TomGoodheart

A (belated) Happy Birthday from me too!

Is anyone going to the "Informal CGS Forum Meeting" next Saturday (6th December 2014)? I got an email but I'm working and it's only of passing interest to me. Might be a good place to air any views on how long it takes to process submissions and the apparent conflict between 'paying customers' and when they have to slab auction material for London? Bill Pugsley is the contact. .

OK. Just putting this out here. I'm looking for a 1643-44 Charles I shilling, privy mark (P) (Spink 2800, Sharp G1/1, Tower mint under Parliament. I'd like one in decent condition. Usually they are knackered, clipped, uneven or otherwise lacking. This for example is the sort of condition you usually find them in: I'd like one ideally like this or better: And as I'm making wishes, provenance would be nice too! Oh, and my Chas I shillings are still available, if anyone is interested!

Very nice Rob! One you have a special interest in perhaps?

Nothing specific Rob. I just thought it would be fun to look the pictures. .

Bit of an update. I am still after a few auction catalogues: Sotheby 17 Oct 1921 Catalogue of the Important Collection of Hammered English silver coins of the period Edward I to Charles II; The property of Raymond Carlyon-Britton Esq Sotheby & Co 20 - 24 November, 1933 Catalogue of the Valuable Collection of Coins Formed by the Late Colonel H. W. Morrieson. Sotheby 17 June 1935 Sir K P Vaughan-Morgan. Glendining & Co 22 January 1952 Catalogue of Greek, Roman, English and Scottish Coins Formed by the Late V.J.E. Ryan - Second Part English, Scottish and Irish Silver Coins Depending on cost and condition. Preferably named and priced if possible! Thanks!

I noticed that Peter Nichols now do medal cabinets and I thought "If I replace two of my current trays (because medal trays are the depth of two coin ones) with what is effectively a drawer, that will sort where to put envelopes and other paperwork that doesn't fit in the coin recesses!" Just under £10 + post for something made to order - stained and with the knobs aligned to match my existing trays - doesn't seem too bad at all! Now I'm going to get back to looking for auctions that have a reasonable number of Charles I shillings illustrated in the catalogue. So if anyone has suggestions for sale catalogues I might not have, do please let me know! I should say I'm only interested in Tower issues. So it will probably be a sale from the last 40 years. They weren't considered rare enough to spend the money on illustrating much before the 1970s, unless it was a well-known specialist collection. Anyone else got any coin-related requests on their list this year?

And within hours of Christmas hundreds of copies of the Decimal volume will be on eBay ...!

I did wonder about that. Spink announced it as two volumes, but I've yet to see whether it's possible to buy either individually. Or at what price the one most people would want might be on its own. I did see it advertised at £25 on one site ... not sure about when you add post to Germany. Worth shopping around though. .

Me too. Not your Mother of course Peter! My family members. However my Sis-in-Law likes to buy an actual gift (I got her to drop into Baldwins last year to pick up a catalogue) and so I try to suggest something she can wrap and hand over on the day. Otherwise I'll get something I don't really want! If it's not coin related it'll have to be some cologne from a place near Jermyn Street and I've still some left from last year! .

Perhaps an abbreviation of shiny bright? Something like ... SHIGHT would do, no? .

201225154593 ex Lockdales. But sadly at 4.8g, probably also ex a workshop in Lancashire like these: http://www.forgerynetwork.com/asset.aspx?id=h/nbQ~x~5QgFs= .

I believe you can submit via a dealer in London? http://www.ngccoin.com/services/dealer-listing.aspx?services=assists-collectors-with-submissions And I presume you know about these guys? http://www.coingradingservices.co.uk/ You might find they will recognise varieties better than a US TPGS. .

Depends on the token. Some were used as coins when the official issues weren't sufficient to provide people with small change and otherwise business would have suffered. Others were used to advertise services and presumably handed out with change. Others .. maybe just souvenirs? Advertising token: US 'Civil War' Token which I think were used as change: Money of necessity (struck during Spanish Civil war to provide local currency) .

Nice one Tomo. And I'm glad your finding the forum useful. I know I certainly do! And well done Garrett. Looks like Scott has some homework to do! .

I guess the problem is mintages don't tell you much about survival. And obviously there was the further re-coinage in 1816. I don't know whether there might be anything else in the BJN ... I've not done a proper search. Either way, their archive is a useful asset. Here ... Rob seems to be the man with all the esoteric facts to hand. Not sure if he can add anything but you could pm him? .

Not my area I'm afraid Arthur. But you might find something in "Some notes on the great recoinage of William III, 1695-1699 " in the British Numismatic Journal? Eleventh article down, by Philip Nelson: http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/1906.shtml .

There are quite a few variations amongst Victorian coinage, some are particularly rare. I presume the London one was a rare variety, however it's not my area I'm afraid. Hopefully someone with knowledge in that area will chip in in due course! .

As far as I can tell coins with die numbers are rare trial pieces that entered circulation. The number would be below the date. But I can't see any sign of one in your photo I'm afraid. I'll leave it for someone else to give a grade and confirm what I've said. In the meantime, welcome! .

Everyone is different but I will say that when I first started I bought lots of coins to fill gaps. However with time I have come to realise a lot of them were pretty poor. More importantly I just don't get any thrill when I look at the things. Whereas the better examples I still enjoy. Coins are little bits of art. A good deal of time and effort was put into their design and execution and for the most part you only get an appreciation for that when a coin is over a certain grade. To my mind a bargain is only a bargain if you're happy with your purchase a year or so down the line. If you feel (as I occasionally do) you'd really rather have the money you spent back, to buy something now with your greater knowledge and understanding then it perhaps wasn't such a bargain? Just my view of course. .

Basically, unless a coin is so rare there's no price because no examples exist in that grade, the lack of a price means it's of little commercial value. That doesn't mean it has no collector value (just look at things selling on eBay!) nor that a dealer won't give it a price (they have to cover overheads, postage and other costs so unless it's in a pick-it-yourself bin for 10p you might still have to pay £1!) I believe most guides have a minimum of £1 below which it's considered pointless taking time to guess a price! The general guide is buy the best you can. If no value is given for VF then there are probably enough decent examples for you to aim for UNC. Of course, if you like a coin and it gives you pleasure to own, who cares what grade it is? Just don't spend too much on it! .

All I know is I collect coins because I like them. The only time value comes into it is when I want to buy something and need to raise money by selling another coin to purchase it! Coins are completely separate from any investments and sadly for the government I am a very poor citizen in economic terms. I rarely buy the sort of high end items I see colleagues sporting like smartphones and iPads. My car is now 4 years old and I have no intention to change it. We pay off all bills at the end of the month and live within our means. (Not so sure about daughter but, hey, what's a student loan for eh?!) Revitalise the economy? No thanks. I'm just going to sit here and hold on to as much as I can for when I retire. The coins? Less than 5% of my total wealth. I only consider myself well off because I can afford (thanks Mum and Dad and Grandpa) to buy what I'd like. If I had a similar 'net worth' back in the 19th century I would probably have been in a similar position I guess. But collecting would undoubtedly been more of a challenge due to my antisocial nature making obtaining information, exchanges like this and finding material to buy far more difficult. . .

Happy Birthday John!

My personal view as an exclusively on-line collector is that I'm better off now! The ease with which information can be gathered and referred to I'm sure makes collecting a simpler task than it used to be. Plus where I would have had to write a letter to another collector who might then have introduced me to someone sharing my interests, I now just send an email and get a friend's opinion on a coin within minutes. Similarly I can and have bought worldwide as far as the US, Australia and Europe. In the old days it would have taken far more effort to find stock or auctions internationally and likely I would have had to fork out significant sums to be on the mailing list of a comparable number of dealers as I am able to access by the internet. Yes, there are star coins that have disappeared to museums or collections I will never access. Though as a care worker, probably these would not have been within my budget when they were available to collectors. But I only started collecting about 10 years ago. Looking at relatively contemporary collections such as Brooker's and even Ashby or Hughes' there are some great coins. But there are also some that I feel I have a better example, or at least a comparatively acceptable one. So the fact that I can't afford a Lockett / Murdoch/ Montague provenance coin is not one that troubles me greatly. I look for the best I can find, or what I feel has good eye appeal and that satisfies me. And who knows? With a bit of luck in a decade people will be complaining that they can't find coins to compete with those from my collection! ... Or a huge hoard will be discovered containing enough top grade rarities to satisfy the entire next generation of collectors! .

When I buy things at auction it is with the intention of keeping them in my collection, so really the only question is whether I think it's a fair price to pay or not. Yes, I'm aware of the 'add ons', but I am essentially a collector and so in it for the longer term. When selling I only sell individual coins to (ideally) recoup what I paid so I can put the money towards upgrades and additions to the collection. So it's not worth my while going to an auction house. My preference is another enthusiast collector, then I know the coin is going to 'a good home'. Plus we'll probably be able to agree on the price whereas dealers who don't particularly know the area won't recognise the rarities etc. Next best is to part exchange with a dealer for a coin I want and then a fair way down and third choice is eBay. eBay is not perfect. But it's simple to use, waiting time is minimised and has a huge audience with costs that are not exorbitant.