TomGoodheart

August 2009 #125? Afraid I don't have copies for that year. @Rob might?

Paul Dawson's writing on the ticket, so pre 1997, when he took over his father's business. Not sure if he worked for Spink after 1985 which is when he joined his Dad. Still quite a wide date range I'm afraid ..

Another pair of tickets from the same mystery source as above. The more modern, in the same hand as above. The older is much more detailed than before (although, as far as I can see, the same hand) Usefully this one references the Numismatic Chronicle, thereby pinning down the date the ticket was written to between 1860 and 1880, the period within which the First series of the NC was referred to as the 'old series'. Similar use of Mionnet's scale as previously. The search continues..!

Here's another mystery ticket well, four actually. It's the larger ones that are most of interest to me. The numbers at the bottom state the sizes of medals using the Mionnet scale. A now obscure system first publicised in 1804 and apparently out of use by the 1920s. Which hopefully dates the tickets themselves to early 20th century. The smaller tickets are more recent, but I'm thinking 1950s 60s perhaps? The writing looks familiar, but I've just not managed to pin it down. Two pairs of tickets, describing different medals, but from the same sale and collection. Comments welcome!

That's why I decide how much I think something is worth to me in advance, decide my maximum bid and once placed in advance, I leave it be. The only exception to this is the last auction I took part in, where I'd set my budget but wanted several items. I had some 'left over' from my first successful bid so used the live online bidding to go for a subsequent lot. Despite being tempted to go rather over my budget I was the underbidder. A salutary lesson for me! I do feel there's scope for auction houses to do a 'roll over' scheme, where if you don't spend all of your first bid, the remainder is bid against another item. But my getting carried away last time is I guess precisely why they don't!

Yeah, I just set a maximum I want to go to and adjust for fees. Last purchase at Noonans, with the 5% supplement (because the seller was in the US), the additions came to just over 1/3 of my bid. I paid within my budget, but it meant less for the seller. As a collector, I just look at the overall price I have to pay. But I imagine it makes it difficult for dealers who will need to add their cut, unless they have the resources to hold onto stuff for a few years, to compete.

No, I just save any images of coin tickets I think might be useful later and this was one I spotted. The other ticket is a Baldwins one in Michael Sharp's hand. Hopefully both are still with the coin.

Cool. Thanks! I'll update my records.

So this (larger one) is Chris Comer, Stu?

Is the other (neater hand) ticket not John Jerrams? Or am I confused?

Yup. Left ticket (which looks grey to me and written in fountain pen) looks like Comber's writing to me too.

You might find your supermarket has a bin for them? Or if there's a larger stationary shop local to you?

😂

Gold doesn't tarnish. And gloves can make you clumsy. Dropping a coin like that is more risk than fingerprints to the edge that would clean if required.

On balance, I'd say yes. But the difference in focus and lighting meant I had to do a lot of checking! And yes the top looks mushy, but I assume it's out of focus. Can you buy it at the price of the top one? Because with that photo it should really be a lot lower than the price of the lower one!

Yes, definitely add Noonans. Davissons in the US do a regular list and auctions. There are different specialisms amongst auctioneers, some you may find better for what you want to collect than others. A quick search of coinarchives.com, numisbids.com and mcsearch.com (acsearch for ancients/mediaeval) might help there. Dealers similarly. Mike Vosper for ancients, Lloyd Bennet has a good selection including more modern pieces, AMR coins for good higher end. If you look at their sold archive you'll see if what you want features regularly enough. Many dealers will accept a 'wants' list, which might be worth considering?

Greetings and welcome back JMD!

I think the only way to tell at this stage will be to make the purchase and see what happens. You're prepared for the worst anyway. I suspect if you don't get it for the 'original' price it might be time consuming and eventually fruitless to go the legal route, but a reputable dealer would surely be prepared to be flexible given the circumstances?

No idea about contract legalities, but very poor form and I sympathise with your annoyance,. My thoughts, in no particular order. How do you forget you have an item on your website when you list it on ebay and not remember to check what you were asking? I have always found that dealers are quite happy to offer items for less off ebay as it reduces their costs, so I'd at least anticipate a reduction from the £3500! The longer a dealer has an item on their site unsold the more I would expect them to discount it! Unsold = no profit and funds tied up. And if it hasn't sold at the web price, they're just chancing it with hiking it that much on ebay! And this particular case, I'm guessing; A: Like in a shop that has forgotten to re-price an item, they aren't obliged to sell to you. But until it sells at the higher price its value is not established. If I'd already paid, I'd just ask for my money back. In six months time, if it hasn't sold and you still want it, make an offer. Unless you really want it and think the price is still reasonable. I'd still haggle as they've avoided eBay costs and fees. 20% down from the ebay price might be a starting point? B: No contract has been entered into and the price is open to negotiation. I suspect that's always the case, just that many retailers will honour an incorrect lower price if it isn't hugely out to preserve customer goodwill. Though as the economy gets worse, just like John Lewis and their 'never knowingly undersold' promise, I imagine many will review this if they haven't already.

I think the thing is the museum's vase will nowadays be 'restored' in a way that's completely reversible. Unless someone like Barry makes individual pieces to fit into the jigsaw of your coin and then glues it all together a 'restoration' will involve metalwork. If you had infinite resources you could get the gaps filled in gold to make clear the original pieces but the cost might be more than you want to pay! However, I'm pretty sure Barry can make the pieces into one item if that will please you - though probably it'll cost more than you paid for the pieces - with one proviso. Personally I'm not 100% the two larger pieces are from the same coin as I can't get the obverse to match up when the reverse is aligned. Though I admit I don't have them in the hand and digitally moving them around isn't easy. Maybe pop the two pieces on some sellotape? If you can't get them to really match no amount of restoration will do any better.

If it were complete Barry could use whatever reversible glue is currently acceptable for restoration. But incomplete he would have to build a 'new' coin. You'd have to decide whether you want details in the currently 'empty' areas or not. And in the end you'll have a coin that will be heavily restored. So 'worth putting back together'? If it makes you happy, perhaps. Financially, not if you think it'll restore what you have to near the cost of a full coin. It might even devalue it in the eyes of some (people don't always appreciate restorations). But your choice in the end. I don't have an email address for Barry but his number is 07541 853425 I understand.