffle customers like cattle'. Not sure where we are going here. I can't think of any dealers who consciously try to move their customers on to the next table. They certainly keep their list of customers to themselves, which is normal for any business. A dealer might tell a good customer where he can get a specific coin, but that is doing someone a favour on the back of past sales. 'lie on eBay'. Don't know as I haven't bought on there for well over a year. I haven't the patience to trawl through the more than 100K British coins listed. 'don't really have as much knowledge as they wish they had, but do they HAVE to be so nasty???' Again, a bit of evidence would help would help if you want to throw stones. We all wish we had more knowledge. Every area has someone who knows more than the next person. Judging by your post on my profile I assume you have included me in this section. For those who haven't looked it reads 'Gosh ain't you a fine example of the nasty arseholes I said populate this forum....negative nelly should be your name......you are certainly no expert in anything except bullshit'. If you would care to elucidate with specifics, I can make a reasoned response. If it was in relation to my reference to the NNC slabs. As 'Centisles' on eBay, he acquired a reputation on both sides of the pond for grading things much higher than anyone else. If it was with regard to the 1911 slabbed by a company neither of us have heard from, then the uplift in price from a PCGS or NGC 65 rating should be enough to cover the cost of slabbing. I also note you mentioned trolling on the MP thread. I made the not unreasonable assumption that you too were trolling. Your first 8 or 9 posts promised much, but then on Christmas Eve you managed to populate the entire first page (but no more) of the 'Free for All' forum topics in the space of a few minutes with replies, many comprising a few words with little in the way of punctuation or properly formed sentences. They hinted at sensible replies, but said nothing informative as there was no corroborative evidence or reasoned argument for the statement. A post asking for an Ansell sovereign is ok. You then listed 10 or 11 coins in the 'Items for sale'. For someone with less than 50 posts in total, nearly half of which were the mechanical replies made shortly before followed by listing items for sale, you were following a tried and tested method used by people trying to ingratiate themselves with a view to selling coins via something resembling a pyramid scheme. Overpriced silver slabs are the most popular product in this area. I think our friend Henry was the last person to try this on here. As I also mentioned, Chris is kind enough to provide this forum FOC. Whilst he has included a For Sale section, he is first and foremost a dealer and publisher, so we don't flood his website with adverts for our own wares. Certainly not with what is virtually an introductory message. Reasoned debate is always welcome here.

I mulled over the name 'coinbuyer555' for a while then mentioned him my wife....click... Some time ago he Neg Feedbacked her on Ebay over a clearly photographed coin that she was selling for me. The usual clearout. The fault on the coin he moaned about was clearly visible in the picture. He moaned, we raised our eyebrows, she offered him a refund three times- no reply, just a negative feedback. She was very upset and we blocked him. It was like he thought hope altered reality, and what he could see didn't really exist. We thought at the time that he was just one of those people who like to 'wield power', and be spiteful when given half a chance. I've got to the top of my business, and my advice to trainees is this: To raise yourself above others around you, you can go round knocking them down one at a time, a very laborious process, and you don't look good at the end or made any friends you may well need in the future, or, you stand on a chair. I chose the latter. You just keep your head down and work hard, and never stop learning, and keep all colleagues and rivals on-side and friendly. That works. Basically, if you want to be Somebody, go and become just that. Slowly. Pretending you are Somebody from the beginning and thinking you are some sort of God never ever works in the long term. B

Whoever he was he came across as a complete arse in the end. Very immature.

Hi All, Happy New Year. A quick update on this topic. I have today written a letter to the house owner, trying not to sound like a lunatic and to explain the story - giving just enough detail, (not to give away what and where), to hopefully generate enough interest for them to contact me. I'll wait to see if they do. If they do, I'll send photos of what is in the ground.

I think Coinbuyer555 (previously trading as Mike Dennington) may have left the room. But I would agree with you Neil, and comment that we have of course only had one side of the story. I would certainly not be rushing to any judgement here. Jerry

Am I missing something here? Whether it's an electrotype or not, it's being presented on eBay in such a way as to deceive in the same way as any counterfeit. Deserves reporting in my view and I have done so!

Couldn't agree more. 3 years ago or so, I had a call from a person who did house clearances asking if I bought scrap coins. Obviously the answer was yes, but the 135kg of scrap metal took a lot of sorting, to the point where I still have 30 or 40kg left. I found 7 coins that were worth as much as I paid, leaving me with the problem of what to do with the other 25000. The scrap man was rubbing his hands.

Not sure that it is an electrotype, Kal suggests that it is a replica from dies by a known modern replica workshop, certainly the work is stylistically very poor and the silver (?) surface looks suspicious to me. Not the genuine article anyway, if they were ever produced during the civil war, though it might be a genuine ‘Scarborough Siege Piece’ if they are all more recent fantasy pieces ?. Jerry

There was a post about that last week on here. It's an electrotype i think. They usually go for £100 or thereabouts . Some people probably think it's geniune that's why it's gotten so many bids i expect.

Rob and Kal have discussed this within the last couple of days ; another fake. Jerry

Happy New year. I,ve reported him as well. Worth a try. I will watch with interest to see if ebay do anything. ?

Hi Rob, I remember the discussion on the Scarborough issues and take this opportunity to thank you for forwarding the details and illustrations from the Hugh Howard and Lord Middleton sale catalogues. With regards to the "siege sixpence" it is familiar stylistically, being similar to the product of a firm named Worthspoint who made a wide range of imitations of Scarborough siege pieces a few years ago. The value punches are obviously wrong and the main device showing the castle entrance and the keep's stone work, lack accuracy when compared to the 'accepted pieces'. A paper I am writing on the plate money assigned to Scarborough siege coins is nearing completion and hopefully the discussion will continue.

Forgot I had this lying around I wasn't aware it was a rare coin. well if I done my homework correctly. British India Bengal Presidency 1795 Copper pice. NGC list 4 types all rare. With mint state @ $2200. Whoda thunk eh

I don't think the coin business is all that different to any other. Over 30 years experience as an auditor taught me that 99% of businesses are above board and try to do the right thing by their customers. Unfortunately, the 1% (in fact, usually a lot less than 1%) tend to get an inordinate amount of publicity, give all the good businesses a bad name and leave a public impression that there is a generalised problem. I make regular acquisitions of coins. I have auction houses that I trust and know how I wish to deal with and I have dealers that I trust and who have never let me down (including Rob from whom I have made several acquisitions). My disappointments have come mainly from one auction house and because of my own mistakes. I still buy from that auction house and I have worked out how to manage my risk there and I am working diligently on not making mistakes going forward.

Having just seen the Bill Bailey link, I'm compelled to share this:

Brilliant