Chris Perkins

That looks like a weak GVF too. I'm not sure where the £110 came from, some of the values don't change unless a newer price is noticed (on a sales list, in an auction etc). I have a feeling that the price quoted is pretty new. I'll take your worn one for £12 and sell for £20 if you just want to send it without faffing around.

In CCGB2008 this is the 'L' in Florin points to bead type. Price there is £110 GVF. That one has to be worth £20 surely. I think that's where I'd price it.

It doesn't really matter how it looks in the image, you simply can't trust that an otherwise common proof is the matt version unless the seller is highly expert and offers some kind of guarantee.

No, I don't pick values out of the air. I imagine I somehow didn't notice that one and it's remained like that (and the big difference between it and the EF price) from a previous edition. I'll make sure I make a note to change it and check that more carefully next time.

Doubled letters and die breaks are not usually considered as varieties, merely mishaps as a result of mass production.

You better post some pictures to clarify the date, type and grade! All too often an EF Sovereign can turn out to be a Fair farthing, but I imagine you're better informed than that!

Sounds good Dave. If you do need help publishing (and marketing, which as you say, is the hardest part) then let me know.

Yes, you're right I have stupidly mentioned the value at the time of writing and have not mentioned the weight. I'll do that in the next one.

Who will be publishing it and what's it about? I'l PM you about the numbering!

Aidan Work, I see you just registered and posted a couple of times under the name 'BC Numismatics'. I don't care what you're called, you're a narrow minded rascist extremist bigot and you bring nothing but shame and cringe-worthy embarrassment to me and other members regardless if they happen to be members of the British commonwealth or not. No 2nd chances, you were banned before and you're still not welcome here.

3 days ago we found a hedgehog over the road during the day on the pavement looking a bit dazed and confused. He was dangerously near to the road. I went over and 'shoed' him into a basket thing and took him into the garden. He didn't seem properly awake somehow, almost as if he was drunk. He ate plenty of cat food, part of an apple and an egg and drank some water and then went to sleep. He stayed asleep (very deeply, a sort of quick hibernation because the nights have been very cold here) and finally woke up today. He still behaved drunk and couldn't stand up properly. We thought he'd perhaps broken a leg or something as he spends most of his time on one side and when he tries to walk he almost rolls over, either sideways or forwards. So, earlier we took him to a vet, half expecting him to say that "his leg is broken, we'll have to have him put down"! He checked his legs (inbetween him being rolled up tightly!) and all 4 seem to work ok. He seems to have a big co-ordination problem and the doc said he may have had a bump on the head or a stroke (less likely because he's very young). He said it's a very good sign that he's lived 3 days and that whatever it is may get better on its own. He got 2 injections of antibiotics against infections and had some drops applied under his spikes to kill of all the parasites that seem to plague hedgehogs. We have instructions to keep him fed and watered over the weekend to see how he goes. We'll take him to the doc again next week for a check up. Just now he ate and drank well, and as long as he's breathing, eating and drinking he may recover. I named him Igor because it's the closest name to the German word for hedgehog, which is "Igel" (pronounced just like Eagle actually).

He could have been hung like a donkey for all I know! With all those dastedly spikes and the ability to roll up into a ball it was impossible for even the vet to tell us what he was.

I think that's basically what I was saying! And if Igor was male then perhaps he has small sons and daughters in the garden now, even though they may have already out-lived him.

I don't quite know if he was really recovered, his leg hung around without doing much and he couldn't navigate. I'm not entirely sure if he was fit for the wild. However I think it was morally more correct that he had a friend/partner and that even if only for a short time, he was able to be with his own kin instead of fenced off.

I've been asked by a forum member about how little Igor is getting on, so here's an update: We had him in a pen in the garden with an upturned box and some foliage as shelter (until he was ok to go it alone). We used straw as bedding but changed that after he kept walking in circles and getting it twisted around his legs. In fact one evening he was in a right tangle and had cut off the circulation to one of his legs and it was very swollen. After that the leg never really worked properly again! He was always active at night and always ate all his cat food and cat biscuits, which was encouraging. He still had big problems navigating but was able to move about quite quickly when he wanted to. One evening we went out to feed him and were amazed to see him with his nose poking through the chicken wire, very eager to escape his enclosure. The reason for this sudden lust for freedom scampered under a bush on the 'free' side of the fence! It was another hedgehog (about the same size), but a less tame one. We retreated and the other hedgehog came to the fence again and they rubbed noses some more. We left some food and the free hedgehog scampered off again. This time Igor really really wanted to join his new friend and was hyperactively trying to get under the wire, over the wire, through the wire, anything to limp off into the dusk with his own kind. At one stage he got himself stuck between the wire and a tree which was used as a fence post (having spikes that grow in one direction make it difficult to reverse in tight spaces). So, I got some pliers, cut the wire and let him free. He caught up with his friend under some wood and in torch light we could see them together, sort of sniffing each others arses and walking around in circles together with plenty of mutual nose rubbing. He looked happy, in fact he looked like a she in comparison to the other one who had a much more masculine face. I went back to remove any sharp bits of wire and Igor ventured out from under the planks of wood and allowed me to stroke his/her nose for the last time before returning to his/her cautious friend. We watched them for a little while but then they went further under the wood and we never saw them again.

I've got about 160 fake coins in my collection, ranging from hammered Scottish fakes right through the early milled period, lots of George III and some fake gold/silver Victorian and later (including fakes made of good gold) right up to about half a dozen modern fake £1 coins. And I've got some Irish, Spanish and 1 German 19th century fakes. Have you seen this, I worte this ages ago: http://www.predecimal.com/british_coin_forgeries.php Unfortunately none of them are for sale! I've heard about £2 fakes but never seen one. I've also come across the large 50p types as forgeries but none of the modern smaller ones.

The road sweeper vehicles here are RHD. And of course the roadsweeper vehicles in England are LHD.

I thought I ought to mention this here, in case it's of use to anyone (if so, I'll remove it from eBay). It's a tidy metallic blue Volvo 440i that I found in Berlin. The car is standard UK spec RHD and now re-registered on an M-reg. It will be sold with a full MOT. Details on eBay here: <a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=180226324187" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180226324187&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=008</a>

I think you'd probably pay more than it's worth on the shipping! I have 3 RHD cars in LHD Germany. There's really no difference, if your confident enough to drive big cars, it doesn't matter where the steering wheel is.

They've been busy haven't they! I was perhaps a bit naive back then (and let down by Western Union assurances). Since then I can usually smell a rat and have often googled names and addresses/emails of potential fraudsters (usually buyers) and found them to be listed on similar name and shame websites. For high value transactions from new customers I also often ask over email for them to confirm their identity by sending a scan of a passport or similar and calling me. Usually when a buyer calls you it's easy to tell if he's a real collector, and I've yet to have a fraudster call or willingly send ID! As for sellers, I always say that I need to see the item before I send any money. Not only for my own peace of mind but simply because it's only 100% accurate to value a coin when you have it in the flesh. I can usually persuade people to send me things (to the London address is easier as some people go all funny at the thought of sending something to a potential 'Johnny Foreigner' in Germany, which I think is just as safe as sending within the UK)! The website presence and style seems to re-assure people. And for any potential coin sellers reading this, if the items are high value I can often visit you.

Sergev (sorry if I spelt your name wrong), I've found the original Western Union transfer form from when I sent EUR120.00 to St. Petersburg on the 30th May 2003! This was for the uncleaned Roman coins that I never saw or heard anything about ever again! Details here: http://www.predecimal.com/ruwarning.php The name I was told to pay was Oleg Chebotarev. I'll happily give you more details but I suspect the address I have is no longer current after nearly 5 years!

That's scrap brass and I find I can't even give away circulated brass 3d's! Are you thinking of bidding? If so I hope you're not from Nigeria. The seller obviously has a problem sending worthless junk to Nigeria!

I've moved this to the unlisted variety section, to remind me to put mention it in the next book.

This just caught my eye: ebay item: 120236101580 It's a 1937 coin which is apparently nearly 100 years old! Starts at £7.99 and postage is £8.00.

Interesting, I expect it's worth more than face value, but somehow it's not spectacular enough to be my kind of error. Recent £2 coins seem to be quite prone to errors.