Leaderboard

It seems to me that, in general, auction houses are taking less care and interest in the cataloguing of lots at a time when they could and should benefitting from the lack of coin fairs, dealers' premises etc. It looks like pure apathy and laziness to me.

Not quite an acquisition of the week , but another one that was in the bulk lot that threw up the F28 earlier in the year . 1831 W.W Penny .Not the prettiest (especially the reverse) ,but it fills a gap, that would probably have never been filled .

I recently bought the 2021 Uncirculated set from Westminster Mint because it contains the Decimalisation 50p with original 1969 obverse and then received a letter saying that I should return it as there is an error and they would send a replacement. I asked for more details but they would only say that: "The Royal Mint have alerted us to a minor printing/spelling mistake on the packaging of these BU Packs." I have looked for this mistake but can't find it so I'm inclined to keep the set in case there's a more important mistake that might prove to be a rarity in the future. Has anyone else heard anything about this "error" ?

I supplied them with a full list of varieties that I was aware of, with Davies numbers, but on the whole they chose not to use them. Hence the reason I have mentioned a number of them here.

I know, limited funds are always the problem. There are so many coins that interest me and especially the varieties. I think the trick is to focus on the ones you really really want and go hard for them. And, of course, if you get everything in one go then there is nothing left for subsequent purchases.

Well done Mike. I got mine completely by chance as I didn't know it was a DFF until years after I'd bought it. I read somewhere about it and checked my coins and there it was !

Thanks a lot Ian, much appreciated. Will now be saving exclusively for the last piece in the jigsaw. Ah, the scarcer no stop before first W. Yes indeed. Although only seen two, the one I bought, and another one currently on offer with Coopers Coins. So they're also few and far between.

I had noticed that , but put it down to wear as it has been through the wars a bit.Interesting to know that it is a known anomaly .It was worse than that , but some acetone took the worse of the gunk off .

Pleased to have been able to help Mike, just one more bit of the jigsaw to go! Happy hunting.

Yes - David Hepworth has a 'big thing' about 1971 and rates it as one of the best 3 albums of that brilliant year.

I am sure that The Royal Mint would be gutted if everybody that they alerted did buy another set, just to see the difference.

Very pleased to obtain one of the last pieces of the jigsaw in the Victorian copper penny series I've been collecting for the last year. It's an 1843 DFF Bramah 3b type, in perhaps near VF. Private buy agreed with Ian a day or two ago, and just received today. Despite a careful lookout and a daily dedicated search of e bay 1843's since last April, I haven't previously seen one. Nor any at auction. Over the last 17 years, 4 have been sold at LCA, in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018, but they were all of very low grade, sub fine. This specific variety is a rarity within a rarity, as 1843 is scarce to begin with. If I'd spurned this opportunity I might have been waiting a long time for another. So many thanks to Ian.

You will be fighting me for a few of them. 😘 I have identified 11 coins in the March sale that are of interest to me and four that are 'must haves'.

Don't know the answer, hopefully 1887jubilee will. The 7 to bead indicates either a slightly different size of reverse or a different number of border beads (I haven't counted), but there are also a number of design differences in the crown (picture attached).

No, but the fact that RM have asked you to return it, means you should definitely keep it. What sort of company would ask you to return the entire thing - with the time and inconvenience that entails, plus the cost - merely for a "minor printing/spelling mistake"? Might be interesting to see if you get a reply that makes logical sense (I know that's stretching it a bit in the 21st century) if you contact them and ask what the minor error is.

Even an error in the packaging can only make the set more interesting and there is no reason to return it.