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I don't understand people who do this on eBay. I've recently been selling a number of coins, and it takes quite a bit of time to photo them, process the pictures, set up the auction page and load the photos onto it. To do all this, and then try and charge idiotic prices, which virtually guarantees failure to sell, seems incredibly stupid to me. Yes, I know just one sale could make it worthwhile, but is such a sale realistic? I have my doubts.

Many bargains to be had for the canny investor. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/11116/i.html?_ssn=santoor-uk&store_name=santooremporium&_oac=1&_pgn=1

Agreed. iPlayer now carries a huge number of 'box sets' (never having watched Waterloo Road I'm now ploughing through the whole thing); as well as that there are 4 TV channels, and any number of radio stations both national and local; that's not even touching on a vast range of podcasts and the World Service. I'd say I get better value for my £12 a month (which by the way also entitles me to watch ITV & Channel 4) than the £10 I pay Netflix.

Whoever chose to rename this thread “Gary Lineker (moved)” had great foresight. Jerry

Just seen this on BBC website: Posted at 21:1521:15 BREAKINGNo presenters or pundits will feature on Saturday's MOTD - BBC No presenters or pundits will feature on Saturday's Match of the Day programme, a BBC spokesperson says. Saturday's Match of the Day programme will "focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry", they say. Hope it's a sign of things to come... all those massive salaries out of licence fee payers' pockets that could then be avoided! Maybe the BBC could then fulfil their (not government's) broken promise to have free TV licences for the over 75's which was part of their charter renewal last time around. Wishful thinking perhaps!!

Whilst I appreciate that a fair few contributors on here have already retired, I do believe that most people (retired or otherwise) have a view on this topic. Also, hopefully there are others who do or have work from home for an employer. Where I work, at the start of the pandemic in mid March 2020, those staff who fell into a vulnerable category, such as asthma, auto immune diseases, obesity and over age 70, were compelled to work from home. In some cases this even meant setting them up with a wifi connection. Then in February 2021 it was extended, as an offer, to those over 60, then a few weeks after that, they decided that anybody who wanted it could have it. Of course, not everybody did, and quite a few continued to work in the office, either because they didn't like the idea, or for whatever reason, it just wasn't practicable for them to work from home. So having now worked from home for just over two years, one year 100% from home, and the following year hybrid 60/40 home/office, these are my views of the pros and cons. Pros 1/ Get far far more work cleared at home than ever I would in the office. Many fewer interruptions, and able to concentrate more intensely. 2/ Absence of irritating colleagues and office politics. They become wholly irrelevant. Also, far fewer pointless time consuming meetings. 3/ 100% removal of commuting time, and for those reliant on public transport, no risk of contracting covid from fellow travellers on buses and trains. Also, for us all, no risk of contracting covid in the office. Not nearly so much of an issue now, I know, but back in early 2021, it was highly relevant. 4/ Able to log on and do work such as e learning and other bits, at any time, whereas 100% in the office you are confined to office hours only. 5/ Can get up later, dress more casually, and in Summer go straight out into the garden with a cold drink on warm sunny day, after logging off. Cons 1/ Can't just turn to someone and ask verbally for advice on a technical issue. If you e mail or MS Teams message them, as often as not you get ignored, or just a curt unhelpful response. Although I have always gone out of my way to help colleagues who've contacted me. 2/ Managers often mysteriously unavailable for hours on end - showing as red on their profiles. 3/ If you attend an MS Teams meeting (or Zoom, whatever) you have to be very careful what you say (be bland, technical and boring) as the meetings can be recorded and could be used against you. Hasn't happened where I work, but I have heard of instances. Also make sure you are fully attired. Especially important in hot weather. Don't switch your camera on until you are certain there is nothing that can embarrass you. I don't include pets in that as cats and dogs photobombing the camera, seems to go down well. 4/ If you complete your work on any given day, it's easy to get bored and literally fall asleep. That would never happen in the office. 5/ Mouse "jigglers" are available from Amazon and the like. These shake the mouse every two minutes to make it appear as though you are always on line and working (shown as green). This is doing a real number on your employer, and not a lot they can do about it. Dishonest and wrong on every level. WFH has received a very bad press in some parts of the media, but it does have some extremely good points. Although medium to long term, offices will shrink and some will be sold off, as it obviously won't be cost effective to keep them open when they're half empty. In fact that's already happening.

I have split off the discussion about Gary Lineker as it didn't seem to fit the "Stuff to make us laugh" as it didn't seem very humorous. Feel free to continue the chat there if you wish.

Very pleased with this 1874 penny - F65 in top UNC grade with probably 90% lustre, ever so lightly toning. Just £250 as a BIN. These are obviously not desperately rare, but they don't turn up every 5 minutes, and definitely not in this grade. Looking back at other sales of similar grade, the price compares very favourably.

There's only one response to "one up her chimney"...

or, minted by the Glazer family...

Very nice. The old fashioned "Manks", rather than "Manx".

Pretty pleased with this for £40.

It is so easy to lose the will to keep going when trying to understand the obverses of the 1860 penny ............

My second edition Peck with dust jacket cost me £12 from a secondhand bookshop in Abergavenny in the early ‘80’s, when I was a junior doctor in the local hospital, and freshly married (same wife). It seemed expensive to me then, when I was buying lustrous Victorian pennies for a few pounds from Lloyd Bennett in the Tuesday market. The book is still in my bookcase, but I use a ‘reading copy’ without dj that I acquired somewhere since. Jerry

I'm not sure cachet applies to learned numismatic works? It's very much a minority market! Ask 100 people if they know what book Peck wrote and I'd be very surprised if even 1 got it right (it would definitely be a Pointless answer )...

It is an amazing book, and of course being it about coins from a previous era, it never ages. The information gathered and presented, being as useful and relevant today, as it was in 1958. Despite a few new varieties being discovered since then. I got mine for £50 hammer at the September 2016 DNW auction. The £50 being a reduction from the £60 lower estimate, by the auctioneer, as nobody else was interested. The buyer had written February 1967 as the date purchased, and above that, in pencil, is £5-12-6 as the retail price then operating. The book is so large and comprehensive, that in checking the price and date before posting on here, I started reading the section about Tayor restrikes. Really interesting stuff. Have you got one now, Chris?

I remember in the late 60s I'd calculated that if I cashed in savings certificates I'd probably near enough have the £5/5s/6d the local bookshop had quoted me to order a copy. Somehow though, there were parties to go to, albums to buy, bicycles to repair .. and I never bought it then. You're right, a fiver was a small fortune back then, though still reasonable value for Peck.