Chris Perkins

Emailed you Helen. It is an escalating problem. Chris www.predecimal.com

The Churchills you mean? I bought them off a Retired WWII Mosquito pilot, I know I shouldn't but he was such a nice old soldier. Chris www.predecimal.com

William IV and Queen Adelaide were British! Not Dutch. If they are the official medals they may have a small worth up to GBP30.00 depending on condition. The one with the hole won't be collectable. I have 500 Churchill crowns and sell 1 every yer if I'm lucky for a pound! Chris www.predecimal.com

Well I certainly don't think some penny sweets are worth 5p each! I don't think they will ever be able to control the 99.99 nonsense because making something just under a round figure has been a marketing trick for hundreds of years, and it would only revert to 99.95 if you had your way. And we'd end up with pockets full of copper 5p's (which would look familiar) instead! I think although the penny is small denomination it still has justified worth. 100 make up a pound. If we went back to having 5p's (or shillings!) as the base unit of 1/20th of a pound we'd no longer have a decimal system would we, and that would hinder trade with foreign countries, and would be a nightmare to convert the electronic devices into counting 20 units in a pound, not 100. The pound has to have a 1/100th part. I'm afraid as romantic as it may seem, we cannot go back to a pre decimal system. Perhaps the answer would be to somehow make the pound worth more and therfore the penny too. Chris www.predecimal.com

You can get hologramatic coins and coloured coins, and there have been square coins. I think the cost of producing odd coins is too high and likely not to see minstream circulation. Which is probably good because I believe coins should be coin coloured, that is metal colours like they always were. Feel free to spray paint your change to create a colourful arrangement, in fact what a great 'modern art' idea. (copywritten from this point on). You read it here first! Please post scans of artistically spray painted coins here! Chris www.predecimal.com

David, Yes that's pretty much the way it went for me. But what can you do, Ebay are the bigest and therefore are likely to get the best prices for your items, and also provide the best bargains for buyers. Since that moment I have listed only 3 items on ebay, when at one stage I was doing 20 a week. I have fortunately seen busy times with the website the last couple of weeks, probably due to Christmas so am putting my energy into that. Right now the accessory sales on the site are rising as are the visitors and I don't need bloody ebay at this moment! The website took 3 years to get to what it is now, so unfortunately that option my not be good for everyone. Chris www.predecimal.com

No i haven't, but have heard about double tailed modern coins. I have a 1928 Halfpenny struck in bronze with a shilling collar (ie it's shilling size with a milled edge!). How much do you want for it?? Chris www.predecimal.com

You get a good international audience, don't get me wrong, but they do seem to want to take over the world. Chris

Yes, you have to be logged in to see the 'My Controls' at the top! Chris

Thanks for the info Dan, you're the only member to bother putting anything about yourself so far! I have a 1937 proof Sov if you're interested, perhaps you better get your driving test out of the way first. Chris www.predecimal.com

Yes good point, they are pretty generic and un special, but I personally can't stand the EURO bank notes, they have no writing because it would have to be in 20 languages, and just a picture of a stupid building. No real details. And no Queen! ;-) And the EUR5.00 is too small. Chris

Tony, It's most likely a Farthing if it's around the size of a modern penny. A common year and not worth much unless in Extremely Fine condition or better. Chris perkins www.predecimal.com

Oli, I seem to remember reading that they were all recovered and are accounted for. I think when they rarely come up for sale that the last one sold for GBP30,000 or something like that. That kind of legendary coin though, you can expect it to increase in value by thousands of pounds year on year. Chris www.predecimal.com

Dear Lindy, To most of us predominantly British people in the forum the 'size of a nickel' means nothing! It's a George V sovereign (should be 22mm, not 19mm) and worth around GBP60.00 for it's gold content, unless it is in mint condition, in which case it will be worth more. Does it have a small letter above the date of the piece of ground? Chris Perkins www.predecimal.com

Dear Dan, Research has led me to the following info: The 1950 East African Shilling is made of Cupro Nickel, and is one of 56,362,000 (that's a lot!). It is only worth GBP2.00 in Uncirculated condition, and really just pennies in any lesser grade I'm afraid. British East Africa consisted (it no longer exists) of Kenya, Parts of Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda and part of Somalia. The GB Coins are nothing that special and you should see my lists of coins for sale on the site (www.predecimal.com) or better still, buy this book: http://www.predecimal.com/books/ccgb2004framed.htm The Deutsch Ostafrika coin is one of 1,300,000 and will show either a J or A mintmark. Both are worth around GBP10.00 in Fine condition, right up to GBP90.00 if the coin is uncirculated. German East Africa is now Tanganyika, sanwiched between Kenya to the North and Mozambique to the South. Thank you, Chris Perkins www.predecimal.com

Thanks Sylvester, I remember noticing a difference in the 10p's in 1992 and remember how pleased I was that I had done so. They were common then, but you're right they are scarcer now. I always wondered how vending machines coped with 2 completely different 10p's, and the 5p's also have rounded or sharp edges too don't they. Chris www.predecimal.com

I do remember a little bit of a thing about those 1988 Pound coins, and remember hearing that people were keeping them at the time. That took 15 years for the public to forget, I hope the bloody 2p rumour runs its course much quicker, or i'll go completely mad. Will just update the position of my 2p article link! Chris www.predecimal.com

I calculated the minimum odds of getting one are around 1 in 14,000,000 but because many collectors already have the rare ones in collections it's probably more like 1 in 100,000,000 which is probably less likely than the second coming of Jesus Christ, and certainly less likely than winning the lottery. Chris www.predecimal.com

With some coins it works better than others, and be prepared to fiddle a bit with the settings! Chris www.predecimal.com

I heard there were only 450 of the very rare 1983 with 'New Pence' coins, but as it was an error I would imagine there is no accurate figure. Over half a million 1983's were produced for sets. Chris www.predecimal.com

Absolutely right Darkmast, Wouldn't it be great if people looked around the site first before asking questions. I get daily emails about the bloody 2 pees, and all the answers have been on the site since June! Chris Perkins www.predecimal.com

It was very common in the Victorian era to have gambling tokens made to look like old coins, normally made of brass and depicting George III. If that's what you have it doesn't sound familiar, but I expect it is a gaming token. Are you registered? you can post a scan if so. Chris www.predecimal.com

Yes grading is the most difficult thing for beginners. I use a flatbed scanner at 200 or 300dpi and perhaps adjust the brightness of the result when dark coins are involved. Chris www.predecimal.com

Buggar, have they gone and repeated that bloody programme? Here we go again with the 20 questions a day about peoples 2p's!!! See here, i covered it a month or so ago: http://www.predecimal.com/newpence.htm Chris www.predecimal.com

Dear Darkmast, Well you may find my advice hub and listings of coins for sale will help you on your quest: http://www.predecimal.com/coinadvice.htm http://www.predecimal.com/coinsforsale.htm And this book is great value for only GBP6.50 inc postage! http://www.predecimal.com/collectors_coins.htm There are other sites out there that also have listings, none are of course as good as mine! Chris Perkins www.predecimal.com