declanwmagee

Thanks for checking anyway Peter - it's the same collector who amassed those sovereigns, so anything he collected automatically gets checked out now!

slightly bigger! crikey...

First slab I ever bought, and the last time I took the slightest notice of the number...

They can't grade either Steve: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=151152084937&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

what?

I can't see any evidence of the overdate I'm afraid. It's not unusual in this series to find double-cut letters either. Note: double cut, not double struck - this is something that is done to the die, not to the blank...

Welcome aboard John! Just so everyone else knows, John already has Davies and knows about the die number info on Tony Clayton's site...

Do you know your banknotes, Peter? A client of mine has a Somerset £50 with the serial A01. Is that anything exciting?

Hoorah! Great news!

I still use that little trick most days, Steve - eternally grateful for that! I use it for variety identification with ones that just won't stick in my head - like the 1887 halfcrowns. The book descriptions are along the lines of "wavy ermine", which means nothing to me, but a quick glance at the popup photo and identification is instant. So the 1+A, or whatever, goes in the field contents, and a snapshot goes in the comment.

Yes, Excel is the best bet for the data handling, but don't try and embed photos in it. Maybe rename your photos along the lines of the identifier you've already used, or just have a field in your XLS for photo number. You could always hyperlink if you're feeling a bit more adventurous. You're quite right though, embedding photos in Excel will kill it, eventually!

What do we think about the dot under the lighthouse variety for the 1863 farthing, chaps? One has arrived on my doormat - should I be jumping for joy or raising an interested eyebrow?

Good one Peter, dot under lighthouse, fat 8 over thin 8, wide date. Cheers Colin, what would we do without you!

I will do a pic - it'll be in my regular Sunday morning photo session while listening to Desert Island Discs... It's nothing to write home about, grade wise, VF or thereabouts and I suspect some old lacquer, bless 'em. Thanks Peter - that's more or less my conclusion after 10 minutes looking through auction house results - definitely more interested eyebrow than jumping for joy!

I'm with Tom, too. Votes?

perhaps if you've found one that's not, Bob, that one's unusual!

Well, how about that? 3 out of 3 in my archive...

cheers Rob!

Anyone fancy linking the PCGS thread? I had a quick look for it at lunchtime but couldn't find it. I could have done with a laugh because I'd been cutting trees down on a 45 degree slope in the pissing rain all morning. Things I do to pay the rent - jeez...

Hi Jim. Any chance of a closeup photo? The colons on these are prone to be a bit all over the place, both in terms of their size, depth, and alignment. here's a selection, but we'd like to see your example...

What do you need, Jim? Identification and value, or do you need an 1853?

Are the 3s different, Bernie, or is it just the positioning that differentiates the three reverse dies?

helpful....

Spinks are always way over on coins in this era. CCGB excepted, all the price guides are a bit sniffy about eBay, I suspect, and don't see it as "real" auctions, so don't see the prices achieved as "real" prices. It would be interesting, but a lot of work, to compile a price guide just from eBay, and see how it compares with the big four. I suspect it would look something like this: CCGB - about right Coin Yearbook - too low British Coins Market Values - a lot too low Spink - way too high.

The only two types of 1884 halfcrown I know are to do with the type of 4 - plain 4, or 4 with an upper serif. Most dealers don't differentiate and even Davies uses the same number for both, albeit with a footnote. My instinct is that plain 4 is commoner, but my stats aren't comprehensive enough to draw a statistically significant conclusion.