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In Erdington, I am never sure whether to straddle the middle of the two lanes or veer from one to the other.

Talking about Vimto, I loved that with fish, chips & mushy peas from the local chippie, when I was a kid. I remember back then (about 7 or 8), I never used to eat the batter, but every last chip would be savoured, accompanied by salt and vinegar, and the aforesaid vimto (extra nice if the guy at the shop had only just taken it out of the fridge) - that was a fantastic Friday night treat for me and my sister, that Mum would get. Although I don't think my sister enjoyed it as much as I did. In fact I sometimes finished her's off as she often left most of them. It's a wonder I never put on any weight, the amount I consumed. Two more memories from childhood, one very painful, the other great. On one occasion a friend and myself had wandered off quite a long way from home, and were in some woods at the back of the estate. There was an old dead tree in there, with a hollowed out branch, which he stuck a large twig down. A few seconds later a swarm of wasps flew out and repeatedly stung us. I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life. I was throbbing in different places for hours afterwards. My friend actually got taken to hospital with anaphylactic shock. The great memory was in an amusement arcade in Southend, trying to work one of those grabber machines that always let go of the prize before you could drop it down the hole. I'd tried it a few times before a guy wandered across, and literally just lifted out the glass panel from the wooden surround, saying, "take what you want Son, we're getting rid of this machine today". Couldn't take it all as I didn't have a bag with me, but stuffed a load into my pocket. To be honest it was all worthless crap, but it gave me a thrill on the day. I also remember the great storm of October 1987, seeing things flying down the street outside, and the general racket of the wind, falling masonry and objects banging as they collided with walls. Scary, for sure, but also absolutely fascinating.

Oh my God yes...PG tips cards - a obsession of mine. Still got the lot somewhere... And - Schweppes ginger beer in those curious brown bottles that blew your head off when you were eight. On Tenby beach with a bottle of that in my hand - didn't get much better than that! Mind you, my sister and I still find Vimto and a packet of Quavers an excellent combination.

This was a real sign outside a Liverpool optician's: "Right, can you make out any letters on the bottom line?" "No, but I can spell out the letters that have been stolen..."

In the Seventies I had to take a friend to hospital in West Wales- and there were two signs by a low doorway that said " Psychiatry Department" and "Please mind your head" My friend Simon almost got expelled for removing a letter from every Fire Alarm sign in his school so they read: "In case of fire, contact a ember of staff"

This is the name of a residential street in Rowley Regis, West Midlands - Bell End

Should be "Sacred" of course. But then, who wouldn't be scared if you are having a heart operation?

Ancient Coins British museum catalogue - www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_research_catalogues/rrc/roman_republican_coins.aspx Ancient Coins - www.classicalcoins.com/ Reference and attribution - www.wildwinds.com/coins/index.html Auctions Archived Colin Cooke Auctions - www.colincooke.com/collections/collections.html NGC Fake slabs – www.china-mint.info/forum/index.php?topic=6858.0 Recent auction information - www.coinarchives.com Coin Dealers Coin dealers - www.bnta.net/ Coin dealers - www.numis.co.uk/ Coin Detecting Coin detecting - www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/index.php?cat=1 Coin detecting facebook group - www.facebook.com/groups/299262453423111/ Ebay Snipe website - www.goofbay.com/free_ebay_sniper.html Guide to buying coins - www.coinsgb.com/Buying_Coins_On_Ebay.html Guide to selling - www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/selling-on-ebay Error Coins Error types - www.coinsgb.com/Error_Coins/Error_coins.html Error types (comprehensive) - www.error-ref.com/ Foreign Coins Portuguese coins – www.moedasorg.planetaclix.pt/catalogo/catindex.htm Best known French examples 1795 to 2001 - www.collection-ideale-cgb.net/sommaire.php CCB French values - www.lefranc.net/index.php US Coin values - www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/US-coin-values.html# Identification by Country - www.gcoins.net/en/catalog Identification by Country - www.coindatabase.com/coin_libras_sort_denomination.php Euro Catalogue - www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/upload/Eurocirculante%20FEB14.pdf Chinese Brass cash coins - www.calgarycoin.com/reference/china/china8.htm#hsien Mexico Libertad Gold and silver series Mintage figures - www.donbailey-mexico.com/libertad_mintages.shtml Australian Lunar Mintage Figures - www.perthmint.com.au/investment-bullion-bars-and-coins-mintages.aspx Forgeries Forgeries - www.forgerynetwork.com/Default.aspx Coin Authentication - www.coinauthentication.co.uk Pound coin forgeries - www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1230900/Heads-tails-One-1-coins-fake-Today-40-counterfeit.html Celtic fakes – www.coinsweekly.com/index.php?pid=4&id=1825 George III fakes - www.steppeulvene.com/index.george_iii.html NGC Fake holders - www.ngccoin.com/coin-grading/counterfeit-advisory/ Counterfeit Indian gold mohur - www.ngccoin.com/news/article/4163/counterfeit-India-1862-gold-mohur/ Fake Roman coins – www.dirtyoldcoins.com/Roman-Coins-Blog/ General Coin catalogue - www.amadiocoins.com Maundy money – www.aundymoney.info/ Animals on post 1900 coins - www.coinzoo.net/ Soho Mint - www.sohomint.info/ Coin Books – www.archive.org/search.php?query=coins%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts&sort=-downloads Coin Books - www.digitalbookindex.com/_search/search010hstenglandcoinsa.asp BNJ Publications - www.britnumsoc.org/publications/bnj.shtml Stuart Royal Farthing Tokens - www.stuartroyalfarthingtokens.com/rft-identification-and-grading-guide/ Silver bullion and mintages - www.silverbullionworld.com/index.html Coin Market slang – www.malakoff.com/cms.htm Coin Cabinets - www.richardscabinets.com/ Isle of Man Coins – www.sites.google.com/site/malsiom/home-1 Historic Exchange rates - www.x-rates.com/historical/?from=USD&amount=1&date=2016-11-24 Henry III Coinage - www.henry3.com/home.html Jubilee Head Sovereign – www.issuu.com/jammdesign/docs/jubilee_brochure/1 VR Court Penny Survey - www.mediafire.com/download/vmxr5ntsc8g6pux/VRC+Penny+Variety+Estimates.pdf Dipped Coins - www.coinweek.com/featured-news/understanding-classic-u-s-coins-building-excellent-coin-collections-part-2-dipped-coins/ Celtic coins - www.celticcoins.com Refund form for incorrect import tax - www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/581510/bor286.pdf Calculating silver content of British coins - www.silverrecyclers.com/Calculators/gbcoin_calculator.aspx Real Time National Debt by Country - www.usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.html Grading Grading - www.acadiacoins.com/educate.htm American Grading - http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/articles/coingrades.asp Various Country grades - http://www.predecimal.com/forum/gallery/image/5-various-country-grades/ Hammered Coins Hammered information - http://www.englishhammered.com/ Reference and attribution - www.wildwinds.com/coins/index.html Long Cross penny - http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/pages/Long-Cross-Pennies/Long%20Cross%20Pennies%20P1.htm Medals Medals - www.karlgoetz.com/ Paper Money British museum catalogue - www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_research_catalogues/paper_money/paper_money_of_england__wales.aspx Price Guides Price guides - www.british-coin-price-guide.homelinux.com Price guides - www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk American Price guide for British coins - www.coinworld.com/content/dam/cw/coinvalues/foreign/2016/090516%20-%20%20British%20Values.pdf