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The top pop trend Is insane. There are 70 points on the NGC scale, each one of which is worth 1.43% - a very small amount when one considers the extent to which subjectivity, inconsistency and carelessness must go into each grading. To pay thousands extra for a top pop is crazy, considering a) that it can be beaten, or b) that the grader may be having an off day/his colleagues are stricter/softer than him, has to be the height of stupidity, unless you are literally the initial seller about to make a killing from someone prepared to pay. The only true winners are those ex graded items from the first seller, who knows, that for a short time at least, he has the lead item. Comparison with the coins just under top pop would probably reveal examples that were superior to the current top pop.

Don't get me started, Mike- even though your talent for doing so is impressive!!!! You are so so right. Madness. Same same same in my world of vintage Pro Audio. Does anyone get pleasure from such coins? All the sane people on this forum know what I mean- such coins don't HAVE to be graded highly by someone else for a fee... I have an acquaintance who collects expensive whisky. He has a mouth-watering collection. He has no idea what any of them taste like. Nuff said.

This by comparison, is rare, hence the condition! A 'Military and Naval Forces' medal. Supposedly struck at a time Charles was demanding better funding from Parliament to enable him to rule by sea and land. Issued in 1628 at a time England was much concerned with the siege of the Huguenot city of la Rochelle by the Catholic forces of Louis XIII. Charles was keen to bolster Protestant interests in Europe and Buckingham was allowed to raise forces to supposedly support the Huguenots. However this went poorly and Buckingham was forced to return to England. Charles blamed Parliament for not providing the finances to reinforce Buckingham's expedition. The medal shows Charles with a radiate crown. The reverse, a sceptre and trident intertwined REGIT VNVS VTROQVE sends the message 'one rules with both', ie sceptre and trident. The design of this medal is by Briot, with a sideways B as signature below Charles' bust. Traditionally this medal has also been suggested as a pattern for a shilling, but although silver versions exist, there's no evidence I've seen to suggest this was ever taken further than a possible proposal. MI 250/26, 29mm.

A so-called "War and Peace" medal from the reign of Charles I. Struck in accordance with the views of Charles after the defeat of Waller and the surrender of Bristol to Prince Rupert, when Charles summoned his Council "to consider how these great blessings in war might be applied to the procuring a happy peace." Obverse, a laureate bust of Charles, reverse a sword and olive branch, crossed between crowned initials. The legend IN VTRVM QVE PARATVS signifies the King was 'prepared for both', i.e. peace or war. Date below. MI 308/134 29mm. Thomas Rawlins' initial under the bust. There are a few variations of this medal, with this being the commonest.

Latest addition to my Kempson Bath series, extremely pleased with this one, Somerset D&H70. These are the sellers pics

How about one of the major driving forces behind this "pop top" business? Registry sets! Yikes. The TPGs rate people's submitted sets but note that all coins must be from that TPG and no others included. I probably let my pride get the better of me, but thrice with regards to sixpences and shillings (Victoria and George V) and Victoria half sovereigns, I suggested to each poster on one of the chat rooms that possibly I might blow their set(s) out of the water but chose not to party at their end of the pool & of course they took exception. I guess my real point is that there are many coins that are not slabbed or not entered into registry set competition.

The nice thing about George V sovs is that you can get really good examples at bullion prices. Something like 440 million were minted in total and they were uncirculated for most of the 22 years they were in production. Most of mine would grade between AU-58 and MS-63 and I've got a 1918 that would probably do better than that. They're nice coins but Georges in that condition are fairly common and they're not worth grading. I know folks who love their premium slabbed coins and actually buy proof sets from the RM to send off to NGC in pursuit of the coveted PF70 Ultra Cameo. However, I can't really bring myself to get excited about slabbed coins, let alone paying top dollar for them. One can see the point in the US with the enormous trade in restoring Morgan dollars and suchlike. Having an expert certify that the thing is at least genuine, especially when you're going to shell out hundreds of dollars for a coin with a melt value of $20, sort of makes sense. Buying a brand new proof coin and immediately bundling it off to a grading firm - not so much.

Exactly.