TomGoodheart

Meh. It's not even a good enough copy for it to be an Ashmore. And yet, people have bid ...

LOL An upgrade is on the wants list Dave, but quite low down I'm afraid! I've quite a few others I'd like to find first. Trouble is, the ones I like tend to be owned by other collectors, so I need to improve both my bank balance and powers of persuasion!

Just upgrades would be fine for me ... all Chas Tower shillings of course. And selling on the spares without making a loss would be nice too!

The internet is your friend Frank. You can search for examples of coins you are interested in to compare grades and prices, both on dealer sites and auction hosting sites such as CoinArchives numisbids or sixbid You can ask for advice, here or on other coin forums (though this is of course, the best!) And you can check out people's collections (like Paul's) for examples to use as a benchmark or to see differences in varieties. I've bought from as far afield as Australia, America, Spain and Manchester .. all from the comfort of my sofa. The people I've met have taught me all I know. You can even read learned journals (see the Half-crowns of 1848 under Miscellanea: http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/1958.shtml) Enjoy the ride! .

Welcome Frank. A pic of the other side (obverse) as well would help I think. The theoretical advice is generally.. (1) buy the book before you buy the coin. Yeah, right. (2) Learn to grade coins (because price is generally related to condition) (3) Buy the best you can afford. However we all make mistakes early on. You need to buy, examine close up and see coins "in the hand" as part of the learning process. The best thing is try to keep the mistakes on the cheaper side. Asking questions is good. And buying widely is fine. Most people end up specialising in some way, but there's no harm in getting to know about different denominations and metals. And you don't have to specialise. It's a way to keep the costs within budget, but your collection is yours and it's up to you if it all looks the same (quoting my Wife there!) or includes a bit of everything. As to your halfcrown, it's not really my area. However I'm a bit bemused by the extra line to left of St George above the 19 .. looks .. odd to me. But I'll leave it to others to give an opinion.

Another think I've noticed Chris is that when clicking on unread thread I'm taken to the first post whereas previously I went straight to the last page of the thread (ie the first 'unread' post. Oh, and I messaged you a couple of times but had no reply. Of course, you might be busy ...

Yes. A household badge for a servant would also make sense. Perhaps one of those fancy 'flunky' type footmen or coachmen that would be seen out and about town on their master's (or mistress') business? .

Not my area, but my guess would be later (Late 18th, early 19th Century?) and that the central part was an enamelled coat of arms. Purpose? Maybe decoration on some Duke's carriage horse? I wonder if the bit you have might have been 'mass produced' which could then be personalised by the additional Arms. Just an idea...

Yes. A lot of the coins from the Prestbury hoard appeared to have hairlines. At the time I suggested they'd been washed in a bucket of sand. Perhaps not so far from the truth... Certainly it feels as if a more cautious approach to 'cleaning' would enhance the financial return on at least some found items. Win win for both finder and subsequent owner. .

It's a medal cabinet. 90cm high: http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/195473

Merry Christmas all! I'm happy in that I got two coin auction catalogues from Santa! Now off to Mum-in-Laws for lunch. Have a good day everyone .

I can't seem to navigate the new look on my phone. Where are all the shortcuts like newest posts etc Chris?

Yup!

Yay! Cheers Matt That worked!

Yes. Android 5.1 (Lollipop) I've got a better hang of the navigation. And have found how to condense the view to get more on the page. But don't see a way to list updates by topic rather than individual posts. Maybe there isn't one?

Mmm .. Just not to my taste. Too much white space. Plus previously I had all the new posts listed as updated topics. Now I get an entry for every post so there are five entries for Pledge Penny. I can't see a way to just have it tell me there's a new post within that topic ...

It's also all quite .. big. What I see on my laptop now looks very much the same as what I get on my phone. There's a lot of white space etween posts .. presumably to leave space for my avatar and sigs. Before they were different. Sorry. Feeling a bit Luddite today.

Mmm .. I guess my only comment so far is it's very different. Instead of buttons to find which topics have been updated with new material I just get a stream of posts. Which is going to get a bit difficult to navigate to find the one thread I'm interested in when there are another thirty replies about Victorian pennies.. Very different from how I used to navigate. But I guess see what others think..

yes. http://maxentius.lamoneta.it/PagineMedaglie/GiorgioIII_Guarigione_2.htm "The King’s recovery in 1789 from a serious illness, which has subsequently been diagnosed as porphyria, was greeted with widespread celebrations. " .

I'm glad you found it in the end Pies! I only have a small number of coins so less risk of misplacing one. I photograph them on arrival for my records, write out a ticket and then it goes in the cabinet. Unless it's one of the 'Marianne' coins, in which case it goes in a plastic flip and there's a different box where they live ... Or the circulation coins .. they just go in a drawer, either in a non-PVC 2"x2" or a coin envelope. Any others.. I spend.

I don't suppose there are any extra-rare microvarieties of '67 are there? .

Welcome Kevin. Sadly .. not a lot. I too have a bag of 1967 pennies in brilliant uncirculated condition because, perhaps like you because my Dad knew they would be the last issued* and so saved a bunch. Unfortunately he overlooked that other people would do the same and that lots = not rare = little value. Except historically perhaps. * OK, They made another issue as souvenirs in 1970 but those don't really count as they weren't actually spent. Personally? Give them to a charity (they might get 50p each for them), a school or some young relatives in the hope they might get interested in the things or (as I once thought) buy some letter punches and add amusing slogans to them and list them on eBay ... .

Lots of fine lines, soft focus photograph, big scratch across Vickie's mouth. Not so great and I suspect that in the cold light of day those hairlines might jump out at you. OK, if you could pick it up for around the current price it would be an interesting way of learning how a coin compares with eBay photos and possibly a useful learning experience. Though whether you think a fiver or so is worth such a lesson is up to you! Personally I think I'd be inclined to look for a better example straight off. .

Too subtle for me! Though the trident does look different in the LCA coin ...

So what's this then? It's in London Coins' March preview .. if anyone is interested. .