TomGoodheart

Plus what they do have needs some serious work! This for example is as any fule kno a coin. Rather tricky to search for specific items on that basis!

The 1933 St Gaudens Gold Double Eagle I believe. A mere $7.5m. If you like that sort of thing. And as for me, I don't spend any income on coins, it's all out of the budget my wife gave me in a generous moment with birthday present and Christmas money added in. Which is restricting at times, but probably if I was given a free hand I'd just keep spending.

Work? On a sunday? 'fraid so. I work in a small care home, so there has to be a member of staff there 24/7. I get alternative weekends off but this isn't one of them!

Somewhere between 5 and 10 cm now, but I'm not going out to measure it accurately I'm afraid! And it's still coming down. Work tomorrow ... I might be walking ..

A few mm here in (very) North Bucks and then it stopped. But it looks like it might start up again before morning ...

Not these. Magnentius as Elvis. And as Jack Black on a bad day. (Both from the Bridgenorth hoard, currently listed on Antony Wilson's site).

I presume you don't mean things like electrum (gold and silver) which was used millenia ago in Greece?

thank's for info,they are alderny coins limited to 500, set of two cased,was interested in the as they are ten pound coins, but the guy is asking over 400 quid for them,so think ill pass them by. £400 compares with what the Royal Mint (who make these on behalf of Alderney) charge (Royal Engagement Alderney £10 65mm Silver Proof £375 +p&P) But then you would need to find another collector of such things to get back your money. As a contrast a silver Brittania coin (1oz silver) costs £58 or so but at scrap value of silver is worth £15. So you're paying an awful lot for the design. Now I'm aware that's the same case for most coins. The cost of what I collect (shillings of Charles I) is vastly more than the value of the silver the coin is made out of. I'm paying for the history. But there are more people who collect coins that have circulated and used to buy things than there are who collect the sort of commemorative pieces we're talking about here. In the end, if you like something and want to collect it, go ahead. Just remember, you'll need to find someone else who likes these to have a chance of getting back your money. I just didn't want you to think that you were buying something people will be queuing up to buy off you, or that will aquire value due to scarcity. The price of silver is, like gold, at an all time high right now and you'd be buying at that peak.

For what I collect, they aren't all that useful. My coins have all been handled and most are toned, some more nicely than others, but touching them isn't going to make a perceptable difference. I don't buy coins by grade, so someone else telling me a coin is VF or whatever is irrelevant. I'll make up my own mind by comparing the coin to previous examples I've seen, what I think is the condition of the average example that can be bought and, most importantly, how much I like it. I can see that for milled copper or bronze, where you don't want finger marks ruining the lustre, some sort of protection is sensible. But there are alternatives to slabs for that. You can get nice plastic flips that sandwich a coin away from sticky fingers for a few quid. The most worrying thng for me is if people stop making up their own minds about a coin and just go by what's on the label. I think learning about the different conditions coins turn up in, about how they commonly wear and how to recognise a particularly good example is part of the hobby. I also think that learning all the various varieties, types and so on is essential. If you just rely on a TPG to tell you your penny is BP1880af, what have you learned?

155.5g silver: scrap value £75. 155.5g silver 'coin' with a diamond stuck in it ... whatever someone is prepared to pay. A quick check of ebay shows one sold for £120, but that doesn't mean you'd ever get that if you sold one, nor that it's 'worth' that much I'm afraid. Since it's described here as legal tender (presumably in Gibraltar) it's worth ... £10. Basically it's a way of buying bullion. The 'diamond' (weight and grade unspecified) is probably worth nothing. Sorry to be unenthusiastic, but really Westminster make souvenirs, that look like coins and then are sold at a hugely inflated prices.

IMA? assuming the 'upside down' version is the right one. Since one of the down strokes is in front of the V shape I think it might be a third letter. The middle bars of the M also forming the crossbar of the A .. but then monograms are always stylised to a degree. This one a bit more than others. If it was a 'V' then the other letters are a bit odd ... not quite a 'W', not quite 'H' ..

Even I, with my like for hammered coins, enjoy early hammered. There's a lot of character in those early shillings of Charles and James and even the Georges, that I find lacking after the end of the 1700s. I'm sort of sorry I got rid of mine. Apart from the fact that the money I got for them bought more coins for my collection.

No apologies needed. Rants are as welcome as any other threads here! And it's a shame you had bad experiences from the shops you visited. I'm sure the sellers here would have treated you much better! As for collecting, I suspect few here have £1000 to spend on a coin and it'd have to be pretty exceptional for those that do! And you're definitely not the only bargain bin lover either! But knowledge of your own is a good thing to have. That way not only can you pick things you like, but you can maybe choose coins that are more difficult to find or are in better than average condition. And I like toning on my coins. More than I like shiny cleaned ones anyway, but we all have to accept what we can afford at times.

I've sent a message care of what I think is his ebay account. I'll let you all know if I hear back.

I got that too. I get the impression that Andy Bruce hasn't had so much to do with the site recently as most of the coins listed seemed to be Rendell Ingrams'. I wonder if the hosting subscription was ending and lapsed? I just checked my pms and see I messaged Andy 6 months ago and didn't get a reply ... Shame. I got a handful of really nice coins from him.

My car has developed a fault in that the read driver's side door remains deadlocked even when the others are open. I've tried the door handle at the same time as the remote, thumping the door near the lock mechanism at the same time .. etc. And I now have a bruised wrist and .. a locked door. I suspect the deadlock is just stuck as it makes the same 'unlocking' noise as the other doors. I went on the forum for such things (it's a VW GTI Skoda Octavia TSI) and it seems in the previous model this was a fairly common problem but following the facelift a few years back ..less so. But nobody really seemed to have much advice beyond the mechanically minded that just took the door apart. I am so not up for that! So I'm going to have to rely on the dealer (who say they have never heard of such a problem) to sort it and hope the warranty covers the cost. Apart from the nuisance value in that Wifey uses that door to fling her coat in the back when she drives, there's the safety issue of a door that won't work. Apart from that, I like my car so I'm just having a grumble really. But anyone that wants to cross fingeres that the dealer can fix it tomorrow (taking apart a deadlocked door is a pain of a job I understand ..) please do!

1933 4 Fils coin of Faisal I Link (Only got it because David knew the country)

Sod's Law being what it is (or the Gods of Irony needing a laugh) by 8.30 when I took Wifey to work it had unlocked itself! So I sprayed the bits I could see with WD40 and took it to the dealer. It was a faulty latch. A replacement has been ordered and wil be fitted next week. The waranty covers it all so I can still buy that coin when (and if) it ever appears! And even better, I not only had a chance to drive my car (a rare occurrence these days as Wifey needs it to get to work) but I get to drive it again next week too! Did I mention I like my car? Specially that bit that goes broom at the front when you step on the pedal thing ...

LOL I'm hoping the warranty will cover the costs so I can still afford coins (I'm thinking of a new line!) but the time it might take is a nuisance .. And since this seems to be a problem with several of the VAG stable cars you'd have thought they'd have Vorsprung'd their bloody Technic by now and got it sorted, wouldn't you?

I suspect that ebay would wonder how the buyer found out that the item had been reported; given that such things are confidential. And if the buyer complained that they had only subsequently found out, without knowing the ebay had been told the coin was dodgy, ebay would probably just tell them to claim their money back from the seller. ebay after all, always have the recourse of saying that they are not experts on coins (or any other item), merely provide a platform for sellers and buyers. Probably they would argue that they didn't misrepresent the item, the seller did. And therefore any complaints the buyer has should firstly be presented to the seller (who from experience will probably just refund the buyer immediately to avoid problems and negative reporting). Afterwards ebay might choose to take action, but as usual, are unlikely to agree to tell anyone what form that action will take. Rob might choose to chip in at this point as he has a little experience in this area ..

I think the problem is ebay don't understand the difference between replicas, counterfeits and contemporary copies and have lumped everything in together. I'm not sure who this Professional Numismatists Guild is either and whether they understand that a counterfeit coin produced 200 years ago is of historical interest and a very different thing to one made yesterday to fool collectors into parting with their cash. Similarly things like the Dutch restrikes of the Cromwell crown or museum electrotypes of rare coins. Sounds like they have used a very big hammer to crack a nut that would have been better tackled by ebay taking more notice when experienced numismatists report dodgy items. Plus the major headache of very well made (Chinese?) copies is unlikely to go away because such things are almost never listed as copies or replicas. So the likely outcome is that those like seuk who collect contemporary counterfeits will find it harder to source historically interesting coins, while people will continue to be ripped off by the unscrupulous selling tat. As for "As part of its collaboration with PNG, eBay officials anticipate establishing a program to better educate collectors about the PNG and its trusted member-dealers, and to ensure the coin experience on eBay meets industry standards." I read that as As part of its collaboration with PNG, eBay officials anticipate making lots of money from plugging PNG member-dealers, and will ensure the coin experience on eBay meets industry standards ... set by members of PNG. Bravo PNG! A commercial coup indeed!

See, I can quite understand that Iraq wants back the contents of the National Museum, Greece would like its marbles and tribes in Papua New Guinea want the remains of their people that were stuck in a display case somewhere. These are clearly culturally significant objects. I can also see that countries can benefit if what artefacts are dug up in their soil stay around long enough to be catalogued, some research done and then financially if they as a nation rather than ..*coughentrepreneurealcough* .. individuals sell them on. But as part of my normal research I regularly check both the PAS records and UKDFD for coins that interest me. And, quite frankly, there are very few there that are more than what I might call 'hobby' coins; ie those that undoubtedly give the finder a thrill to have discovered a bit of history, but that in collecting and numismatic terms are almost worthless. (Any detectorist who wants to disabuse me and show me the treasures Spink regularly buy from them, please do ..!) And while I accept neither database is likely to be comprehensive, it seems to me that the sheer number of bent washers are going to be more of an administrative headache for any local museum than welcome additions to their collection. At best a hoard will sit in a display case. At worst, a handful of metal objects will be stuck in a box in the basement for "future cataloguing". Maybe if for six months every single detectorist submitted their finds to the authorities for recording, pestered them for attribution details and asked regularly where their 'treasure' is to be displayed so they can bring Great Auntie Mabel to see the culturally significant items they have discovered for their nation, we might see some sense. In fact if every detector asked for a PAS officer to visit to inspect their find site (followed no doubt by emails from irate farmers wishing to plough and builders wanting to carry on building) it might be admitted that the vast majority of stuff dropped in fields or even shoved up a chimney, is of little or no archaeological interest. And there .. I wonder, might be the nub of it. Politicians see cases of gold bracelets in previously unknown artistic styles, or a sovereign of King Arthur and perhaps assume that the earth is teeming with such things. Of course they will want such treasures protected and rightly so. Perhaps what they don't see is the buckets of tat that come up from the average archaeological dig that has to be painstakingly photographed, numbered, identified, recorded and stored. Who is going to do the work of recording and where are they going to put it all? And then when stamps and letters and pieces of clothing and souvenirs become 'culturally significant' where will it end? Will I be prevented from buying a five year old toaster from someone in Wales until someone has decided whether it should instead be put into a museum of industry as an exemplar of design? Will the police come-a-calling to repatriate my Alessi juicer because a museum in Milan needs one? Sorry. Too much coffee and having a joke, but ...

At a guess ebay and paypal fees will be about £12. (10% final price for ebay + 3% of transaction for paypal) Win, win. For them ... But then a much larger market than gumtree or other sites so you have that convenience .. ebay is fine, providing you are ok with the fees, it's quick and none too complicated.

I know! I had to go to work and everything! Still .. the family did feel sorry for me so pretty much the whole weekend was a sort of celebration. Of course, at my age that's warm slippers and an extra dose of sanatogen .. but still fun!

Why thank you! Young whippersnapper! And I doubt Colin will be up yet. Too early at his age!