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Let's just hope that this is a spur to quickening up the research into energy efficient alternatives - solar panels on roofs are slowly spreading but making them more efficient would be good, and they've only just begun to work out how to make wave energy work. Meantime, I hear Bill Gates is putting investment money into a modern, cleaner, more fuel efficient form of nuclear reactor whose advantage is that it can use the waste fuel from older reactors (whose design is appallingly out of date - 1950s in some cases). If Putin's warmongering hastens sustainable and efficient alternatives to energy, then that's one in the eye for him.

The holes were practical in some countries, coins worn on strings around the neck, like this tiny West African 1/10th penny Indeed the only genuine EDWARD VIII penny I could afford has a hole !!!

Just picked up a A/unc britannia £2 2015 for £3 at a local antique and collectors fair got to be a bargain with only 650 000 made I am sure these are pretty underrated by collectors and will fetch a lot more than £3 in the future , I dont know when but probably when the mail get hold of this information

The holes were practical in some countries, coins worn on strings around the neck, like this tiny West African 1/10th penny

Yes, I was surprised at that. I've never been all that fussed about the triple F, even though it's a very clear "variety". There do seem to have been plenty of examples over the years.

Yes, but that was Scotland. Nicola must have sorted it !

That's actually a very very fair question. Besides coins, another one of my interests is the weather and the number/location of weather recording stations does seem slightly biased to this observer. Many decades ago (and over a century ago in fact), one of the recording stations which time and again came up with top readings, was Raunds in Northamptonshire. There is still a legit weather station there, and it still registers interesting readings (see link), but you NEVER ever hear that name mentioned for readings or records. Raunds is a perfectly reasonable semi rural South Midlands weather station, typical of many which day in and day out do a great job. But not a single word do you ever hear of them. I mentioned Raunds as it has been famous in the past. But there are others scattered over that area and the Home Counties, such as Rugby, Milton Keynes, High Wycombe, Banbury, Meriden, Buckingham and Oxford - all of which are locations which can reasonably said to represent England as a whole, and are in non biased locations. But again, you never hear mention of them (occasionally Cambridge crops up, such as for the previous record high in 2019) There are also numerous officially recognised recording stations in the North of England, which again you rarely hear about. Although with that said, we did hear of one on Monday night - Emley Moor, which recorded the highest ever minimum temperature of 25.9. That was surprising given the Northerly location. It's quite high ground as well, and that may have caused a bias. The old ITV tv transmitter at Emley Moor was brought down in March 1969 by a thick coating of rime (layer of ice caused by persistent freezing fog), which caused its weight to increase massively on the side facing East. But back to your original point, yes, I think there might well be a logical case for excluding airports, especially Heathrow and Gatwick as their readings could well be biased upwards given their urban locations and concrete bases. All weather stations use Stevenson screen thermometers, but what they're sited on, and their proximity to other influences, may well make a difference. There was bias in the old days as well. Many earlier records were set in Camden Square, London, which was an urban location later considered too biased to be meaningful. Yet they use Heathrow? link to Camden Square info Photo of Camden Square as it was when used as a weather station:-

Ah, but global warming affects the winter too! But you just can’t predict which way we will be affected- if the Gulf Stream changes course we could actually be colder. I think we have to be resigned to climate change whatever, and our kids more so. What the planet needs is a good plague, when in fact we all seem to want to live forever. Jerry