Leaderboard

At long last the RM acknowledged receipt of this coin at the museum. Dave there has been rather a champion in this. Not to bore, but quite the saga and no wonder not many see a coin through the process of submitting coins to. the RM: I sent off the coin (all figures in USD) which cost $25 to send wire which was only for $25. Postal fees for minor value but tracked and signed for another $42; coin got stuck in customs for nearly two weeks. Customs wanted another $25 so sent another bank wire to RM for that and the requisite $25 bank fee. Total to send the coin in? $142 USD! The next element will be time - Dave said probably 6-8 weeks but not sure when the counting began. In the olde dayes of Graham Dyer, coins would at times be held for one or even two YEARS!!!!

Merton's breakthrough as a television performer came in 1988 with Channel 4's improvised comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?,[23] which moved to TV from BBC Radio 4, though he had previously performed on the channel's Saturday Live and compered its series Comedy Wavelength in 1987.[24] He remained on Whose Line until 1993. Have I Got News for You began in 1990, and two series of his own sketch show, Paul Merton: The Series, followed soon after.[25] In 1995 he presented a documentary series celebrating the history of the London Palladium, entitled Paul Merton's Palladium Story. In 1996, Merton performed updated versions of fifteen of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's old scripts for an ITV series, Paul Merton in Galton & Simpson's.... Six of these scripts were previously performed by Tony Hancock. These were very badly received by critics, and although a selection of episodes was initially released on VHS, it was not until June 2007 that the complete series was released on DVD. Also in 1996, Merton took a break from Have I Got News for You during its eleventh series, making only one appearance as a guest on fellow captain Ian Hislop's team. Merton later said that at the time he was "very tired" of the show and that he thought it had become "stuck in a rut". Nevertheless, he added that he felt his absence gave the programme the "shot in the arm" it needed and that it had been "better ever since".[26] In 2002, following allegations in the UK tabloids linking the show's chairman, Angus Deayton, with prostitutes and drug use, the host was asked to resign from the show. Merton hosted the first episode after Deayton's departure and was described as "merciless" in his treatment of his former co-star.[27] In 1999 Merton replaced Nick Hancock as host of Room 101,[28] a chat show in which guests are offered the chance to discuss their pet hates and consign them to the oblivion of Room 101. His first guest was Hancock. He hosted 64 editions. In 2007, his final guest was Ian Hislop (who became the first interviewee to appear twice, having also been on an edition with Hancock). Hislop's selections deliberately included items that Merton was known to like, such as The Beatles and the films of Charlie Chaplin.[29] Hislop's final choice was Merton himself, done to represent his departure from the show. Merton cast himself in the room to end the show, although on the condition that Hislop would go in with him. Merton is one of the recurring stars from the 4 ITV Pantos. His best role came in 1999, where Merton starred alongside Ronnie Corbett as one of the ugly sisters in ITV's Christmas pantomime of Cinderella. His other co-stars were Julian Clary, Samantha Janus, Ben Miller, Harry Hill, Frank Skinner and Alexander Armstrong.[30] In the same year – to coincide with the launch of his first stand up tour in 10 years, and this is me...Paul Merton – he was given his own one hour South Bank Show special. The show charted his beginnings in the co