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Mine's arrived and it's exactly the same size as my laptop keyboard. I lkie it.

On the subject of cats...

That's wonderful - are you sure he wasn't just watching the 6 o'clock news ?

Cat watching a horror film......

For that era, they are incredibly high quality images. Looking at them, they could have been taken yesterday.

Had this fall out of a cheap lot- it's actually got the most lustre of any half crown I've ever had! Obverse is weak, but the reverse is really pleasing.

Britney Spears married Bryan Ferry.......:)

OK - I surrender - I have ordered one now too. I wonder if Wayne is on commission? If not, why not!

Close up

I'm trawling through American auction catalogues to find the provenance of a Cromwell coin I own and came across, "Ralph Barker's Collection dd 1904". I was stunned to see full-colour plates in such an early catalogue, beautiful quality. The Newark siege half-crown looks particularly identifiable with the red wax identifiers, unless NGC have 'conserved' it that is.😂

Very pleased with this 1853 Peck 1503/Bramah 15, intermediate colon penny, which I managed to buy for £135. Like the 1853 PT, it's quite scarce, so to get one in EF for that price, was pretty good. I'd been umming and ahh ing over this one from KB Coins for £295, which is a demonstrably inferior specimen for more than twice the price. So another instance of an e bay "best offering".

There was another good one before Ebay cottoned on and deleted his id: whale_oil_beef_hooked

I know his brother - Nott-aklew.

In the early days of Ebay I spotted a seller with a number of badly identified coins, which puzzled me. Then I saw his ID - norfolk_n_idea!

On a similar note - if Chris Rea joined Dire Straits, would they become Chris Straits or .......

Peter Steele and Jack Novak formed a duet in the sixties. They were Novak and Goode. Then Tommy Steele joined. And they were Steele Novak and Goode!

One of my better purchases on ebay, open auction, 5 bids, got it for £23. Actual ebay picture and one I took of the coin when it arrived.

Stand up for Jesus.... ....Sit down for Christ's sake....

A majority of Russians have approved amendments to Russia’s constitution allowing President Vladimir Putin to hold power until 2036, election officials said. However, the referendum was tarnished by widespread reports of pressure on voters and other irregularities. With most of the nation’s polls closed and 15% of precincts counted, 71% voted for the changes, according to officials. For the first time in Russia, polls were kept open for a week to bolster turnout amid the coronavirus pandemic — a provision that Kremlin critics denounced as an extra tool to manipulate the outcome. A massive propaganda campaign and the opposition’s failure to mount a coordinated challenge helped Mr Putin get the result he wanted, but the plebiscite could end up eroding his position because of the unconventional methods used to boost participation and the dubious legal basis for the balloting.