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.A 1966 Australian 50c coin struck in .800 silver dia. 31.3 mm weight 14gm. about the same size and weight as a half crown. They were only issued for one year 1966 and then replaced by a Cu Ni version as illustrated. I suppose this coin gives an idea how an ER II half crown would have looked like if it had been struck in silver. 50 C was 5/- in the old money.

Hello fellow strange man. This date floats my boat too.

I think the left's reaction to the Thatcher years was a whinge in the realisation that the cozy life in the union-run country of the 1970s was disappearing in a puff of smoke. People complain about Thatcher in the 80s, but what about the 70s where a walkout was determined by a show of hands. The example where Derek Robinson shut Longbridge with a clearly small minority favouring a strike - yet the vote was deemed to be passed, that and similar actions set the seeds of Thatcherism because it was clear the country was in danger of being run by the unions. From my own experience, I was given a warning for working too hard when at the post office after graduation. I was told in no uncertain terms that it took 10 minutes to load this van, 20 for that, 45 for another. And the funereal pace of the mail bag folding area would have embarrassed even the most lethargic, with a rate of 2 per minute, the bags neatly folded with such perfection that it would have put many a laundry to shame. They could have relieved the boredom by doing a bag every 15 seconds, but that was the agreed rate. Only available to permanent staff, the list of people putting their name down for this jolly was lengthy. That was my life in the 70s, and I didn't like it either. It is the difference in view of work ethics that explains this country's lack of productivity when compared with other developed nations. Ultimately, nothing happens in isolation.

Got a nice 1862 F39A last week. Fantastic condition but cleaned - pity but it was cheap.